Upon waking up, many of us take on basic tasks to start our day.
You wake up and wash your face, check your phone, say a prayer, or anything else that may help you start your day in the morning. In doing so, you may not realize just how important having a routine is; it sets the tone for your whole day. And did you know that it can also double as a form of simple self-care? It’s true. The first things you do in the morning puts you in control of how to take it on, no matter what the day may throw at you. In starting our day we must make sure our morning routine serves as benefit to our overall well-being. A while back, I began actively implementing a positive morning routine, which drastically changed the way I approached my day to day living. I saw the benefits and positive changes in my mood that not only affected my day, but once I stayed consistent, my entire week.
Once I had a set schedule at my current job, I realized I was having a hard time throughout the day.
Waking up I’d grab my phone eager to check statuses, my timeline, or my messages, not realizing how heavily the early exposure of information weighed on me. While I was quick to grab my phone, I was dragging my feet on other common tasks such as washing my face, making up my bed or making breakfast, which were things that benefitted me. I dreaded even getting out of bed in anticipation of the day ahead. After a certain point, I found myself easily overwhelmed and too eager to reengage with with the outside world before the day had even started, leaving me anxious and unenthused about getting up. My mood was fairly low and the activities I found myself doing first weren’t helping me to wake up. One morning, I realized that some of my habits had begun to drag me down.
So with that, I sought to alter my morning routine to make it more beneficial not only to myself, but to my day as a whole, using the morning to carve out a certain level of me time and self-care that focused mainly on preparing me for my day
[I started] using the morning to carve out a certain level of me time and self-care that focused mainly on preparing me for my day.
Instead of picking up my phone first thing, I made it a point to challenge myself to leave it on the charger until I had done at least two tasks that benefited me.
That way, the focus remained on myself until I was ready to engage with the world. I started with merely washing my face and saying prayer. This forced me to refocus on myself rather than my phone or even the day ahead. After a few weeks I began to add on additional tasks that were further beneficial to me and helped in setting the tone for my day. I added stretching and implemented actively making breakfast (no matter how big or small”> into my morning routine; and before I knew it I was feeling more awake and positive and my phone was the last thing I was reaching for. Implementing my routine not only woke me up, but also shifted my mood to be better equipped to take on certain tasks during the day, whether it is my job itself or small tasks on the way there.
While it seems simple enough, when it comes to how we should care for ourselves, we tend to forget how essential it is to implement something as simple as a positive morning routine.
I hope you use this article as a reminder to make sure you are taking care of your basic needs in the morning–it truly can shift your mood and set the tone for your day. I urge you, where you can, to take time for yourself; even in the simplest of moments self-care can be implemented and beneficial in shifting your entire day in the right direction. Do things that go beyond reaching for your phone or lying in bed for an extra 15 minutes; try laying out your clothes or doing a little reading, or try praying or saying a daily affirmation. No matter what method you choose to practice, you want to be able to start the day off right no matter where it may take you.
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