Her Unique Glow

I love morning routines – to me, having an established and loving morning routine is the key to having a successful and productive day. We all want to be more productive – living in such a fast-paced world with a million and one things to do means that being productive is an essential requirement. As the saying goes:

“Start your day as you mean to go on.”

When it comes to productivity, it is so true!

Let’s be honest, don’t you find you’re your most productive self when your mornings go by seamlessly? I know I do. I’ve always been a morning person and am definitely my most productive self as soon as I wake up. Now, I know that might not be the case for everybody but what I do know is that whether you love mornings or despise them, having a morning routine that fits in with who you are and what you need will help set you up for the day so that you can be the best version of yourself possible!

Set your non-negotiables

Now you know what your turn-ons and turn-offs are, set some non-negotiables. From your list, come up with 2 or 3 non-negotiables that you must do every morning. Try to aim for no more than 3 as you want to make sure your morning routine is sustainable and time appropriate (plus, you want to make sure you remember it all!). These non-negotiables are things that you have to do every morning come rain or come shine, things that really light you up no matter what else is going on in your life. When it comes to these, make sure they’re sustainable and suitable as an everyday task.

How much time do you have?

You have your list of turn-ons and turn-offs, you have your non-negotiables – now, it’s about that precious commodity – time! It’s important to be realistic and honest with yourself. You might have an amazing list of everything you want to get done in the mornings, you might have an extensive list of what your ideal morning routine would look like, but unless you have the time to tick everything off, not only will it not be sustainable but it might become an added stress as well.

Answer this next question:

• Realistically, how much time do you have every morning to practice your morning routine?
• Is it 5 minutes? 10? Half an hour? An hour?

It doesn’t matter how short or how long a time span it is, but get clear on how much time you want to set aside for your morning routine so that you can build it around what works for you. Make sure that at the very least, your non-negotiables fit into this time frame. If they don’t, then re-evaluate your non-negotiables to that they do.

What do your body and mind need?

Non-negotiables done and now you know how much time you have left. Go back to your first list and start noting what your body needs and what your mind needs.

• What do you need so that every day starts off the way you want it to?
• What do you need to get out of the right side of the bed every morning?

Consider how you show up in the world first thing in the morning, understand what it is you need to wake up with energy and enthusiasm for the day. Think about the food and drink you put into your body, how you move your body and who you speak to. Then think about your mind and what you need so that you feel centred and grounded when you wake up. Do you want to practice mindfulness, meditation, journaling, morning pages? One of my favourite practices to help ground me and fulfil me at the start of my day, is to practice gratitude and appreciation for everything in my life and around me. I’ve created a free gratitude journal that you can download for free here.

How does your lifestyle fit into this?

Finally, to make sure your morning routine is sustainable, as yourself how your lifestyle fits into it.

• Are there any family members you want to involve?
• Would you have to wake up half an hour early to fit your morning routine in?
• Do you need to get your loved ones on board?

You want to make sure that your morning routine is:

• stress free and
• uplifting

Anything else will only add more overwhelm to your day. Establishing a morning practice will help propel you forwards on whatever path or journey you’re on – so create a morning routine that is as beautiful as you are and go take on the world!

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