The ‘realistic’ check list for optimising your day.
We are in the era of morning routines and ‘days in the life’ thanks to Instagram and Tik Tok.
While I have no doubt they have some validity (and I use some of the suggestions myself) the reality is they just aren’t feasible if you are not an influencer whose working day involves trying on new clothes and doing workouts.
I can relate to not feeling like there is enough hours in the day between work, health, family and socialising (and I don’t even have kids) so I certainly don’t feel the ‘fix’ is unnecessarily elongating our mornings.
Upon Waking:
-Have a glass of water beside bed that you drink upon waking (bonus points if it’s electrolytes).
-Get light as quick as possible (natural light is best followed by artificial sunlight, even if it’s rainy and you can’t see the sun outdoor light still helps).
-Consider a bit of cold water in your shower (although not essential).
-Get some kind of movement whether it’s a body weight circuit, walking in the garden or a full blown workout.
-Have some caffeine. Why? Because life is too short to not enjoy a coffee. All joking aside there is some research suggesting caffeine isn’t effective till around 60-90 minutes after waking while other studies rubbish this so I shall let you decide.
-Focus on some breathing work (check out my other blogs).
-Minimise phone time and definitely avoid checking work/stressful things where possible.
I actually walk round the block drinking my coffee. This ticks the movement, light, caffeine and de-stressing boxes and takes circa 10 minutes. It also means I start the day on 1500+ steps which is a bonus when trying to maintain body composition.
Pre-Bed:
-Minimise screentime.
-Try and avoid caffeine after1/2pm.
-Have a cool or room temperature shower.
-Watch/read something that doesn’t take huge brainpower.
-Try and have some white space pre-bed. Don’t finish an email, close your laptop and expect to jump in bed and fall asleep asap.
Now some of these will be easier for us to incorporate than others but I’m confident most will make a difference to your energy levels throughout the day.
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