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I wanted to share with you my morning routine. This doesn’t come naturally to me. I am not a morning person. Christy will try and have a conversation with me prior to coffee and it usually goes something like this. “Hey Alex what do you want to make for dinner tonight?” Blank stare. “Do you want to hear the options?” Nodding of the head. Christy then proceeds to give me the list of meals we have planned for the week, and receives another blank stare. “I guess I’ll ask again after coffee” she sighs.
This means that if I am up late and rushing to get ready for work I usually end up feeling stressed and disorganized. So last year I started a morning routine. I’m not perfect and go through phases where I fall off the wagon. If I wake up late, I only do half my usual routine. When this happens, I try to be a little less condemning and a little more kind to myself. That being said, this is my ideal morning routine. (As long as everything goes perfectly and I don’t hit the snooze button a couple times!)
6:00 AM
6:00 my alarm goes off on my phone. I have my phone near my bed but not near enough for it to be easy to turn off the alarm. This means that I struggle to get it turned off and wake up more in the process. I allow myself a quick 5 minute check of notifications and media before turning my phone to focus mode. This means all the distracting apps I like to surf are disabled. Then I stumble my way downstairs and make extra strong coffee in our beautiful french press. (Here is my awesome coffee ritual.)
While it’s brewing, I head to the walk out basement and turn on the electric fireplace and light the candles. I bring my coffee down as soon as it’s ready and do a quick check on my plants. Watering, pruning and adjusting my plants as needed brings me satisfaction. It feels really grounding to spend some time with lush green plants first thing in the morning and helps keep the relaxed vibe going. Next is some gentle stretching and movement. This helps prepare me for my meditation by getting all the kinks out from sleeping.
Journaling
By this point it’s about 6:30, and I start my journaling. Some days if I have something on my mind that I need to get onto paper, I fill a full page. Other days when I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, I simply write a list of goals or things I’m grateful for. This helps clear my mind, and reminds me that grumpy morning Alex has lots to be grateful for. After I’ve gotten everything off my chest and cleared my mind of clutter, I start my meditation.
I am currently at about 10-15 minutes of meditation right now. I am slowly trying to increase the length of meditation. I think I would like to get to around 30 minutes a day eventually but meditation is deceptively difficult.
Breakfast
After this it’s around 7-7:15 and I come back upstairs for breakfast. Chatting with Christy is possible now that I’ve finished my coffee and can talk in whole sentences! We make breakfast, chat about the day, or read a quick bit of whatever books we have out from the library at the moment. After breakfast and packing lunches, I head back upstairs and make my bed. I used to think it was a useless waste of time to constantly make my bed each day. I actually preferred it messy and made myself a blanket nest each night. Then I started getting into minimalism. After reading different blogs about morning routines, I realized I might want to start making my bed.
It’s a little step that shows care for my belongings. Letting me enjoy my beautiful bedspread and pillows, it helps me feel a bit more productive. (This also makes me less inclined to climb back into bed where it’s warm and cozy.)
Ready for work
After this it’s all about getting ready for work. Skin care, getting dressed, doing my hair, and sometimes making tea or coffee to go. I’m ready for work around 8-8:30 depending on how much time I spend on the last steps. I often have some time left over for social media or reading more of my current book, before I head out for the day. This means I feel productive, relaxed, and more cheerful when I start my work day!
I still want to add some tweaks and changes to the routine. I’d like to eventually get up at 5:00 and have even more time in the mornings for writing or yoga. However I’m also aware that I need baby steps, and that it’s ok to fall off the routine wagon as long as I get back on again.