10 Things You can do to Have a Productive Morning

During my teen years and a few of my college years, mornings had always been a struggle until now! I have grown to enjoy the stillness of the morning. Here are a few tips that have helped me have a productive morning for an enjoyable day!

1. Wake Up

Waking up is always a great start to the morning. When I was in my freshman year of college, I would always wake up an hour before my classes would start. Most of my classes started at noon. It didn't mater what time I would go to sleep the night before, I would always set my alarm at 11 am. Eventually I realized that I could accomplish more of what I needed to do if I woke up early.

Gradually I would set my alarm clock an hour back from my original time each day until I eventually reached 5:30 am. Now, I can wake up right at 5:30-6:00 am without having to even set an alarm clock.

2. Meditation

According to Healthline, there are six types of meditation which include: mindfulness, spiritual, focused, movement, mantra, and transcendental. For more information on each meditation, I will leave a link so that you can check it out. Over the last few months, I have leaned towards movement meditation. Gardening for 10-15 minutes has been a nice activity to do in the morning. It allows me to have peace and quiet before starting the rest of my day. Whether it's walking, writing, or even praying, find something to invoke peace for at least 10-15 minutes. Not only does meditation improve your sleep, it can also reduce anxiety and decrease pain.

3. Straighten Your Room

As a child, I used to hate cleaning my room. Every Saturday, my mom would wake my siblings and I up and prepare us for cleaning the whole house. Once we were finished, we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. I used to dread Saturday mornings, but now I am thankful for having that routine as a child. Now on the weekends I clean my whole apartment so that during the week I only have minor things to do such as making up my bed and putting away any clothes that were cleaned the day before. I have realized , having a clean house creates a positive atmosphere for how the rest of the day is going to go.

4. Morning Workouts/Yoga

Exercising has always been my go to in the morning. It releases any tension that I have and causes my brain to get going. There are many ways to start exercising in the morning. For me, I like to use a fitness app that sets up each routine for the day.

Here are 4 Free Apps to Use For Fitness .

5. Wash Face/Brush Teeth

This one is self explanatory. Hygiene is important when involving your health. Washing your face prevents acne while brushing your teeth prevents many diseases.

6. Eat a 'Healthy' Breakfast

The worst thing to do is skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast will harm your productivity for the rest of the day. By the time lunch comes around, you're sluggish and irritable. I like to have a full plate when it come to breakfast which includes sausage, eggs, hash browns, and waffles. If that's to heavy, you can also eat a bowl oatmeal or make a cup smoothie.

7. Drink Coffee/Tea

For some people, coffee is a necessity. For me, I'm a tea drinker. There are many benefits for drinking tea. Tea can help with weight loss as well as reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. My favorite tea to drink is chamomile tea.

8. Get Dress For the Day

Always get dress as if you are leaving for the day. This includes weekends too. It's easy to be content in your pajamas, especially now, but it sets a tone for the rest of your day. Staying in your comfort clothes will cause you to feel lazy and less motivated to get any work done.

9. Write a To-Do List

Writing a list of things that I need to do has been something that I have been practicing lately. It holds me accountable throughout the day and pushes me to actually get work done. With a list, I haven't forgotten anything that I would normally forget.

10. Drink 12 oz of Water With Lime

Drinking water helps hydrate your body! I like to drink a glass a water with lime because not only does lime water taste good, lime also improves your immune system and skin quality. In my book, its a win win.

If you are looking to improve your productivity, be sure to pin, print, or save this checklist to your phone!