Morning Routine

 

I struggle with mornings. Ask anyone who knows me, and they will readily tell you mornings are not my forte. I have been known to be late to work because I’ve slept past my stop – half an hour past my stop, once. This year, that is all going to change!

I have three (interlinked) 2016 New Year’s resolutions – I’m aware how often these fail, but they’re incorporating things I’ve been working on for a couple of months now, which will hopefully help their chances of success. My number one, overarching resolution is to become a morning person. Yup, that’s right, I want to become a spring-out-of-bed-at-6am kinda girl.

Well, maybe not ‘spring’ as such.

The other two resolutions are to start working out in the morning – I’m big on quality home time, and not so big on running after a meal, so I don’t like working out in the evenings – and start doing my hair and makeup before I leave the house. Rather than 2015’s routine, which was tinted moisturiser while waiting for the bus, and letting the tube wind dry my hair. Not a good look.

We’re only two days into the 2016 working year, but so far, so good. I’ve been getting up at 6.10am (a far cry from my previous 7.15am); having a cup of tea, going for a run or doing some strength training (YouTube Yoga anyone?); browsing the internet with a piece of toast; having a shower; doing my hair and makeup and still leaving the house early. It’s been a revelation, I tell you. I do have three small tricks that I wouldn’t be able to do this without:

• Outfit planning when the washing is done at the weekend – Monday to Thursday’s outfits are planned, and hung together – dress/top+bottom, stockings or stocks, cardigan, scarf and underwear. The whole shebang – no more ‘what am I wearing today, do I have any clean underwear?’ for me!
• Organising my breakfast and lunch in advance – since I moved in with R in August, I’ve been cooking my lunch (paella this week), and organising my snacks on a Sunday afternoon. I’ve now gone one step further – 5 slices of toast in separate freezer bags, 5 smoothies worth of berries, ice cubes, chocolate whey protein powder and almond milk separated out. No more thinking about food in the morning, or worse, forgetting and ending up buying crisps on the way to work
• Music:

I have four morning playlists, two of which I always use. They are 1601 1 Morning Part One (the first playlist of the morning – I push play as soon as my alarm goes of); and 1601 3 Morning Part Two. In between these two playlists I use either 1601 2 Running (as you can guess, my playlist for running); or 1601 2 Strength, which is for the first part of my strength workout (planks, crunches, stretching before the aforementioned YouTube Yoga). I have very specific uses for the two morning playlists (the running and strength playlists are self explanatory, so I’ll leave them be, but if you have questions about these feel free to ask)

• 1601 1 Morning Part One is three, fairly ‘peaceful’ songs. They cover getting dressed (into workout clothes with a bathrobe on top to stay warm); and my cup of tea. By the time the last song is finishing – Kelli O’Hara singing What More Do I Need? – I should be walking out the door for my run or setting up my yoga mat.
• 1601 3 Morning Part Two is for everything from the end of my chosen workout, to walking out the door. It has very specific triggers. The beginning of the playlist is the time for me to have a piece of toast, make a smoothie, and browse the internet. By the end of Edyth’s Beauty Salon – from Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day – which is the 10 minute mark I need to be moving to the shower. I need to be done in the bathroom – showered, teeth brushed, dried – by the time Jeremy Jordan finishes singing Santa Fe – 20 minutes later. I then have another 20 minutes – or until Taylor Swift finishes Blank Space – to get dressed, do my hair and makeup and be walking out the door.

This all may seem very pedantic and precise, but for me it’s entirely necessary. I have very little concept of time – I can stand in the shower and be unsure if it’s been 5 minutes or 15. I can look at my phone to check the time, see a message and look up 20 minutes later not realising how much time has gone by. The trigger of music – for example knowing once I get to La Vie Boheme from Rent I need to get a move on in the shower – helps me stay to time.

Although experts suggest sticking to the same wake up time every day including weekends, I will not be setting a Saturday morning alarm. I do hope this will help me make the most of my mornings – waking earlier naturally at the weekends would be a nice benefit – and I am aiming to keep this going until we move home to New Zealand in May, mostly so I can show off my new morning routine to my mother, who may need to sit down in shock!