9 Ways to Improve Your Morning Routine

Having an alarm set each day helps your body clock develop its own sleep-wake pattern. So the next most important thing to do is when the alarm goes off and all you want is another five minutes sleep – whatever you do don’t press snooze! Ask yourself does five minutes really make any difference? If you are awake now, you are not going to get any sleep in the next five minutes so you may as well just get up. Whilst it can be extremely difficult especially for some, this is the most important task of the day just getting up out of bed and getting going!

If the hardest thing about your morning is finding your glasses or your favourite bath robe for example; keep these items in an easily accessible spot. That way when you are still half asleep and it’s dark, you don’t start battling with yourself just trying to perform the simple task of finding things! If you want to head out to the gym in the morning, get your gym bag packed the night before and have it in a convenient spot so you can grab it and go. Having easy access to the things you need is especially important particularly if you have a partner or children that you don’t want to wake up. A little bit of planning the night before can make for a much more organised morning without wasting time and getting frustrated having to look for things.

Regarded as the most important meal of the day, eating breakfast is a definite improvement to your mornings, particularly if you are trying to lose weight. A healthy breakfast with whole-grains, fruit, with some milk or yoghurt is ideal but most importantly just avoid things high in sugar and fat and start your day without that weighed down feeling . Coffee and tea don’t count unfortunately. Our bodies are hard-working machines, and they need to start the day with some fuel. Otherwise, when your morning tea break comes around if you haven’t had breakfast you will most likely be really hungry, and be tempted to eat whatever is in sight; which will most likely something sweet or fatty and not very good for you!

If you find you are always rushing in the mornings, is there something you are doing that could be done at another time? Do you always find yourself checking email, Facebook, Twitter etc as soon as you wake up? These types of activities are not urgent and can be done during commuting, at your desk; essentially anywhere. Or do you make your lunch every morning – could you perhaps prepare this the previous evening? Have a look at your morning routine and see if there is any unnecessary task that could realistically be done at another time, to help improve your morning routine.

If after you have reviewed your morning routine there is nothing you can alter; why not try just giving yourself more time to get it all done? When you do things in a rush there is a tendency to make a mistake or forget to do something. Try getting up just 10 minutes earlier. See if that helps reduce the frantic pace of your morning routine. If after a few weeks you can handle that, see if you can get up another 10 minutes earlier and before your know it you’ll be an early riser. Making small changes can have a big effect on the flow of your mornings.

The benefits of meditation or mindfulness have been well documented. A feeling of increased awareness, increased relaxation and reduced stress are all benefits of regular practice. Even a five minute session weaved into your morning routine can have a positive effect on your day. If you’ve never tried this before visit Zencast for an introduction to mediation; or check out UCLA Health and their free online audio sessions on mindfulness. There are thousands of sites out there that cover these topics so why not give it a go?

Not everyone has the time in the morning to exercise but if you do it is a great way to stay healthy and start the day. Mornings are less likely to be a time for team activities, although if you can arrange to workout with a friend this will motivate you to get out of bed! Walking, running, cycling, swimming, rowing, yoga, gym are just some examples of activities that might be done in the morning. If you have a dog, take them for a walk. If your workplace has an onsite gym then beat the traffic and head in early to do a workout. Cycle or walk to work. Do an in home workout using a free routine from Fitness Blender or HasFit, or any other similar site. If you prefer do a yoga practice in the morning, with Sarah Beth Yoga or Do Yoga With Me or YOME. There is a choice of so many different classes online. You will feel good, stay healthy and keep fit , there really is no downside!

After the initial shock of being woken by your alarm, commuting has got to be the next least preferred task of the day. Some of you may be lucky and only have a short commute (or no commute) to work. But for those of you with further to go, to improve your mornings, commute as calmly as possible. If you’re always stuck in traffic, is there another way to go? Would using public transport be a better alternative? Can you cycle or walk? What about car-pooling? All of these strategies may potentially alleviate some of the stress of commuting. If there really is no alternative route, can you leave home any earlier? If traffic is horrendous, is it possible to negotiate flexible working hours with your boss – for example could your arrange to start your day before or after the worst of the traffic? Difficulty with commuting day in day out can be extremely stressful, so see if any of these strategies may work for you.

If you are always late, everyone notices, and it puts you behind for the rest of the day. Punctual people stress about this, whereas tardy people tend not to care. Aim to be on time to work as not only is it expected, it’s just good manners. If you are always running behind schedule then seriously look at how you are spending your time in the morning. Is it because you are trying to do too much in the time you allow yourself or are you taking too long to do the things you need to do?

There are many ways that you can improve your morning routine. You don’t have to try and do all of these in one go, but making just one change could have a big effect on the rest of your day. Even if you are not a morning person, one of these tips could be worth trying to improve your morning routine. Nothing in life is certain, but one of life’s certainty’s is that mornings come around every day, why wouldn’t you want to make them just that little bit better?