When I was in college (and even before college), I was NOT a morning person. I wasn’t a night person, so really, I was just weird. I was the type of person where you did not want to talk to me in the morning. I had to have my coffee before I could talk to anyone. 

But flash to post-grad—I actually find myself being more productive in the mornings. The time I take for myself to refresh and renew in the morning sets me up to have an okay-ish day, dare I say it—an effective day. 

These steps have worked for me. That’s not saying that they’ll automatically work for you. You have to apply these steps almost every day to set a habit and to see productive results. So don’t give up after three days! It’s easy to, but I promise you, if you just stick with it, you’ll start to see your happiness boost and yourself getting things done. 

Set three alarms! I set three alarms the night before. They’re spaced 15 minutes apart. I set my first alarm 15 minutes before I actually have to get up, just so my sleep cycle knows when it’s actually to get up and I don’t feel groggy when I actually do. I usually snooze the first alarm, so sometimes there are four alarms (the iPhone alarm goes off every seven minutes). Then, when the second alarm goes off, that’s when I get up. And I usually don’t have to wait until the third alarm! 

Make your bed. As soon as I drag my tired self out of bed, I make my bed. It makes me feel better, and it doesn’t tempt me to climb back under my sheets and shut my eyes. Plus, it makes me feel good that I come home to a made bed. 

Avoid your phone, grab your coffee. Or tea, orange juice, milk, etc. Easy life hack! Instead of reaching for your phone in the morning, make your morning beverage of choice your motivator! Get up, drag yourself to your coffee maker. Because who doesn’t want coffee first thing in the morning?! 

Then read. You don’t have to necessarily pick up a book! Read a devotional, an article (yes, pick up your phone for this one), or a self-help non-fiction book. Sometimes, when I don’t feel like reading (shocking, I know!), I read the latest articles. My favorite email newsletters that include articles are TheStripe.com (Grace Atwood), @girlsnightin, and @theeverygirl. Oh, and The Skimm and The Morning Brew to catch up on what’s going on in the world. 

Pray. I’m still working on this one. This is VERY personal because I don’t want to tell you how to maintain your relationship with God. That’s your relationship. But I will tell you that praying before I do anything in the morning and sitting with God and being present in that moment has set me up for a good day ahead. The days where I do pray and do read certain Scriptures in my Bible have been good days. 

And then usually, my morning routine has been about 45 minutes to an hour. Yes, an hour might seem crazy to set apart in the morning, but waking up an hour earlier than I’m supposed to has helped me in more ways than one. It’s helped my mental health, helped me gotten clarity on what I’m doing for the day, and helped me wake up feeling refreshed and energized (partly). I’m still working on that last one. I even have time in the morning to do my makeup! I promise you, if you just wake up an hour earlier to set apart a morning routine that works for you, you’ll start to see changes within the first two weeks. 

For more resources, check out this lovely article about morning routines. I’m also the type of person to watch morning routines on YouTube, it’s literally my hobby. 

Have a great day, lovelies!!