If you’re looking for ways to help kickstart your day, check out our helpful morning routine list, and see if you could start the day in a better frame of mind.
Is your morning routine adding to the heavy, mental load you already have to carry throughout the day? It’s so easy to get caught in a cycle of too much to do and not enough time or mental space to do it, but we continue to add things anyway. Try out these morning routines to boost your mental capacity.
1. Try setting your alarm for an hour earlier (if possible).
It may seem like an awful thing to even slightly consider as an already exhausted adult. Who on Earth would opt for an hour less sleep when they’re already so tired?!
But you have to trust me when I say that an extra hour to get your coffee. DRINK your coffee, come round in your own time, and process all of the things that need to get done during any ‘morning rush’ will be far more restorative at times than an extra hour in bed (even if you don’t necessarily feel like it when the alarm first goes off!).
And if you are a parent, it gives you time to wake up and come round before your children wake up and start needing all of the things.
2. Journaling
Another person suggesting journaling?! Eye roll? I know! But hear me out.
I used to absolutely feel the same! The pressure to journal ‘something; pretty much felt worse than living with my busy and anxious brain. So then I would panic and end up feeling worse that I’d failed at something that was meant to help, so let me give you one of THE best pieces of advice that I was given… it changed my view on journaling completely.
Don’t worry about WHAT you’re writing.
The idea behind journaling is to take any thought in your head and write it down, not just well thought out ones. Get it out of your brain and onto the paper. Let it out. ANY of it.
So if your journal reads similar to – ‘I have no idea what to write. My head is so ridiculous. I can’t think of anything and I’m so mad at myself that I can’t think and I have so many things to do today but I can’t write…’ when you first start your journal, that’s OKAY, because you’re learning to just release whatever is clogging up your brain, and sometimes what is clogging up your brain is a whole load of everything and nothing.
Gradually by letting go of the anxiety about what to write, your thinking will start to free up and you’ll learn to release anything weighing down your brain, which will start your day off in a much lighter way.
Here are our FREE downloadable, journal pages, for if you can’t afford that jazzy £30 one!
3. Deep Breathing.
Oh goodness, another one of THOSE suggestions?!
No but really. I’m the most sarcastic and questioning person, but I can honestly say that after almost 2 decades of anxiety and a whole array of other mental health issues, then multiple therapies, that learning deep breathing was LIFE CHANGING.
And the reason it works is actually science.
When you start to panic, or you’re feeling anxious, you tend to take shorter breaths, which means you create a lack of oxygen to your body, which will only then heighten the feelings of anxiety, and cause symptoms like dizziness, breathlessness, tingling and inability to think to get worse…
By learning to start counting as we breathe in for 8 seconds and out for 8 seconds we not only shift the focus to the counting and breathing, we also make sure we are taking in the amount of oxygen our body NEEDS, and gradually as we get that oxygen feeding into our body, the feelings of anxiety and panic tend to subside.
Adding deep breathing into our morning routine means we start the day calmer, especially if you journal first too!
4. Move your body.
No, I’m not here to tell you to fit some awful, 20 minute, high intensity, impossible to complete without making yourself feel even worse, kinda workout, into such a small window of time where you’re trying to improve your mood. That is NOT what you’ll ever hear me say.
However, getting your blood pumping a little is another scientific way to make yourself feel energised and brighter, so what I want you to try and do is to find some sort of joyful movement that makes your body and mind feel GOOD.
For me when it comes to easy anytime movement, nothing beats dancing around to feel good, nostalgic tunes. Even if it’s during the morning rush of getting ready! Put on your happy tunes and watch everyone’s mood start to change.
My all time favourite form of movement is weightlifting, but being realistic, it doesn’t always fit into the morning routine for me as a busy mum, so I go with what I can fit in, and what wont create stress all round.
Other ideas could be stretching, yoga, boxing, a short or long walk, a run, cycle, swim. ANYTHING that feels good and gets your blood pumping.
My biggest tip is to never force types of movement you don’t enjoy. It won’t work for you and it won’t feel good even if you get through it.
5. EAT BREAKFAST.
This may seem like a silly one, and I understand that not everyone feels like eating in a morning, but here’s the thing…
Your body runs on food. Food is fuel. As someone who used to skip breakfast and then be out of energy and feeling ill by lunchtime, I cannot stress how much of a difference feeding your body in a morning is going to make to the rest of your day.
I’m not going to tell you to make a smoothie with 57 ingredients and a golden monkey balls powder that will bankrupt you (though I do love a smoothie!). Eat what you can afford, what you have access to, what you have the time to make and what you fancy (where possible).
Honestly, a substantial breakfast is going to help you get through the morning.
Sometimes you’ll have the best of intentions and you’ll snooze the alarm. Don’t beat yourself up! Some days an extra hour of sleep will be what makes a difference.
Learning to not berate yourself on days you can’t manage will help your mental capacity too (ahem, Growth Mindset).
But try out these morning tips and see if it helps.
