My Morning Routine - Tips For Waking Up Earlier and Becoming a Morning Person

You might not be a morning person but trust me when I say that you can be! As a former pro sleeping in champion, I definitely have some tips for waking up earlier and becoming a morning person.

I’ve always been someone who maps out exactly how late I can sleep in so I have just enough time to get ready…pushing the limits every morning on how long I can sleep for.

That was until mid-way through last year when I started forcing myself out of bed at 7am (that was early for me since I didn’t start work until 8:30) on the premise to exercise.

These days I’m jumping out of bed at 5:45am and can’t wait to have some time to myself before the day starts. I don’t even use mornings to exercise, I use them to centre myself and set myself up for a productive day with the right mind set.

If you find yourself struggling to find “you-time” or to work on a particular project, early mornings and definitely the way to go. You are pretty much making extra hours in your day and as long as you are going to be at 10-11pm then a 6am wake up time is not cutting into your sleep.  

If you find yourself saying things like “I don’t have time to meditate”, “I wish I could spend more time creative writing”, “I never get a chance to read” then waking up an hour or two earlier is what you need to do.

That’s enough of me trying to convert you into wake up earlier. See how I didn’t say “become a morning person”, because no one really loves getting up earlier but they enjoy the benefits it gives them. Now let’s get into my morning routine…

Gratitude
The first thing I do when I wake up is list at least 3 things I am grateful for. Sometimes I do this before I’ve even opened my eyes or while Puffin is licking me to wake me up (which itself is something to be grateful for). Puffin is my dog by the way, in case you didn’t know and were like “who is licking her awake, that’s odd”. This is important because it’s impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time. This way I wake up happy every day, being thankful for the amazing things in my life. It sounds a little weird to do this but trust me, give it a go and you will soon see all the positive impacts that daily gratitude can provide you.

Coffee/ Feed the Doggo
Next I will head upstairs to let my dog out and feed him. While he’s eating I will brew myself a delicious cup of coffee. Seriously, I can’t do anything before coffee. I mean I probably could.. but why would you want to try? I live for my morning cup of coffee.. writing this has made me realise that I’m probably a caffeine addict.

Meditate
Now onto another very important part of my morning routine… meditation. You have probably heard all the hype about how great it is and I’m here to confirm that because meditation is one of the best habits I have implemented into my life. I will make my bed, sit down cross legged and turn on a 10-15 minute guided meditation to start my day. Instantly I am happy, positive, clear minded, relaxed, centred and excited for the day ahead. If you are new to meditation, check out my meditation guide for beginners here with all my favourite meditations from YouTube.

Journal
This is something I have only started doing this year and that is journaling each morning. I have been using the Daily Greatness Journal which is a multipurpose planner. You have a calendar, daily schedule, to-do’s, life goals and all of that stuff but it also asks you questions each day. In the morning you might write a couple of short sentences on what your intentions are for the day or what you want to achieve. At the end of the day it will ask you what you have learnt or what habits you would like to implement from now on. Starting the day with good intentions and finishing the day with reflection is really useful to see where your headspace is out and how you can continue self-improvement.  

Read

Now onto one of my favourite parts, reading! This year I want to read at least 30 books and so far I have been chipping away at the goal with lightening speed. So getting my reading time in is very important to me. I’ll sit and read a chapter or two for around 20-30 minutes every morning.

Getting ready / watching YouTube

I have a few favourite YouTubers and so that I don’t feel guilty vegging out watching videos, I will have it on in the background while I am getting ready in the morning. Call it multi-tasking. My brain isn’t doing much when it comes to me going to auto-pilot and doing my makeup so concentrating on listening to a video keeps my brain active while getting ready…and I get to watch some great content from my faves.

Audiobook on the way to work
Then I have my daily commute and since I work between two offices, it either takes me 20 minutes or 35 minutes to get to work. This is the perfect time to switch on an audiobook in the car and listen for a solid period of time. I have read so my audiobooks this way and it’s just another method of knocking off books from my ‘to-read’ list.

Then once I get to work I am in a relaxed state of mind, have already done some things for myself like watch YouTube / journal and have knocked off some things from my to-do list like read for 30 minutes.

Now you might be wondering – when do you shower? Call me weird but I shower at night, not in the morning. Nothing is better than getting into your clean sheets after a cleansing shower and skincare routine. So that’s why I prefer to scrub up at night.