When you work from home, and therefore don't have a morning commute, it's easy for the line between home and work to be blurred. The morning routine you may have had previously can be lost to the pressure to wake up and immediately sit down at your computer. But ultimately this really isn't good for our wellbeing.
Taking the time in the morning to have a solid morning routine will not only set you up for a more positive day - and therefore a more productive day - but it will also support your overall physical and mental health.
If your intention is to curate a gentle morning routine to ease into the day with, one that helps you feel calm, centred and ready to take on the day, then you've come to the right place. In this post I wanted to outline some of the steps you can take to make your morning routine more purposeful and centred around self care.
Wake up gently
One of the best ways to begin your morning in a calm and gentle way is with a sunrise alarm clock, such as the Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300. It begins brightening thirty minutes before your alarm is due to go off and gets brighter and brighter before the alarm sounds. This wakes you up gradually which personally I've found to work wonders on my anxiety levels. Being woken up suddenly can leave me feeling so anxious and panicky but a gradual wake up combats this.-
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Start the morning with a positive affirmation to set the tone for the day. Repeating a positive statement to yourself first thing in the morning can really help to cast away any negative thoughts and vibes you've woken up with. My affirmation can change dependent on my plans for the day but my favourite choices are "I am strong enough to throw anything today throws at me" and (quite simply) "today is going to be a good day".
Schedule in gentle movement
Finding time in the morning to squeeze in some easy movement can have a really positive impact on how you feel starting your day. I don't know about you but I will never be one of those girls who is able to wake up at 5am and hit the gym before work, but finding ten minutes or so in the morning to complete some gentle yoga and stretching is much more manageable.
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Take the time to shower, get dressed and complete your skincare routine
Everyone who works from home has at some point been guilty of working from their pyjamas. I'll hold my hands up and admit that I was practically the president of this club until I starting making a targeted effort to get dressed everyday. But taking the time to shower, get dressed and complete your skincare and/or makeup routine will definitely help you to feel more ready to take on the working day. It also helps to define the work/life boundary that can be lost when you work from home.
Personally I have a specific dresser drawer dedicated to comfy working from home clothes. Matching loungewear sets are a fabulous way of achieving that comfy yet chic work from home look that'll leave you always camera ready for those out of the blue teams calls.
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Eat a good breakfast
One of the benefits of working from home is that you can have a later breakfast if you're someone who needs to wait a few hours between waking up and having your first meal. But whenever you choose to eat it, it's important that you make having breakfast part of your everyday routine to really set you up for the day.
I'm not saying you need to rustle up a full English each and every morning before work by all means, but try to have something planned which you actually will want to wake up to. For me I'm quite partial to a bowl of the chocolate crunchy nut clusters or some porridge or a delicious bowl of yogurt and fruit. I know I perhaps should be advocating the most healthy breakfast choices going but I like to think that whatever makes you want to eat breakfast and fills you up for the morning is good enough.
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Prepare for your working day
Although it's always tempting to jump straight into the working day, it's a good idea to take five minutes in the morning to set up your workstation to make sure it's as purposeful yet calming as possible. For me this includes setting up an essential oil diffuser (using a diffuser blend designed to enhance focus), ensuring I have a full bottle of water so I stay hydrated throughout the day, writing out my daily plan and to-do list and turning on some music. What I listen to in the morning is entirely mood dependent but I tend to go for something uplifting and positive.-
What does your morning routine look like?
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