The Morning Routine to Force You Out of a Rut!!!!

My *perfectly* curated morning routine as of late <3

Hi bestie, welcome back - hope you’re having the best week!!!! <3 Today I’m going to lay out for you my perfectly curated morning routine to set you up for success. I am such a firm believer that (this is about to sound seriously dramatic) the key to living a good life is implementing a strict morning routine. Following a solid morning routine has pulled me out of deep ruts, bouts of depression, burnouts periods, etc. etc. Basically, if you are in any stagnant/uncomfortable phase of your life - the best way to get yourself back on track is to incorporate a routine to your mornings. I have found myself straying from routine at so many different periods in my life, and in reflection, those periods are always when I feel most lost. As someone who strives to control every aspect of their life (which newsflash - is impossible) having a set routine at least allows me to control a part of my day. But, if you’re anything like me, I also am such an “all or nothing”/”black and white” thinker, that when I find myself getting off track, instead of finding a solution to get myself back on track, I instead send myself into a deep spiral focusing on how unproductive I’ve been. I convince myself that it is “too late” to fix said rut/flop era I’m currently in because I’ve already been in it for so long there’s no fixing it now. But the true beauty of life and my favorite mantra to live by is that truly - everyday is a new day. You have the power to choose when to start over, when to reinvent yourself, when to better your life, whenever you want to. So - if you’re feeling a little out of loop in life right now, here’s my current curated morning routine. <3

“Five Second Rule”

My worst and least productive days always start with a morning where, instead of getting out of bed when I wake up, I choose to rot for however long I possibly can before my day starts. Working from home on my own schedule, this can lead to me finding myself doom scrolling in bed until my eyes burn and it’s almost noon (part of the reason I force myself to go to 9 am pilates 5x a week). With that in mind, the first and most crucial part of your day is what you choose to do when you first open your eyes. I read somewhere (aka prob so on TikTok so don’t quote me on this) that the first thing you do in the morning sets the stage work for whatever your brain will crave for serotonin for the rest of the day. So - if you mindlessly open TikTok the second you open your eyes, according to this theory, your brain will urge you to reach for TikTok over and over again whenever searching for a stress relief/serotonin boost. This is where Mrs. Mel Robbins five second rule comes in to save the day. Whenever she needs to motivate herself, she countdown from five to one to “propel” herself forward and force herself to complete whatever task is at hand. While her approach isn’t morning specific, it’s a perfect time to incorporate this rule. When your alarm goes off - instead of snoozing over and over until the last possible second - count down from five to one (you know what, maybe we can increase this to ten seconds since it’s first thing in the morning) and when you reach one, force yourself to get up. This is such a good way to a) conquer your morning and b) practice discipline/prove to yourself that you can show up for yourself.

Make your bed!!!!

On the topic of discipline, the first thing you should force yourself to do every morning is make your bed. There’s an entire ted talk dedicated to this

(Navy Seal William McRaven: If You Want To Change The World, Make Your Bed!), but in summation, completing the simple task of making your bed as the first thing you sets the entire tone of your day. Immediately checking a task off your mental list (or physical - I’m a huge fan of lists and we’ll get to that!!) puts you in a productive mindset and in turn, sets the stage for a productive day.

Wake your skin (and yourself) up

I like to start every morning with some form of movement so I don’t like to do a full skincare routine right when I wake up, but I like to do a light touchup if you will. Splashing cold water on my face not only wakes my skin up, but also gives me a jolt and starts to wake my mind up. I wake up puffy as hell most mornings so I like to follow up with a nice ice roll to not only depuff, but also further wake myself up. Also pro tip - if you wake up anxious, applying the ice roller to your vagus nerve instantly relieves your nervous system. This is my favorite ice roller and it’s on sale right now!!: (https://go.shopmy.us/p-15130853). I also wake up with such dry skin so I like to either use a face mist or some kind of essence to hydrate my skin and give myself a little morning glow before I step outside. This is my current favorite face mist: (https://go.shopmy.us/p-15130964) and this is my all time favorite essence: (https://go.shopmy.us/p-8327136)

Hydrate!!!!

Okay full disclosure - this is something I am still really working on myself. Usually my first liquid intake is an iced cold brew with Califa creamer on an empty stomach. Like I said though, trying to get better at hydrating throughout the day - especially in the morning. I’ve been having a glass of water with Moon Juice’s Mini Dew (linking here: https://go.shopmy.us/p-10950593) before I have my coffee and not only does it hydrate you, but I also notice I have so much more energy/less cravings throughout the day.

Move your body!!!!

Even if it’s just a 10 minute walk, getting fresh air and moving your body first thing in the morning will boost your mood SO much. Idk if it’s just a me thing, but I live in what I like to call an eternal state of embarrassment and most mornings I wake up physically cringing lol - getting outside and quite literally “touching grass” helps so much. There’s something about getting outside in the morning that makes everything feel a little less deep. Also - Ducky gives me quite literally no other choice but to get up and go outside so if you’re struggling with this a puppy WILL help hahaha. We have been doing a little two mile coffee loop each morning. I’ve been obsessed with this vanilla cold brew with salted caramel cold foam - it literally gets me out of bed in the morning. Yes, it is a $7 coffee (with tip), but I rationalize it because it gives me a will to live every morning. On my walk to coffee, I’ve been listening to various morning affirmation videos on Youtube to force my brain into a positive and less doomed mindset. This is a good one!!! Morning Manifestation Affirmations | LISTEN EVERY DAY

Word vomit into a journal

As I’m sure you know if you’ve followed me on any platform for any amount of time, I am ridden with anxiety. I am unfortunately a very natural worrier/stresser/catastrophizer (and my OCD definitely does not help - but the prozac does!!!) so I wake up every morning with my mind running one million miles per hour. Not only do I cringe about slightly embarrassing moments from 10+ years ago, I stress about all the tiny things I have to do throughout the day that start to pile up on top of eachother (like pay my almost year old parking ticket I forgot about). Something that really helps me is to word vomit everything out on to a piece of paper because then, in theory, my brain doesn’t have to hold onto any of that information anymore because it is also written down. I like to make a list first of everything stressing me out/everything I’m feeling embarrassed about, then a To-Do list of the day/schedule my day out, and last but not least, a little gratitude list to end it my word vomit journal on a positive note.

Workout!!!!

Okay this an extra step aside from the earlier aforementioned morning movement, but as an anxious person I need a little something more intense to force my body to produce serotonin/destress, so I like to book a morning workout or go to the gym (lately I’ve been dong both). I love a morning workout class because it holds you accountable to finish the entire workout and it brings some social interaction to my mornings as someone who works from home. I’ve gotten super into reformer pilates the past year and a half (I try to go 5x a week). It makes your body feel SO good and on the bonus side, it’s SO hard that your brain can’t think of anything else for the 45 minutes so it forces you to be present. Lately, I’ve been following up with 30 minutes stairmaster to get any extra stress out and this added step has me in such a good mood everyday now.

Get *actually* ready for the day

Last but not least, even if you work from home, make yourself at the very least get semi ready for the day. As I mentioned, I work from home and make my own schedule, which I am so unbelievably grateful for, but it also makes it really easy to want to just go home, take a nap, and avoid all other responsibilities. I have found myself in my deepest ruts of burnout and unproductivity when post shower, instead of getting ready for the day, I throw on a pair of pajamas. It makes it way too easy to lay back down and call it a day. Putting on an actual outfit (even if it’s just a matching sweatsuit) and doing some light makeup makes all the difference. Not only does it make it way harder to lay back down, but it also gives you a nice little confident boost.

Ok, I love you so much!!!!!!!! If you’re reading this and you’re in a rut - tomorrow is a new day <3 Follow my morning routine with me - we can do it together. <3 xox