Everyone loves a good morning routine and I am no different! People LOVE watching youtubers morning routines. I love to watch them because they seem so perfect and put together. I used to try to copy the routines and make them my own but they never really stuck for long. This is because the “perfect and put together” routines are not always sustainable. It usually lead me to half assing the routines after some time SO it’s safe to say that I was never much of a morning person.

Interestingly enough, I have turned myself into a bit of a morning person lately. I came to the realization that having a morning routine that works for me is really important. Lately, I have been struggling with a lot of anxiety that has sort of taken over my life. I have always been a “routine” person in the sense that I thrive on structure (very Virgo of me) and I noticed that my life has been lacking structure outside of working which has made my anxiety worse. 

Taking control of the morning

The first thing I did when I made the decision to take control of my mornings was jump on google and read articles about routines, morning anxiety, ways to reduce anxiety, and so on. I came across a lot of the same old advice which was fine but I needed something new.

I DID learn something though! If you are like me and really struggle with anxiety in the morning keep reading. Our cortisol levels are higher in the morning because we are waking up. However, that can be hard for people with anxiety because our cortisol levels tend to be higher anyways. So the EXTRA cortisol (aka: stress hormone) just adds more to the already full pot and can make things a little worse. Here’s that article if you want to read it! Interesting stuff!

Anyways, back to the routine! I started to piece together some of the things that I found online and also some things I’ve seen people do in their YouTube videos to create a routine that felt right for me!! 

My anti-anxiety morning routine

I call this an anti-anxiety morning routine because it’s basically just the entire morning trying to calm my body down enough that I can get on with my day with as little stress as possible. For most people the morning is a time of hustle and bustle and personally, my nervous system can’t handle that. It’s taken me a few years to figure that out. If you need some inspo to have a nice, calm morning for yourself or are similar to me and anxiety takes over, then keep reading and hopefully you will gain some insight into my life and some ideas for your own routine!

5:00am – wake up 

I set my alarm for 5:00am. I’ll usually lay in bed for a couple minutes before actually getting up so I can just acknowledge that I am awake and the day is starting. I quietly get out of bed because my fiancé is still sleeping. I quickly brush my teeth and then I head out to the kitchen and fill up my water bottle! Being hydrated in important!

5:15am – work out 

I NEVER used to be a morning work out person, let alone a 5 fucking am work out person. I would have laughed in your face if you told me to wake up early to get my workout in. However times have changed and I have come to the realization that working out first thing in the morning is positive in 2 ways. 1. It’s over and done with and I don’t need to worry about doing it after work when I’m burnt out and 2. Moving my body and getting some nervous energy out first thing helps my anxiety. It doesn’t FIX it or make it go away but it helps and I will take whatever I can get!

5:50am – food/ post workout shake

If I am eating, it is something small like a banana or oatmeal. But lately I have been liking protein shakes. I never liked them before because of the taste but I came across a different brand and it was a game changer for me. IdealFit makes the yummiest protein shakes. This is obviously not sponsored or anything but I would highly recommend this brand if you want to get on the protein shakes but just hate the flavour of them!

6:00am – bath time 

This is something I picked up from Angie Bellmare – check her out on youtube, she’s amazing. She has a bath every morning and I used to be like “wow must be nice to have that much time in the morning” but now I realize you will make time if it’s something you enjoy. 

I decided to try it out and it was super calming and relaxing. Having a bath is something I love to do at night before bed but I think the morning is even better!

6:20 – get ready 

I usually hop on the couch and turn on the fireplace. I grab my makeup bag and a mirror and do my make up while watching TV or youtube. Then I get my hair done, get dressed, etc. 

7:00am – leave for work 

The extra step

My morning routine technically ends there but I wanted to add this in because its something I do everyday and enjoy it. When I arrive at work around 7:30/7:45ish I sit in my car for a few minutes and write in my journal. 

I typically will write:

• How I am feeling/ any thoughts I have for the day
• What I am grateful for 
• What my current goals are 
• Top 3 priorities for the day that are not work related

If you want to take this a step further and use journal prompts, I have some ideas for you in this post!

Everything that goes into my journal is strictly personal, growth, side hustle related. Nothing to do with my 9-5 job. I find that working all day takes so much of my time and energy and even though it’s a HUGE portion of my life, it’s not the thing that really brings me joy. The things in my journal are what bring me joy and what I want my focus to be! Plus, I have all day to stew on work related things! I definitely don’t need to be thinking about it before I even enter the building.

I hope this was helpful and maybe gave you some ideas for your own routine!

Tell me in the comments if you have a morning routine right now and what you do!