This post is Sponsored By L’Or Espresso
My morning routine changes periodically. Sometimes I eat breakfast and then have a shower and sometimes I shower first. I’m just a loose canon like that. The one thing that never changes is that my routine always includes coffee. In fact it generally starts with coffee. We had to buy a Nepresso recently because my body doesn’t communicate with my limbs for at least an hour after I’ve woken up. This makes it difficult to make coffee with complicated apparatus like plungers and syphons because everything just ends up on the floor. With my little morning joy maker I literally press a button and delicious caffeine comes pouring out. So good.
I’ve been trying out all the different capsules from L’or Espresso and I was having a chat to their marketing rep about my morning routine and then everyone started talking about their own morning routines. Dragging their husbands out of bed, banging around blindly in the dark looking for socks and generally just being completely sleepy and useless. I thought it was high time I hatched together a little article on how to improve your morning routine because some people seem to enjoy the wee small hours a bit more than others. There are those bright and eyed bushy tailed little possums who jump out of bed like there’s a pot of gold waiting for them in the kitchen and those of us who need to take mornings very slowly and with much caution. Here are a few tips to help make your morning a little easier and give you the best start to the day. (Keep reading for your chance to win a snazzy $100 voucher…)
5 Easy Peasy Ways To Improve Your Morning Routine
Prepare The Night Before
Make sure the kitchen is neat and tidy to make breakfast preparation easier. If you pack your lunch for school or work prepare as much as you can the night before – chop up your carrot sticks, premix any dressings and put things like nuts and crackers in containers. It’s really easy to waste time in the morning scrambling for sandwich wraps and drink bottles so make sure you’re as organised as you can be before you go to bed. Have your wallet, train ticket, keys, sunglasses and other essentials ready to grab as you walk out the door in morning. A little preparation makes such a difference to your stress levels in the morning.
Develop a Set of Morning Rituals
Make your bed. Eat breakfast with your housemate or partner. Watch 10 minutes of your favourite morning show. Make a beautiful cup of delicious coffee and enjoy it slowly. Having little regular landmarks through out the morning helps to create habits and gives a lovely feeling of comfort and consistency.
Have an Estimated Time of Departure
If you have no idea what time you’re going to leave, how do you know how much time you have? No matter where you’re going in the morning, it’s important to know what time you’re going to leave your house. This ensures that you can budget your minutes effectively and get out the door in time to get to where you’re going. It sounds like a really obvious suggestion but sometimes we all need reminding of the simple things.
Only Do Essential Tasks In The Morning
Food – essential. Clothing – essential. Scanning Facebook for early morning rant posts from people who you hate follow – not essential. Not many people have time for unnecessary tasks in the morning so save unpacking the clean dishwasher, scrubbing the toilet, sorting through your mail or trolling on the internet for later in the day when you aren’t running late for the bus.
Take 5 Minutes For Yourself
Even if it’s just a few minutes to stand still in the shower and perhaps do a three minute treatment on your hair or to sit outside and enjoy your breakfast in peace. We can really only start the day well if we allow ourselves. Rushing around like a maniac and getting grumpy when things go wrong is a sure fire way to start the day on a bad note!
So… we thought it would be a cool idea to get all of you Smaggle readers to share your morning routines.
I’ve got a $100 Westfield voucher for the person who gives me the biggest giggle in the comments with tales of their morning trauma or triumphs because mornings are a struggle for a lot of people.