If you’re a morning person, I’m happy for you. I really am. There may be a little bit of envy-speckled jealousy in there somewhere, but I am happy for you. For most people, though, waking up in the morning (read: midday) is a struggle that consists of a dozen alarm spread nine-minutes apart and at least two strong cups of coffee. It’s a routine that has long helped us non-morningers get up and out of the door.
But that’s not what kickstarting the day is all about.
We should be able to wake up with a smile, feel excited about the 86,000 seconds that lay ahead and dance out of the door with so much infectious happiness the rest of your little world feels like it’s been touched by fairy dust. The way you begin your day, at least for me tends to have a massive impact on how the rest follows, so it's imperative to do it in the most positive kind of way.
So, without further ado, here are the best ways to wake up with the kind of #MondayMotivation feeling you pretend you have on Instagram.
1. Breakfast Is The Best
Apart from music, nothing fuels the soul more than a yummy breakfast. Blueberries, syrup and freshly-made pancakes. Avocado on toast. A smoothie full of all your favorite fruits. A bowl of porridge with bananas. It only takes one less snooze-button to fit in the kind of delicious and nutritious breakfast that will make you feel more energetic, spritely and happy.
2. Bye-Bye Screens
We’re not sure if you’ve read, seen or heard the news lately, but it’s very rarely filled with uplifting stories of human kindness or facts about unicorns. The point is: skip the news in the morning and watch it later in the day, when your great mood couldn’t possibly dampened. (Oh, and the other thing is, screens are bad for moods in general, so try reading a book instead.) I recently took a month's break from Instagram and the difference was very noticeable.
3. Dance Like No One’s Watching
Spotify has roughly 1,650,032 feel-good playlists just waiting for you to explore and press play on, which you need to do because, like I said somewhere above, nothing fuels the soul more than music. So pop on your favorite cheesy hits, turn it up so loud you can sing in the shower and dance until your cheeks hurt from smiling. I love driving along to some classics in the morning, or failing that, at least an uplifting podcast.
4. Sleep Well, Wake Up Better
No one is going to wake up with a smile if they’ve spent most of the night tossing, turning and staring at the ceiling. If this describes your slumber-pattern, chances are your mattress needs to go and you need to go onto Google and search for a ‘local mattress store near me’. That’s the first part. The second part is keeping your curtains half open. We know that sounds bonkers, but waking up to a room flooded with sun rays is way more beautiful than waking up to an alarm, and helps wake you up gradually too.
5. Charge Your Phone Downstairs
Put your hand up if you reach for your phone as soon as you wake up and start scrolling through Instagram and Facebook like it's your daily newspaper. Well, weirdly enough, this isn’t the most enlightening way to start the day. My advice (although I'm also yet to follow it): leave your phone on charge in the kitchen and wake up without it. It might sound simple, but it’s more cathartic than taking a sketch pad to the park on a balmy summer’s evening.
