This post is NOT about coffee! It’s about how to start your day!
I operate under the assumption that there are two kinds of morning people, those who are graceful and collected and those who aren’t! Which one are you?
Are you one of those smooth morning routine types whose morning mimics a professional pit crew during a heated Nascar race? All of your people in their places doing their job like a beautiful assembly line of soldiers. Does your house march to a rhythmic drum beat? Does your family have morning life down pat operating like a well-oiled machine?
Maybe mornings at your house are a topsy-turvy circus of chaos. Socks, shoes and backpacks flying every which way but loose. Sarcasm, loud voices, and last-minute lunches in a frenzy of cereal and spilled milk. Sure, eventually you get it together but later in the day you secretly ponder if the coffee pot is still on. You question yourself. Did you lock the door? Did you brush your teeth? Was deodorant applied? Your windy tornado of folks skate by and manage somehow to blow out of the door each day but always needing more time. Why is it a mad rush every dang day?
The prim and proper TV commercials depict morning routines that look so easy and glamorous. Kids dressed sitting a the table doing homework while mom flips pancakes and scrambles eggs.
Meanwhile the only thing scrambling at my house was…ALL OF IT! Here is how it use to go. Wake up, get up, hurry up, rush rush, have a piece of toast with jelly and scram.
An unprepared sporadic chain of events that would unfold every single day. Maybe it was immaturity on my part but for years I never prepared. I didn’t pre-think anything through. All I valued was sleep! I would set my alarm 30 minutes before the actual time that I had to be up. I would inevitably hit the snooze button until THE very last second. I left no time to manage a bad hair day, homework or a wardrobe malfunction. No time to eat breakfast. Shoot, I barely left time to slap on deodorant and dress to bolt out the door holding high heels in one hand and makeup in the other. I was literally that girl driving to work with curlers on my head and touching up make up at every stop light along the way to work. I never bothered to factor in traffic or road closures.
These bad habits followed me well into my marriage and early motherhood. Running and gunning for the pre-school or school bell was a way of life. Yelling and waving bye to baby girl, “run, run…hurry, go go go!” “Run like you stole something!”
Why had it never occurred to me to make a morning plan? I put too much emphasis on sleeping to the last minute rather than a collected morning experience. I didn’t grasp that my whole snooze theory was actually causing more harm than good! I could have been up enjoying a nice cup of coffee, praying or reading a devotional, making a warm breakfast for my girl. I could have completed a workout, a load of laundry, caught up on new and still had plenty of time to navigate a wardrobe or hair SOS!
Ladies, I saw the error of my wicked ways and I’m fully converted. I now experience BOLD beginnings! I can’t begin to tell you how gratifying it is to greet the day without the hustle-bustle rush. Strategic prep establishes a solid framework for the whole day. Who knew? DUH!! Looking back think my grandparents knew this rule but it somehow skipped a generation. An extra 30 minutes or more in the morning sets the entire stage for the day.
I put COLLAGEN PEPTIDES VITAL PROTEINS, a dollup of. honey and skim milk in my morning cup of joe!
BOLD BEGINNINGS!
I now experience a more mature morning routine. Sure my daughter is older and able to drive and make food but trust me it wasn’t always this way.
Now My alarm goes off exactly an hour and a half before my workout session. This is ample time to dress and look gym presentable. It gives me time to feed the dog and let her out, make a cup of coffee, watch some news or read.
I have a flow thanks to my handy dandy nightly checklist. Remember, anything new, at first is a huge hassle but eventually, it will become a habit.
NIGHT PREP
- I double-check that the coffee maker has water and is pre-set locked and loaded on auto
- I make sure to layout clothes so I don’t have to think
- I arrange any necessary items that I might need such as gloves, hat, workout equipment and my workout calendar neatly by the back door so I won’t miss it.
- I stage the gym for the first workout of the day.
- I make baby girls lunch and have it bagged and ready in the fridge.
- I set my alarm for a full hour and a half before I actually have to deal with real humans. No more snooze!
These 6 simple steps make a world of difference in a girls day! I actually have time to dress, put on a little bronzer and mascara (gym presentable), make a cup of coffee, feed and let my dog out, read a devotional, start a load of laundry and see a little headline news. It’s a beautiful thing!
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YOUR Nightly Check List
Pack and or replenish your workout bag
- sports bra, tennis shoes, socks, t shirt and shorts, head phones, water bottle and towel
Pack healthy snacks for your desk, travel or purse
- Quest fiber bars, Premier protein shakes, carrots, shredded chicken, boiled eggs, pretzels
Pack a healthy lunch – Meal Prep is a huge added value on this step! click on the link for more info on meal prepping tips.
Strategically place keys, purse, briefcase, laptop, or any items by the door needed for work
Layout clothes
Set your alarm for at least 30-45 minutes ahead so you can get up and workout, pray, wake up, make breakfast.
The nightly prep takes away the morning frazzle. You won’t be searching for a sock because you already had it layer out the night before. You don’t have to scramble to find your purse because you set it by the back door. You won’t get to the office flustered because you forgot your laptop cords.
This is not a fool-proof plan don’t you know. You’re going to have mornings of urgency and surprise. When the monthly friend arrives or the dog has an accident, and the jelly hits the fan you will simply have ample time to address the problem without freaking out and rushing around like a nut job!
Do you have anything to add to the checklist? What prep work keeps you stress free?
Love, plan and never hit snooze again!
It’s true…you snooze you lose! WHO KNEW???
Angi
xo
