I am currently trying out a new morning routine. As I have mentioned before on my blog, I am not the biggest fan of routine. I find that once the tasks get repetitive, life can seem pretty mundane. However there is no doubt about how routine increases efficiency, that is, it lessens decision fatigue, and enables us to make the most of our time. So I've been trying to build up a morning routine with activities I was already engaging in, and ones that were necessary additions to improve overall health. 

I have devised a checklist to keep up with these activities, and if you're anyone like me you can download this and keep your morning activities in check. 

I like to switch up the order in which I engage in these activities, because as I said, routine becomes dull for me after a while. This way, I can still complete all of these tasks but trick my mind into thinking it is not routine. 

First things first. I make my bed in the morning, or on most mornings. It's one of those activities that I used to slack on, but I am getting better at it. I do this for two reasons, a) it serves as the first tick in the list of activities that already makes me feel like I've done something productive, and b) there's nothing like coming home to a bed already made. 

Next, I do my morning stretches or I exercise. I have recently noticed a whole lot of body aches and pains- AAH I'm getting old! Just to ensure that someone doesn't mistake me for a 90-year old, I've decided that it's high time I do some exercise in the morning. I usually follow the warm-up, dance workouts, and cool-down tutorials by Danielle Peazer (I'll link her YouTube channel below). It's already helping me so much, and I find that it boosts my energy for the day.

Next I have a shower because I stink after the workout, obviously. I have previously posted my shower essentials, and these are still some of the products I use in the shower. Let me know in a comment down below if you'd like to see an updated version. 

Next, I have my breakfast and tea. Sometimes I would have tea after I make the bed, because I've been woken up with a cup mug of tea every morning since childhood. It's just one of those Sri Lankan things. 

I read the daily news while I have tea. I also use this time to catch up on my favourite bloggers on bloglovin' and vloggers (usually the vlogs by Zoella, Alfie/pointlessblog or Jess and Gabriel Conte), or listen to a podcast. I will do a post about some new podcasts I've been loving soon. 

After I do this I catch up on Pacifica, in terms of the duration of sleep, and mindfulness exercises like deep breathing or a 5-minute meditation.

Next, I engage in a simple gratitude exercise, and write down three affirmations because I love a confidence-boost early in the morning. I've already written a post about Gratitude Journaling, so you can check it out for more details. While I do not use Pacifica for this gratitude exercise, just note that if you get the premium version of Pacifica ($4.49 billed monthly for an year), you can complete gratitude exercises on the app itself. 

Next I set the intention for the day, which is essentially one of the bigger goals I want to achieve on a given day. I then go through my beloved agenda to check other tasks, and I start my day tackling them based on the level of priority. If I am supposed to head out for the day, I usually use an app to remind me of those tasks. Currently I am using Todoist for this.

That pretty much sums up my mornings these days.

Links:

Instagram

Danielle Peazer YouTube Channel

Do you have a morning routine? Let me know what you think about developing morning routines in a comment down below.

Thank you so much for reading,

Much Love,