Dabbl

I’ve always been oddly curious of people’s morning routines and definitely do not take mine for granted. There’s a lot to be said about how someone chooses to start their day. This blog is about my morning routine/hacks and how it helps me to tackle my day.

1. SUNLIGHT – Getting out of bed is easier said than done, I know. The best trick I do which has been super helpful is sleep with the blinds open. Hopefully you’re not sleeping on the first floor so people can peep in throughout the night. Keeping the blinds open will let sun light through your windows in the morning. Having the sunlight gradually fill your room and hit your face naturally helps us wake up. Before we had all this technology, back to when we were cavemen, we would fall asleep when it got dark and wake up when the sun came up. Our bodies are engineered to respond to sunlight and wake up with nature. This hack is big. If you feel uncomfortable with keeping your blinds open or if sunlight doesn’t make it to your room, then turning the lights on in the morning can also help. I have a remote to my ceiling light that I turn on sometimes when there isn’t much sunlight. In my experience, the natural sunlight works better, but this is not a bad alternative either. This not only helps waking up but also tells your body to get going. You’ll feel more energized for the first 30 minutes after waking up, allowing you to tackle task after task, building momentum going into the day.
2. SNOOZE – There are a number of articles with scientific data that prove to us that hitting the snooze button will only make us feel more tired. I agree to that to an extent. Ideally, I would get up as soon as my alarm goes off the first time. But, we are all human and it’s not always that easy. I allow myself one press of the snooze button. I feel hitting it once doesn’t hurt my mornings at all. Anything more than one time will cause you to be more tired. But once is fine. Doing so once also allows my body to recognize the sunlight coming through my windows and gradually wakes me up.
3. MAKE YOUR BED – I know it’s annoying. I used to hate it when my parents told me to make my bed. But this is the first challenge we face every morning. If we make our bed after we climb out of it, it would be the first challenge of the day we overcome, and a step in the right direction. Although it’s a small task, you will feel good about yourself that you completed it. Start to build you momentum with this small task. Then this leads to another task and another task eventually leading you to tackling bigger tasks. And the best part is if you had a bad day, at least you have a made bed to look forward to at the end of the day!
4. 1 MINUTE WALL SIT – This may sound weird to a lot of you, but it definitely helps waking up and getting rid of any grogginess. Doing a wall sit for one minute immediately after climbing out of bed is a great way to wake yourself up and get your blood moving. The point is not to give yourself a workout, so if one minute is too much then just reduce it to 45 seconds or whatever you feel is appropriate. For some odd reason, this one minute for me seems to go by much quicker than if I did it in the middle of the day. I’m guessing it’s because my mind is still thinking about sleep and so it’s distracting me from the wall sit itself. An alternative to this would be pushups, sit-ups, or body squats. Anything that gets your blood flowing will do. I just found that a wall sit works best for me.
5. SHOWER – If you’re familiar with Tony Robbins, then you may know he starts each of his mornings with a dip in a cold tub or a cold shower. I’ve tried this many many times and to tell you the truth…I HATE IT. I don’t feel much benefit from doing so. I just stand there thinking about how much it sucks. The biggest effect I think it has on me is that I get angry and frustrated, which may be the point honestly, but even so, that’s not how I want to start my mornings. I take a normal temperature shower. I really wish the cold shower was for me but it’s just not.
6. BREAKFAST SMOOTIE – I eat a small breakfast on most days. On the weekend, I’ll cook a little extra. But on normal workdays, I make myself a smoothie and eat two brazil nuts. I put a wide variety of delicious and nutritious items in my smoothie and change it up from time to time. All the fruit is bought fresh then I wash it myself and then freeze it. Just don’t freeze the bananas. I’ve found that doing so makes the bananas gross. The point of freezing the fruit is so the smoothie is cold and has a little bit of a slushy consistency. No one likes a warm smoothie. Here’s what’s in my smoothie most days: 1) strawberries, 2) blueberries, 3) 1 banana, 4) spinach, 5) chia seeds, 6) honey, and 7) non sweetened/non flavored almond milk. I like to put a few strawberries in and a lot of blueberries. I like to put in a handful of spinach. The honey is for the taste. With all the spinach, the smoothie won’t be sweet anymore, so the honey is there to balance out the flavor. But do whatever you fancy. I use a Nutribullet Pro. It’s important to use a really good blender or your smoothies won’t turn out great. Very satisfied with my Nutribullet.
7. TEETH – Brush the pearly whites and follow with mouthwash. Simple. Make sure the mouthwash has fluoride and doesn’t have any alcohol in it. No one likes sticky breathe.

There you have it. I do this every morning to ensure that my day is started off right. It’s all about setting your body and mind for the day ahead. Build your momentum early on and your day will be better off. Hope this helps.