Confessional: My Morning Routine

Prior to my car accident I was bartending at a nightclub and therefore going to bed very late in the early hours of the morning and sleeping in to get enough zzz’s. That all came to an end abruptly after my car accident, and I wanted to retrain my mind and body in order to become more of a morning person. I still have some night owl in me, but overall, I love mornings.

Mornings are so important, they set the vibe for the rest of the day. During the time after my car accident I also found myself adrift—suddenly I had nowhere to be at a certain time (unless it was a doctors appointment or PT), and no one to answer to. I hated that feeling of drifting aimlessly throughout my days, so I decided to start driving my little brother to middle school to 1) establish some sort of routine in my life, 2) force myself to wake up earlier, and 3) to spend some one-on-one quality time with him. (I was driving him to 7th grade at the time, and he’s about to end his sophomore year and take drivers ed *inserts crying emoji*.) I realized just how much I thrive off of structure and a consistent routine; I think all humans do, which I why I truly believe establishing and following a morning routine that suits you is so important and beneficial. It’s because of my morning routine that I often find myself super positive in the mornings, excited and ready to tackle the day ahead.

That’s not to say that I never have low moments, times where I feel unmotivated, or that my routine doesn’t get disrupted, because it does. In fact, my days have a tendency to get disrupted more than usual because of my chronic neck pain and nagging shoulder injury. I’ve had to learn to work around all of this in order to keep myself grounded through it all.

Below I’ve broken down my morning routine Monday-Friday, how I prioritize my tasks for each day, and how I stay motivated and handle funks. P.S: be on the lookout for an upcoming post on how I unwind for the day, my nighttime routine, and self-care rituals.

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My morning routine:

7:30 am: wake up

Ideally, I’d like to get up earlier—and I am working on that—but I need to get to bed earlier. For now, though, I’ve found that 7:30 is my sweet spot. I get up and out of bed right away so I don’t chance falling back asleep or feel sluggish. I get up and moving immediately. I also try my best not to look at my phone because I’ve found it’s extremely distracting, especially being tired and just waking up.

7:45-8:00am: workout

I love this time because I’m usually the only one awake in my house and it gives me time to collect my thoughts and prepare myself for the day. I workout right from home, which has been a huge game changer when it comes to scheduling. Seriously, driving back and forth to the gym for a low-impact workout was such a waste of time. After I wake up, I go downstairs into the kitchen where I’ll take my medicine for the day and have a few sips of diet soda (Pepsi is my fave). I’m not a coffee drinker and I cannot handle caffeine at all, nor do I need a lot of caffeine in the morning, so those sips of soda are enough to energize me a bit and get me moving for the day. I’ve found that sitting around and waiting to wake up only delays me from actually waking up, whereas diving right into my workout immediately wakes me up better than any caffeine buzz can. After I do this, I go downstairs into my finished basement where my workout equipment is along with all of my gym clothes. Having them right there makes it easier for me so that I can change right there and get moving.

Due to both my neck and shoulder injury, I’m unable to perform anywhere close to the physical activity level I was at previously, but my go-to workout has become walking on the treadmill with a resistance band (I use the Sling Shot Hip Circle in size L for extra moving room). My treadmill belt was broken recently, so I walked around the house starting in the basement, up to the kitchen and living room area, then back down again. (Don’t knock it, it’s a really good workout.) Despite my injuries, I feel much better staying as active as I possibly can, and I love how it makes me feel mentally.

On the mornings my neck is killing me more than usual, I’ll usually refrain from working out, but I’ll still take this time to myself by reading a little bit, or if I’m feeling ambitious I’ll play some The Sims 4. I try not to do the latter because I like reducing my time in front of a screen as much as possible.

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8:30-8:45 am: end workout, stretch, and wake up my boyfriend

My boyfriend and I vlogged a day in our life and joked about the fact that he’s a grown-up who needs to be woken up by his S.O every morning. I don’t mind because it helps keep me to a schedule.

8:45-9:00 am: quick morning work

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I publish new blog posts, so after I wake my boyfriend up I go right back downstairs, quickly glance over the post to make sure everything’s in order, and publish around 9:00. I get everything done ahead of time so I don’t have to think about it or edit it in the morning. I like publishing my posts around the same time. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’ll either take the time to stretch a bit more while my boyfriend jumps in the shower or I’ll get whatever I’ll be sharing on social media ready for the day. After that, I’ll shower, throw on my bathrobe (legit robe queen over here), and follow it up my skincare and body lotion.

9:30-9:45 am: mindfulness

I really take the time to practice mindfulness every day, and I’ve found doing it in mornings after I’ve showered and before I tackle my next tasks and the rest of the day is best. I start out with a 15 minute meditation, followed by journaling, and a daily reading from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. Taking this time helps clear my mind and get it right, and gives me the power to fully focus on whatever it is I need to do afterwards. Taking the time to do this really centers me, and I’ve found it makes me handle whatever’s thrown my way better.

10:30-10:45 am: begin day

I work only my blog every day, and almost every day consists of some brainstorming, writing, and editing. Usually during this time I’ll focus on brainstorming ideas, outlining a blog post, and drafting new posts as my creativity levels are usually super high in the mornings. I like to capitalize on new ideas right away. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are usually dedicated mainly to brainstorming upcoming posts, outlining and drafting new posts, as well as editing other posts. Tuesdays and Thursdays are usually the days I’ll take photos or film videos if I need to for blog posts and/or social media. They’re also the days I’ll typically edit any photos/videos, organize my blog post with pictures, and proofread my post for the following day.

12:30-1:00 pm: lunch

Despite the fact that I’m almost always hungry when or after I wake up, I don’t eat anything until lunch time (unless I feel dizzy, then I’ll have some granola or a cookie). By this time I’m usually starving, and eating later than 1:00 usually makes me feel sluggish and not so good. Eating between 12:30 and 1:00 helps me avoid that afternoon slump. After that, it’s back to work.

How I prioritize tasks for each day:

Sticking to a schedule as far as what days I’ll publish a new post in certain categories helps keep me organized with this. Every Monday I’ll publish a new relationship post, and Fridays I try to keep for confessionals or a blog post that’s more personal, which means that Wednesday posts are typically dedicated to either lifestyle, beauty, soul, or books. I usually have my ideas for posts laid out a week or so in advance; the times that I don’t, though, this regiment helps me focus in on what topic I should be brainstorming and writing about.

Say, for example, it’s Monday morning around 10:30 and I’ve gotten everything I’ve needed to get done that day so far, if Wednesday’s post isn’t outlined or drafted yet, I’ll take the time to do that. Afterwards, I’ll move onto Friday’s post and leave the proofreading and final editing for Wednesday’s post for Tuesday, and so on and so forth. Keeping everything organized like this helps me clearly see the goals I need to hit for each day. I also write everything down religiously and set reminders for myself constantly. If I need to make an important phone call I’ll make sure that I set a reminder on my phone so I don’t get distracted and forget. If I’m unsure of where to go next in terms of my blog, I’ll lay out my calendar and ideas and where I can slot in each post. Then I’ll be able to take a step back, see what I’m missing, and fill in the blanks. I draw inspiration for my blog posts from my own life, current events, pop culture, social media, and books and magazines.

I also try to keep all appointments as early in the morning as possible. That way, I can get said appointment done and out of the way so I can focus on my tasks for the rest of the day without interruptions. Plus, doctors typically run on-time first-thing in the morning or when you’re the very first appointment.

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RELATED: HOW I MANAGE STRESS

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How I stay motivated and handle funks:

There will always be highs and lows in life, but for some reason, we always try to fight off the lows. We don’t want to see them, feel them, or deal with them, and when a low is looming on the horizon or right in front of us, we tend to try to push it away. Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t work.

It’s kinda ironic that I’m writing this now, considering I’ve been feeling a bit down this week and less motivated and creative than usual. In fact, I haven’t felt unmotivated in a really long time—which I’ve attributed to my spiritual journey and growth—and I just realized about 30 minutes ago what’s actually going on. I’ve been trying to fight it and find the reasoning behind this lack of motivation and stifled creativity, and though I’ve come up with a few answers, they haven’t felt right.

I realized that sometimes, we will have low moments, dark days, and times where we feel unmotivated for just the simple fact that it’s the course of life. There can be no highs without any lows, just as there can be no darkness without light, and so on and so forth. In moments where I’m feeling unmotivated, I will still try my best to stick my schedule as much as possible because I’ve found that can help get my creative juices flowing again and inspire me. But what I’ve found to be even more helpful than that is really taking the time to meditate, journal, and sit with the day’s reading from The Book of Awakening. I’ll really take the time to meditate on what it is that I want and need for the day. I’ll try to sift through the white noise and get to what I’m feeling in my heart, which I’ll explore more with my journaling and reading afterwards. This will almost always lead me to finding a spark of creativity and passion again, which will inspire me to write and/or get more work done on the blog. Or, in rare instances, it will lead me to realizing that I need to take a break for a few moments. The other day I did this and read outside late morning into early afternoon. When I came back inside, I found that I was ready to get back to work once again.

I also remind myself that while on spiritual journeys and a path of growth, it is perfectly normal and OK to stall or even have some setbacks. Pain and suffering = growth, so I’m learning to embrace these moments rather than running away from them because I know I’ll come out stronger once the darkness lifts and the light enters again. Remembering that any stalling or setbacks doesn’t mean I’ve lost any progress or all the work I’ve put in so far has been for nothing is another helpful tool I’ve learned and implemented when it comes to dealing with funks. Even still, in times I’m feeling down and unmotivated, I’ll still push myself and try to find the good. I won’t allow myself to get completely caught up in any negativity or get upset with myself for not feeling 100%. It’s important during low moments to try and be gentle and compassionate with yourself, and I’m learning how to do that through everything I just mentioned above, which for me, is the key to staying motivated and handling funks.