Mornin’

I was inspired to write this today because of a few conversations I’ve had in the past week about routines.

Being in my placement year and working full time has given me a more structured schedule which both has its pros and cons.

• Cons – lack of flexibility during the 9 – 5 period (especially when it’s a nice day, which is rare but still)
• Pros – I get know what I’m doing 5 – 9, 9 – 5, 5 – 9 and being someone who loves being organised, this makes me happy. 😅

I think my placement year has really helped stabilise my routine and now I’ve gotten so used to it. I hope to follow a similar pattern next year when I return to my student life – except with more flexibility during the day.

Because sometimes all I really need is to do HIIT in the middle of the day. 

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People are always shocked (and start feeling EXHAUSTED 😂) when I tell them about what I do in the morning.

My morning can be broken up into 4 main habits, one being waking up because how else do you start a morning routine? 🤣

1) Waking up ☀

Between 5 – 6 am, my mind and body are awake and ready to go. Recently this has been 4 am which has been a little annoying especially when I want to sleep in on a weekend.

I have to thank my Fitbit which has done an awesome job at being a very effective alarm. I think one of the things that helped me flow into this routine – especially initially – was the early morning game of trying to beat my Fitbit alarm by waking up before it goes off. It’s a fun game – I suggest you try it!

…Just don’t go back to sleep after you’ve won.

2) Working out 💪🏼

Once I beat my alarm, I usually get dressed in my workout gear (helloooo Gymshark) and then prepare my pre-workout drink which is either black coffee or BCAAs. Following this, it’s the Snapchat/Instagram emoji selfie (you should totally add me on both if you haven’t already) for accountability and is always a reminder for me to take progress shots – psst, August 2017 blog post with a collection of them is in the works already!

Then, of course, I workout. Currently, I’m doing FitnessBlender’s #FBbodyweight. If you’re familiar with FB’s workouts, they usually last 30 – 40 minutes which isn’t that long – that’s why I love them – efficient, effective and so dang intense.

3) Practising Mindfulness 💭

After cooling down, I do my favourite thing in the world: meditate. I’ve talked about meditation extensively on my blog and social media platforms and to those who know me in real life: excitedly over coffee/lunch. I encourage you all to try and implement it into your day (preferably morning!) it’s such a great habit – it really helps me focus my constantly worried mind! Less anxiety, less overthinking, more mindfulness, more productivity. 🤘🏼

I use the app Calm because I enjoy the daily calm series (there are some gems on there right now for Mental Health Awareness month, I highly recommend!) and it helps keep meditation part of my routine. You can, of course, practice meditation without an app which I’ve been doing during the day a lot recently.

4) Practising Gratitude 🌸

As I mentioned in my March monthly round-up post, I’ve really enjoyed starting my day with gratitude using the five-minute journal. Training my mind to take a more positive approach to the day has allowed me to keep channelling my energy towards being mindful of:

1. Things I’m grateful for
2. Things that would make the day ahead great
3. Daily positive affirmations. I am…

I also end my day writing in the journal, it’s definitely one of the answers to “why are you so happy all the time, Pauline?”

I love looking back and remembering what I did, how I felt and using it to express how grateful I am for all the support in my life in the present moment.

Again, you don’t need the five-minute journal or even a journal to practice gratitude.

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This whole routine usually takes around an hour and is honestly my favourite hour of the day. The vital 60 minutes of spending time on myself to improve my physical and mental health are so important to me. Besides, you are your most important project.

Waking up early has so many great benefits. Others, like Debbie Wosskow, also swears by the early grind. I wrote about Debbie last week in my round-up of the Empowering Women with Tech conference. Be inspired by some amazing women, read more here!

I’d love to hear about your morning routine! Share them with me in the comments 😁

Also this is the first song on my morning playlist recently, quite fitting, I have to say 😉