We’re willing to bet that there’s not a single adult on this earth who has woken up every single day of their lives feeling fully refreshed and excited to jump right out of bed. With hectic work and school schedules, things throwing off our sleep schedules and the chronic nature of stress and collective exhaustion, it can be difficult to find the motivation to do anything but slam the snooze button, slip our eye mask back down and roll over.
Health and wellness influencers love to walk us through their perfect morning routines filled with beautiful views, tasty breakfasts, heavy workouts and a seemingly impossible amount of productivity before 10 a.m. But for many people, a perfect morning routine like this is nothing more than a fantasy.
The good news is, your perfect morning can be whatever you want it to be. If you prefer a slow, quiet morning with a hot cup of green tea and long shower, lean into that. If you want to be a 5:00 a.m. riser who gets in a 3-mile run every morning after an ice-cold shot of concentrated coffee, more power to you! The perfect morning routine isn’t a cut-and-dry ritual; it’s a series of small decisions that feel aligned with your needs and how you can best take care of yourself and set yourself up for success.
Creating your perfect morning routine starts with a few simple steps:
1. Find the right time and stick to it
If you work a regular 9-to-5 job, you’ve most likely been waking up at the same time every weekday for months, if not years. Once the weekend rolls around, you probably can’t wait to get a couple extra hours of rest in the morning. But did you know doctors recommend keeping your sleep schedule as consistent as possible throughout the entire week?
Now, if you’re regularly waking up at 4:00 a.m. for work – or if you’re a nurse, newscaster or someone else who works irregular hours – this might not be sustainable. But if possible, maintaining a similar wake-up time throughout the entire week will not only train your body into being energized throughout the day; it’ll also make it easier to wake up on those dreaded early Monday mornings.
If part of finding your ideal wake-up time means holding yourself accountable to waking up at that time every single day, training yourself to stop hitting the snooze button so much is an absolute must. As grueling as that may sound, try to put it into practice by limiting the amount of times you allow yourself to hit snooze by one every few days. If that doesn’t work, put your alarm across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off.
2. Give yourself something to look forward to
A special treat makes any difficult situation so much sweeter. If you often find yourself feeling like that morning cup of coffee is the one and only thing motivating you to get out of bed, make it extra special for yourself by investing in a new coffee machine or trying something new, like concentrated coffee. If you love strong coffee, concentrated will be a game-changer – and we can guarantee you’re not going to want to get out of bed as soon as the first sip hits your system.
If coffee’s not your jam, try something else, like buying a new shampoo or aromatherapy product you can’t wait to use in your morning shower, or testing out a yummy new overnight oats recipe and preparing it the night before.
3. Make it a little less lonely
When we’re young, having a parent or guardian around to wake us up (as annoying as it may be) was critical to forcing us out of bed at a reasonable hour. When we’re left to our own devices, getting out of bed can be a lot harder. Why not add a little sound therapy to the morning routine to make it more exciting and less quiet? Create a morning playlist filled with your favorite energizing tunes and start playing it as soon as you get out of bed, or find a meditation leader you love and start your day with a quick session on their channel. Things like these will help you get out of your head and immerse yourself in the things that make you feel the most alive.
4. Move your body
Working out first thing in the morning is not for everyone – while some people may find it energizing and exciting, others would rather do just about anything else and prefer an afternoon or evening workout. No matter what your preference is, you’re perfectly valid, and there’s no need to force a burst of intense cardio into your morning if that’s not what your body wants.
But studies show moving your body in some way is an important way to give yourself the energy and positive mentality you need to make it through the day. Even if this movement is something as simple as a
few good dynamic stretches or a short walk down the street, implementing small, sustainable acts of movement into your morning will set you up for a day of balance and success.
