The missing hour in your home morning routine.
And here we are again at Sweet blog, the sweetest blog online. The place for all those seeking information concerning the 'home concept.'
And today, we will walk together on one of the most pleasant and essential paths in every home - the morning routine that goes on within it.
Your morning routine is one of the most important things for you regarding personal growth and productivity. And usually, for the vast majority of us, most of this routine takes place, in terms of location - within our home, And in terms of timing - In the morning hours.
Therefore, in this article, we will review the best ways to make your morning routine nothing less than perfect. And it only takes one hour to turn your day around. And for the better.
And as always, at the end of the article, there will be a refreshing infographic presentation to summarize its content for you.
Hop on.
1. Get up early.
First and foremost, even before we review the actions required to create the ideal morning routine, you must first allow a broad enough measurable spectrum within which your actions will take place, in other words - time.
If you get up early enough, you will have time set for those actions necessary to optimize the morning routine within your home. And if You plan to wake up 5 minutes before leaving your house, you won't have time to do anything.
Furthermore, Besides implementing the positive morning habits that we will expand on later, there are very significant health benefits that you can gain from getting up early.
Win the morning!
Please do yourself a huge favor and watch this excellent video about the very nature of getting up early in the morning and why it is so difficult for many of us.
When you struggle to wake up early, you actually go from being reactive to being proactive. You do not allow your day to lead you. On the contrary - You are the one who takes the reins to yourself and rules your day. It is the first step to becoming free people who are not driven by the necessity of reality but rather try to change it to create an ideal environment for their personal growth.
You probably easily understand that there is a massive difference between the person who wakes up an hour and a half before the time he has to leave his house and the one who wakes up fifteen minutes before.
The first will engage in productive and fulfilling activities and execute tasks thoroughly and calmly, while the other guy will be under unprecedented pressure, and his ability to perform will be reflected accordingly.
This fairly intuitive insight does not need to be explained excessively.
And as always, we're not just talking about abstract theories. Read this excellent guide to get the best tips to help you succeed in waking up early in the morning.
So, now that we have established the importance of the early morning awakening and understood that it is the initial step for optimizing your morning routine - It's time to discuss the practical tips that will make your mornings productive and full of positive content - something that will have a tremendous and immediate effect on the rest of your day.
As the well-known saying goes - "win the morning, win the day."
2. Soul first (fine-tuning).
10 minutes
Now that you have woken up early and have enough time. Let's get started pouring some content into those precious minutes.
Tip number one is called "soul first."
A widespread opinion is that we, as human beings, are not made up of just skin/tissues and bones - we have a living consciousness. And it doesn't matter how you want to call/characterize it (cognition/brain chemical interaction/soul/you name it) - We all feel it. And It would not even be far-fetched to claim that our consciousness is quite the same as our personality and its main components. Because at the end of the day, what we feel/think/crave - is who we are.
Therefore, it would only be natural that the needs of that entity - let's call it a soul - for the sake of argument - should receive a specific response within your home morning routine.
Now let's be practical for a moment. Advanced preparation with attention to detail, better known as the 'fine-tuning' stage, usually precedes every thorough process. And the same goes for your morning routine - Ensure to reach the fine-tuning for body-soul balance - before taking the necessary steps - which we will expand on later - to optimize your morning routine.
"How to do that?" You must be asking.
Well, we're delighted you asked. First and foremost, you must recognize that such a need exists - And that, contrary to the perception that physical needs are the only ones that matter - it is of utmost importance to respond appropriately to your mental needs at the beginning of each morning.
Apparently there is more to you than you think
Based on the proven scientific benefits of its use, Our first tip in this regard is gratitude.
Every morning, as soon as you open your eyes, try to be grateful for at least one thing. It could be yours/your children's health/your job/the food you have on your table\friends and family\hobby that makes you feel good about yourself, and so on.
Gratitude should not be about dramatic or unusual things but rather the simple things in life that we tend not to appreciate until something terrible happens.
Create a morning habit of gratitude. It will help you focus on the positive things in your life, and there's no better way to start your morning's fine-tuning.
Right after gratitude, it's time for the well-known and powerful tool - Breathing.
You should start with five minutes of breathing. Close your eyes and breathe. Inhale and exhale.
With every breath you take, Try to bring positive energies and a happy thought into your system, and vice versa, expel the poison that fills your soul with every exhalation.
Focus only on the breaths because, With their help, you can be here and now, at this moment alone. Not yesterday and not tomorrow - at this moment only, Because he is the only one who exists, any other thought is a far-fetched imagination.
Take a deep breath
And as we mentioned, breathing is the ultimate tool in helping you focus on the present moment.
Some will link the tool of breathing to the well-known concept of meditation. That's perfectly fine.
Remember that this meditation will be much more effective if it is done after physically getting out of bed and performing the basic hygiene needs of the morning (Facial wash/teeth brushing/toilets). This way, you can perform it properly without fearing falling asleep again due to its relaxing nature.
There is no need (actually not recommended) to think about something specific. On the contrary, the point is to reach a state of relaxation and focus only on the inhaling/exhaling mechanism.
And if troubling thoughts do "pop up," then the secret is to accept them with understanding and embrace them without judgment or anger at yourself for feeling/thinking that way.
Imagine it as sitting peacefully on a bench in a cute green park while looking at the clouds. Do you have a criticism/opinion about the movement of the clouds? of course not! And that's precisely how you should treat the disturbing thoughts while you breathe - with understanding and a smile, because just as the clouds "just move," so your thoughts and feelings - which are based on automatic behavior patterns that originate from the events of your life - "just move."
And just as you have no "personal" interest in the clouds, so precisely, during the breathing practice, you are supposed to relate to your brain and its products and focus only on breathing. And so - dwell in the present moment/
By doing so, you will reach the Abovementioned 'fine-tuning.'
By the way, today, it is pretty well-known that Proper Breathing Brings Better Health.
3. Body.
40 minutes.
Now, after we've created a time frame and taken care of the fine-tuning, It's time to talk about the machine that drives us - Our body.
The first way to do this is by doing a short morning exercise.
There are countless benefits from morning exercise, but apart from all those benefits, it is a very significant component of the home morning routine that we are trying to introduce you to.
Don't sweat. We don't intend for you to become LeBron James - Just about fifteen minutes of physical activity at your home.
Here you can find a list of simple exercises you can perform at home in the mornings. Trust us - By doing so, your body and mind will be grateful.
While you are sweating following the physical activity, the next step is a good shower (some argue it is better cold).
There are significant benefits to taking a shower first thing in the morning. And that is precisely what you will do After you are done with the breathing and the exercises.
Among other things, If you are a little sleepy, a good morning shower will wake you up fairly well, and the water flowing over your body will give you a feeling of cleanliness and renewal.
Your body is your most important investment
You are more than welcome to read the article from our sweet blog about how to easily create an adapted home gym within your home.
After exercising and showering, it's time for a light breakfast.
Although there is a lot of evidence for the importance of a healthy breakfast at the beginning of your day, We want to add a small note to this recommendation - make it light.
One that will give you the energy you need until your next meal, but on the other hand, will not burden your stomach.
Here you can find 31 Healthy and Fast Breakfast Recipes for Busy Mornings.
By the way, An excellent tip to help you with your breakfast meeting your morning schedule is to prepare the food ingredients the night before.
4. Plan your day (in writing).
7 minutes.
If you are interested in having your daily tasks carried out carefully and efficiently, without forgetting specific tasks, etc., you must plan it in advance.
Aside from the intuitive insight regarding the importance of pre-planning, It would be best if you insisted on doing it in writing.
There are many advantages to writing things down. It will help clarify things for you and contribute to the sense of order that is important in any planning process.
Write things down and clarify your thoughts
Do yourself a favor, sit back for a moment with your cup of coffee, and write down your expectations for your day. It will significantly assist you in clarifying your thoughts and distinguishing between the essential and the bland - a task that so many fail at and lose valuable time.
5. Smile a little.
3 minutes.
Although we are sure that you are already well aware of the benefits resulting from smiling, It should still be an active and permanent part of the morning routine we are trying to prepare for you.
We recommend you dedicate the last three minutes of your daily preparation time to smiling and laughing.
Studies clearly show the positive effect of Forced Laughter on Mood.
And if we put it in simple words - The more you try to smile and laugh proactively, the better your mood will indeed improve. And even if you feel it's coming from an artificial place - it's still perfectly fine.
It's based on empirical theories of positive psychology and more.
Start your day with a smile!
Do not get us wrong. We have no intention of telling you to smile for no reason (although there is nothing wrong with that. On the contrary). Our sole purpose is to recommend a quick action that will put a tiny smile on your face. It can be a short standup session/a silly video of one of your loved ones, etc.
The guiding principle is to create a spectrum of 3 minutes that will make you proactively put a smile on your face.
You will be surprised to hear about the enormous importance of this smile for a more positive start to your mornings.
By the way, besides all the scientific mumbo jumbo, etc., intuitively - think about it for a second, leaving your house with a smile - doesn't it sound fantastic?
Now to conclude, plus a final and important note.
In the end, this entire article amounts to only one hour. One hour has the power to give you better mornings, followed by better days, and thus, in the end - a better and more meaningful life.
But you must know that when it comes to implementing new behavior patterns, your number one enemy is Mrs. Laziness.
You must equip yourself with steel discipline that will help you apply the above principles. Because even if we write these tips a million times, in the absence of solid discipline on your part - they are not worth the (virtual) ink that was used to write them.
Therefore, you must do as much as possible to train yourself in solid self-discipline - One that will make this important morning hour consistent.
Just remember that difficulties are an integral and natural part of the game. Keep them from breaking you, be consistent. And if you fall - get up!
And as we said at the beginning of the article, We reasonably believe that if you adopt this morning routine before your day "officially" starts - it will work wonders for you.
We hope this article - 'The missing hour in your home morning routine' - helped you to some extent, and if you still have any questions/comments - write them down below, and we will respond.
By the way, as always, feel free to jump into our collections page.
What are you waiting for?