A Morning Routine I Could Actually Stick To

I found the keys to make a morning routine completely doable. Yes!

After establishing a solid post-work routine that busted my burnout funk, it was only logical to create a solid pre-work morning routine that kept the good vibes going. In the throes of burnout, things like making my bed, dressing with any style rules in mind, and taking supplements were inconsistent at best. I would get motivated to do all the things and then the second there was a snafu, all semblance of a routine would immediately go out the window. My two big keys for sticking to a morning routine were:
1. It had to be incredibly easy. Like no-brain-cells-required easy. I’m not a morning person by nature, and I would not say that I’m firing on all cylinders at 5:30am.
2. I had to commit to waking up just 15 minutes earlier than usual to ensure that I wouldn’t have to rush. When running a few minutes behind schedule, there was zero chance I was going to waste precious minutes on bed-making or picking out accessories for my outfit. The bed would remain a mess, I’d throw on jeans and a sweatshirt, and promise myself to take my vitamins when I got home from work (which I rarely remembered).

So here’s my morning routine, which I absolutely LOVE. It’s easy to stick to and makes me feel so good. It sets me up for a successful day, and I’m sharing it here in case you need help, too.

1. I get up at 5:15am because I have a job with an early start time and a pretty long commute (45 minutes). It takes me an hour to complete my morning routine at a leisurely pace and not feel rushed. Upon waking, I check my calendar to look at my schedule for the day (each day is pretty different for me, which is nice!) along with checking the weather so I can begin to think about what outfit to wear.

2. I open the I Am app and read my affirmations for the day while I do some quick morning stretches. Stretching feels incredible in the morning, and we truly don’t do enough of it on a daily basis. I’m working on improving my posture, so I am currently focusing on chest openers and shoulder-neck exercises.

3. I had a goal of drinking at least 12 ounces of water each morning, first thing, and a separate goal of adding hibiscus, dandelion root, and green tea into my daily diet. So, to kill two birds with one stone, I let a hibiscus tea bag, a dandelion root tea bag, and a decaffeinated green tea bag all sit in a glass tumbler of water and place it in my bathroom overnight. When I begin my skincare routine, I enjoy this morning tea drink throughout my skincare steps. It’s delicious and hydrating and the teas have so many benefits. It’s just a great way to start the morning.
   Hibiscus tea is chock full of antioxidants and known for its anti-inflammatory properties. It’s also good for your liver and heart, and can help lower blood pressure and improve blood fat levels. Additionally, it contains polyphenols, which are powerful anti-cancer compounds.
   Dandelion root tea has similar health properties to hibiscus tea, but has the additional benefit of being a mild diuretic, which helps prevent bloating and supports detoxification.
   Green tea is also a powerhouse, packed with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and can help with blood sugar levels, brain health, liver health, weight management, and longevity.

4. While I’m sipping, I put on a podcast and go through my morning skincare routine. While I’m waiting for any serums or sunscreen to dry on my face, I add in my oral hygiene steps (mouthwash, water flossing, and teeth-brushing) or a few extra chest-opener stretches.

5. Once my skincare is complete, I put on my makeup, do my hair, lotion and oil every square inch of my body, and then very quickly tidy the bathroom. I make sure everything is put away in its place and just wipe a towel over the counter top to mop up any water and throw it in the hamper. Tidying the bathroom takes maybe 30 seconds. It’s super quick. Then, I make the bed. Part of the consistency I was able to maintain with bed-making is that I made it super easy. I just pull the quilt up over our regular pillows, pop on the two coordinating sham pillows on top, and then place one throw pillow in the center. Boom. No extra pillows (although I do have them; are you even a girl if you don’t have a ton of throw pillows for your bed?), no fancy layers, no extra blankets draped across the bottom. Just a tidy 2-shams-and-1-throw system. Making the bed takes, again, maybe 30 seconds. Because it takes less than a minute, I never skip it, even if I am in a hurry. There’s something about bed-making that does something to your brain. Not only does it set you up for a successful day and give you a little endorphin rush as you mentally check that off your list, it feels great to see your bedroom nice and tidy when you come home after a long day of work. I’m addicted to it.

6. Once the bed is made, I head into the closet to pick out an outfit for the day. I tried to be a person who chooses their outfits the night before or picks out all the outfits for the week on a Sunday, but I just couldn’t stick with it. My outfits are too mood-dependent to do that with any consistency. Since I check my schedule and the weather first thing in the morning, I usually have an idea in mind about what I want to wear for the day by the time I roll into the closet. One thing that has completely helped me upgrade my style is trying to follow the style “Rule of 7” when getting dressed each morning. This “rule” says that every part of your outfit is one point, and in order to make your outfits more stylish and interesting, you should try to achieve a total of seven points each day. For example, an outfit of a top, trousers, and shoes would total three points, and is kind of visually boring. But an outfit of a top, trousers, a belt, shoes, jewelry, sunglasses, and a structured bag would total seven points and bring much more style to the overall vibe. Let me tell you, this rule works. And once you get the hang of it, you can create some go-to points that are no-brainers. I love simple jewelry (small gold hoops, my wedding band, a watch), an old-money style headband, and belts as my main accessories. In full burnout-mode, my go-to outfit when I didn’t know what to wear was jeans and a sweatshirt. There was no style and I never came off as looking polished. Now, when I don’t know what to wear, I opt for a monochromatic top-and-trousers combo that, when jazzed up with the seven point system, is chic every time. I always top my outfit off with a spritz of my favorite perfume and head out to the kitchen.

7. In the kitchen, I take my vitamins and supplements as I prepare my breakfast for the day, which is not actually food at all. A former iced-coffee-for-breakfast girlie, I had the goal of incorporating 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning, and I have to admit, it was a struggle. I’m just not a breakfast person, and trying to force myself to eat something in the morning wasn’t working for me. So I compromised with myself and now currently make a healthy alternative to iced coffee that still has the iced coffee feel. I put a scoop of resveratrol, a scoop of creatine, two scoops of fiber (which I worked up to, by the way - I don’t recommend starting with two scoops unless you want to live near a toilet while your body adjusts!), and two scoops of collagen peptides in a coffee mug and mix with 8 ounces of hot decaf coffee until all the powders have dissolved. Then, in a clear plastic to-go cup, I put a ton of ice and pour the coffee-powder concoction over the ice. I top the coffee off with a protein shake as my “creamer.” It’s a sneaky way to get that protein in and still feel like you did a Starbucks run, especially since it’s in a to-go cup that feels like it’s from your local coffee shop. I only use the to-go cups if I will actually be running around that day and will not have time to find a sink and rinse out my glass tumbler version.
   Additionally, you may have noticed that I drink decaffeinated green tea and decaffeinated coffee. Yep. Part of my glowing-up process was realizing what made me feel good and what made me feel gross. And unfortunately for me, caffeine just makes me feel anxious. I have a pretty natural “hummingbird” energy so I don’t really need caffeine, although I used to enjoy it in the mornings. I have learned that I’m actually quite sensitive to it, and started limiting it to before 10am (I seriously would have difficulty sleeping at 10pm if I had any after 10am), and then totally eliminated it altogether when I realized that on higher-caffeine days I was a getting heart palpitations and shaking like a little chihuahua. Eek! On the mornings that I feel groggy and desire caffeine, I wake myself up in other ways, including brisk walking, fun music, or a refreshingly cool (decaf) berry tea.

8. Once my morning protein coffee is made, I grab my work bag and begin my commute. Since my commute is long-ish, I always try to commute with purpose and use that time to my educational advantage. I listen to educational podcasts or audiobooks and have truly learned so much. You can find a podcast or a book on just about any topic you want to learn more about, and if you think about taking an hour to learn something every day, you can become quite knowledgeable on a variety of topics in a short amount of time.

And that’s it!

If you’re looking to build your own personalized morning routine, my suggestion is to make everything as brainless as possible. Make it easy on yourself or you will abandon it after a week. Additionally, trying to wake up just 15 minutes earlier can really make a difference in consistency. Give it a whirl!

To your morning glow,
- L

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