I have come to the conclusion/realization that fall is the luteal phase and winter is the menstrual phase. And this year I’m going to approach this season in a similar mindset that I do for these particular phases.

And I’m a big believer in how you start your day impacts how the rest of your day will go.

I start each day at 6 a.m. when the alarm on my phone goes off. I take my temperature right after turning my alarm off, and then put it into my Kindara app before going to the bathroom.

Michael and I just got a sunrise simulator clock, which we have set at 6:00. It is a delightfully peaceful way to start your day. Normally I wake up somewhere in it’s 20 minute “sunrise” leading up to the 6 a.m. alarm. So, after taking my temperature and going to the bathroom I usually snuggle back in to enjoy my “fake” sunrise. I give myself a few minutes to just lay there with the bright light filling up our room before I get out of bed.

Once I’m out of bed I head to the kitchen to tidy up from the day before. Yes, I’m one of those people who leaves dirty dishes for the next day. I just prefer doing them in the morning than the night.

This usually takes 15-20 minutes, and at the same time I’ll make myself a cup of coffee.

Once the kitchen is done I head back into our room to make the bed (not every morning because our rule is last one out of bed makes it).

After this I’ll head into my bathroom to do my skincare routine because my skin needs much more TLC when it’s cold out. I usually rub a little oil on my nails and cuticles as well.

From there I grab an incense and head to the back room where my desk is. I light a few candles, put the incense in an old candle, and turn on the floor lamp. (It’s still pretty dark out at this point).

I pop on the space heater next to me, wrap up in a blanket and take usually 30 minutes to do my morning pages. While I’m doing these I usually have a bunch of random ideas and to-do’s that pop in my head so I write those down on a separate pad of paper.

After morning pages is done I’ll pull out my bullet journal and plan out my day using the goals list for that week as well as anything from my scratch pad that needs to get done.

Then I settle in to the first task or two for the next hour.

At a certain point I’m usually ready for another cup of coffee, so I’ll take this opportunity to get dressed and ready for the day, which usually takes less than 10 minutes.

I’ll go back to work until I’m hungry which is usually around 10 a.m. so I’ll head out to the kitchen to make some food.

I’ll watch a YouTube video or two while I eat my food and then get back to work for the next few hours until it’s time for lunch.

The final thing I do is reheat my coffee a few times throughout the morning because it gets cold before I finish drinking it. I need to get a mug warmer.

Here’s a timeline for those of you whose minds work better this way:

6:00 — wake up

— take BBT

6:02 — go to bathroom

6:05 — crawl back in bed

6:15 — get out of bed

— tidy up kitchen

— make coffee

6:30 — make bed

6:35 — skincare

6:40 — morning pages

7:10 — plan out day using bullet journal

7:15 — get started with work

8:30 — second cup of coffee

— get dressed

10:00— breakfast

— watch a YouTube video

10:30— get back to work

What’s your perfect morning routine look like, and what are you tips to creating/keeping to a routine?