Reasons Why I Love My Mornings
Throughout 2020 I’ve developed an appreciation for being a morning person. I’ve written about how I love my mornings before when talking about my daily routine in some Q&A posts so it shouldn’t be a surprise. With all of these changes, I have felt lucky to be able to keep up with my typical mornings but amend them a bit to fit the times. Of course, things haven’t always been…stellar, and being more strict about work hours has been a struggle. Not everyone is willing to accept the fact their emails and texts won’t be answered whenever they want. But the reality is, I appreciate my mornings because they are quiet and they are mine.
Mornings are the time where I can just be. I get to do things I enjoy and savor the moments before everything seemingly erupts into chaos. Emails…social media posts…designs that need to be done…never-ending edits. When 5 pm rolls around I’m just way too tired to function. Let’s face it…mornings are the bomb. The rest of the world is pretty much sleeping unless you know, you’re that one Facebook webinar I had to take at 6 am. Not everyone is a morning person, I get that. But I genuinely look forward to my mornings and here are a few reasons why.
Exercising
There are many reasons it’s better to exercise in the morning than later in the afternoon, but the main reason I enjoy morning workouts is that I can’t sit around all day making excuses about why I can’t workout out that day. Working out in the morning leaves me to my own thoughts and I’m not looking at my phone for a period of time in the morning so I’m not tempted to begin answering emails or work-related texts. Since the gym isn’t a safe option, doing a workout outdoors like walking or running, exposes the body to direct sunlight which can be an instant mood boost. Working out in the morning sets the tone for the day, gets the blood flowing, and wakes me up. It’s the pre-coffee energy and self-esteem boost I need to get through the day.
Eating a Real Breakfast
I don’t think in my life, other than going to brunch, I’ve ever sat still to eat a real breakfast. I am a notorious eat cereal, pop tarts, or protein bars while walking around type of girl. The quarantine has awarded me more time to slow down and actually eat breakfast. It’s never an elaborate breakfast but rather a bagel or yogurt. To me, it’s not necessarily about the food, although the nutrients are important post-workout, rather time spent eating. I’m more aware of my intake and it’s more time I can spend not scrolling Twitter or becoming prematurely enraged at work-related emails.
Getting Ready for the Day
I recently read an article about how the person was throwing away the notion you have to get ready for the day while working from home, and to some extent, I agree. There really isn’t a need to get dressed to the nines while working from home unless you have say a Zoom meeting. There are days when no makeup and sweatpants can be pretty freeing. But sweatpants signal relaxing to my brain so on days where my workload is pretty hefty I try to make a genuine effort. This doesn’t always include a full face of makeup, but the bare minimum and some feel-good clothes. Plus you never know when a surprise zoom meeting will arise. Being put together at least from the top-up sometimes can be a real confidence booster that is needed in a creative job from time to time.
Making My To-Do List
Anyone who knows me knows I almost religiously update my day planner. Partly because it holds me accountable for getting things done I need to get done, and because I can be forgetful sometimes. Taking time to sit and organize my day helps me feel less overwhelmed. I can prioritize tasks by importance and make sure I’m accomplishing those things rather than tasks that can simply wait for another day. Looking at the week or day ahead lets me assess where things fit. Many of my work tasks have assigned days where they become routine so I better know where to fit other tasks in. This makes meeting deadlines much easier not to mention letting clients know when their project will be ready to review. Nothing feels better than checking off tasks throughout the day. Trust me.