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Today I wanted to share why I wake up so early because 5 am isn't for everyone. How I went from waking up at 7:30 to a crack of dawn alarm, setting yourself up for success, and what my mornings look like at the moment.
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Enjoy,
Victoria
I wrote a blog earlier this month about how I tried out mind mapping for the first time. And one of the first thing I mind mapped was habits I wanted to add to my days.
Most of these are good habits that I’ve had on and off for a few years, but all that I knew would have a positive effect on my day to day.
I wanted to dig into how I could add them into my day, specific times that might work best, what my specific goal was for that habit, and the benefits to each habit.
So, I had a rough idea of what these habits were that I wanted to add, and the six I came up with were:
+ exercise
+ journal
+ meditate
+ hydrate
+ gratitude
+ wake up early
Now, these might seem like pretty general habits most people wanted to add, but today I wanted to share how I broke each down into something tangible for me.
So, the first thing I asked myself about each habit was what is my daily goal for this habit?
exercise = 30 minutes each day
journal = write in one journal each day
meditate = either meditate or sit quietly for 10 minutes
hydrate = drink 80 - 120 oz of water each day
gratitude = write three gratitudes each evening
wake up early = 6 am
I have to set specific goals, as I guess most people do, to follow through with them.
The next thing I asked myself was, what specific time of day could I fit this goal into. Another important step to actually getting it done.
exercise = a morning walk or run, bike or walk places, take the stairs
journal = morning pages first thing, normal journal late afternoon
meditate = either in the morning before work, or when I need a break
hydrate = all day obviously but a glass before coffee and breaking it up between hours
gratitude = first thing when I get into bed
wake up early = morning, duh
And finally I thought through different benefits I saw in each.
exercise = important to move my body each day, good way to take a break during the day, get out in nature, clear my mind.
journal = document things, brain barf, more focused, think through things, clear mind, less anxiety, free therapy.
meditate = less anxiety, calmer mind, free therapy.
hydrate = better skin, digestion and energy.
gratitude = more grateful and positive, less anxiety
wake up early = more productive in the morning, get my day started, get to have coffee.
I thought through each habit one at a time, starting in the center with “habits” and branching further and further from there.
I then made a list in Wunderlist where I could store all the notes in an organized, tangible fashion. And it’s nice to have them in an easily accessible place where I can go check in on them and get inspired again if need be.
I’ve been really good at journaling, daily gratitude and waking up early and not so great at hydrating, meditating and exercising.
And I think that’s an important note to end on. You’re not going to seamlessly add this new habit into your life straight away. You’re going to mess up. Hell, you might even forget about it. But that’s ok. Failure doesn’t mean you can’t keep trying.
Keep tweaking when you do it, how you do it and you’ll find the sweet spot in your days to add it to.
What are some habits you’ve been working to add, or maybe remove from your day to day life?
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?
If you keep up with me on Instagram or Youtube you know that I recently got back from my trip to France (a.k.a. my honeymoon).
And do you know what? I’ve been doing a really killer job at coming back and reseting my routine and schedule for maximum productivity and mindfulness.
Today, I wanted to share with you how I’ve learned to use jet lag to my advantage.
The first and most important step is looking at your flight schedule — what time are you leaving (A) and what time will it be when you get to (B). We woke up at 7:30 a.m. in Toulouse and we would be getting back to Des Moines around 10:00 p.m. (it ended up being more like 11:55 p.m. — thanks a lot American Airlines).
So we could see that when we got home to Des Moines we needed to be ready to go to bed.
Now, in between those two time slots was nearly 24 hours. When we finally got home to Des Moines it was nearly 7 a.m. in Toulouse. That my friends, is a lot of staying up, with maybe a short little nap, but only if you could restrain yourself from sleeping too long.
So, that’s the first step. Plan out your flight so you’ll arrive in whatever location as close to the level of awake or tiredness that you need to be at.
For me there is about a week of wiggle room after an international flight to reset my sleep schedule. You have to fight the urges to sleep (quick cat naps are OK), but I have no self-restraint when it comes to jet lag and napping so I avoid it.
I’ve been putting myself to bed around 9:30 - 10:00 p.m and setting my alarm for 7:00 a.m. but I’ve been naturally waking up around 6:00 - 6:30 a.m. My golden sleep slot is 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. so that’s what I’m working towards.
Now, a few things that I do in the morning when I get up earlier than 8:00 a.m. — I sit and write in my morning pages journal, which takes 20 - 30 minutes. I spend 15 - 30 minutes tidying up around the apartment because my brain functions incredibly better when there’s not a bunch of clutter around. I have been consistently meditating for 10 minutes every morning around 8:00 a.m. using the HeadSpace app. I then make myself a cup of coffee or tea, create my to-do list for that day, and then get to it.
My days go unbelievable smoother when I am allowed this hour and a half to two hour routine I have for myself in the morning.
Then each night I’ve tried to spend the first few minutes in bed just writing a little bit in my actual journal.
These are a few of the things that get me excited to wake up in the morning, get out of bed and get moving o
