Morning y'all,
Today's topic: the importance of having a morning routine! Do you have any ideas of how positive having a morning routine for your mental health is? Or even for your physical health? Heck, hope not! Otherwise, that means I have nothing to share with you today (which I really don't want).
One year ago, if someone told me that today I would wake up earlier to have a morning routine, I wouldn't have believed it. Promised, morning sleep was holy to me. Seems like things change. Let me explain why I got convinced. I pull it together with 5 important benefits of having a morning routine.
Morning routine's benefit #1: Set the tone of your day
The first major benefit of having a morning routine is obviously the fact that it sets the tone of our day. By starting our day with something we truly love or matters to us, we feel fulfilled, in a positive mind, and it directly impacts the rest of our day.
Actually, it totally makes sense. Listen up! We all know that when we start the day on the wrong foot because of morning impediments or whatever, we immediately feel frustrated, and like the day is about to be shitty. And that, unwittingly, conditions us being more negative.
Morning routine's benefit #2: Increase your productivity
For most of us, productivity hits the top in the morning because our mind is rested, our motivation to its fullest, and there're fewer distractions around. Conclusion? This is the perfect timing to prioritize and undertake some personal work chunks, workout, or even cooking (healthily :p)!
Bonus: You find some more time!
Personally, I use that valuable time to write, and I can notice how faster and more creative I'm in comparison to the middle of the day.
Morning routine's benefit #3: Reduce your stress
This one grabs your attention? Well, perfect then!
Waking up earlier is not easy for everyone, some of us do not need 8 hours of sleep and are even awake before the alarm goes off, but some of us don't. I admit that most of the time it is very tempting to just snooze the alarm and stay warm in bed. The good news is it is the hardest moment. Once awake, we immediately want to take advantage of that time because we have a head start, some control!
Being able to control our schedules rather than the opposite can considerably affect us. Remind you when you wake up 10 min late, rush into doing everything, and end up not doing what you needed to. Result? You feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and stressed. FYI the more stress, the less effective our immune system becomes, which consequently impacts our physical health.
Morning routine's benefit #4: Increase your confidence
At that point, you must probably wonder how comes that a morning routine can increase our confidence? Ok, got it all covered for you.
First thing first, by being confident I don't really mean "liking ourselves". No, instead, I rather mean feeling proud of ourselves for what we have accomplished (even if small things), I mean self-efficacity.
By being consistent with your morning routine, you can definitely go far with your projects and self-achievements. We do not always have enough time or motivation to do everything we plan or wish to after a long and exhausting workday. This is why morning routines come in handy. It helps us find some time, complete projects, hobbies, goals, you name it, and consequently, we feel self-efficient, which also impacts our mental health and wellbeing.
Morning routine's benefit #5: Favor your wellbeing
Last but not least, it does favor our wellbeing! No need to mention how all these bullet points above are good for our wellbeing. Might sound like a no-brainer, but it truly is positive for us. Try it, just try it for a week a tell me how you feel.
Not convinced? You are not ready to give up on your morning sleep? Ok, fine! What about staying away from all your screens in the morning and save that time for valuable things. Use this time to stretch, to read, to work-out (even 10 min), to walk, to discuss with your folk, it can be everything you want as long as it makes you fulfilled.
It takes time to find your perfect morning routine, but it's clearly worth the try! Personally, I'm still figuring out my own one testing different routines. But for now, I like the idea of starting my day with a good morning stretch to awake my body, followed by half-an-hour of writing supported with a warm cup of tea. Then, I take some time to get ready and spend the rest of my time checking my social media or reading some articles on medium (in this way I'm less tempted to do it during work-time :p). When ready to take off, I head to work with a nice walk listening to some music to get myself even more motivated.
Have you gone through the whole article? Congrat, it was a long one :p. Hope you liked it! Feel free to share your morning routine, I would love to get inspired. :)
Bisous, bisous,
Math.