My Morning Routine || Tips for Creating Your Ideal Morning

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today, I am so excited to share my morning routine with you all! Throughout the post, I will also include some tips for creating your ideal morning – whatever that looks like for you! For me, my morning routine begins the night before. If you haven’t already read about my night routine, you can find it here.

7:00am

My morning begins at 7am when my alarm goes off. Eventually I would like to work towards 6:30, but for now I am starting with 7 to see how it goes. I personally like to wake up early because it gives me enough time to accomplish the things I would like to get done without feeling rushed or short on time. If waking up early doesn’t work for you, that is totally fine! You don’t necessarily need to wake up early to have a productive day if that is your goal – pick a time that works best for you and your schedule 🙂

tip #1: whatever time you decide to wake up in the morning, get up right away when your alarm goes off. Try your best not to snooze or lay in bed on your phone – trust me this makes a huge difference!!

After turning off my alarm, I open my blinds to let some natural light in. I then make my bed (which if you have watched my Sundays With Shannon on Instagram then you know this is a crucial step!). I head into the bathroom to brush my teeth, put my contacts in, and come back to my room to change into workout clothes.

I then go to the kitchen to get some water. I love drinking water with lemon and cucumber slices in the morning – it is so hydrating and perfect to have first thing before making coffee if I decide to have some that day. I usually sip on this throughout my workout and as I am getting ready.

7:30am

Around 7:30 or a little before, I head down to the basement to get a workout in for the day! I love working out in the morning because there are no distractions – no work to be done, no meetings to attend, etc. but it also leaves me feeling energized and ready to take on the day! By working out first thing, I also don’t have to worry about stopping what I’m doing throughout the day – this is free time that I can dedicate specifically to exercise which is really nice! I also try to switch up my workouts – on any given day it could be a run, yoga, strength training, HIIT, pilates, core, or any combination of these! I think it is so fun to try new things and incorporate different types of workouts into your routine.

tip #2: doing something active throughout the day (even if it is a walk!) is a great way to take a break from your computer screen and get the blood flowing. I have also found that working out does wonders for my sleep!

8:00am

After I finish my workout, I will shower and get ready for the day. Even though classes are still online, putting on some light makeup, doing my hair, and picking out an outfit makes it feel more normal and similar to my routine on campus. While I am getting ready, I will usually listen to a podcast if I have any episodes that I need to catch up on!

tip #3: I have always dressed up for class and highly recommend it! It keeps me feeling productive and motivated. You don’t necessarily have to go all out with jewelry and the whole nine yards but at the very least, try not to stay in your pajamas all day (as tempting as that can be sometimes haha!)

8:30 or 8:45am

Between 8:30 and 8:45 I will go back downstairs to make my breakfast and coffee. This is such a fun part of my morning and I love thinking of new recipes to make! During this time, I will check my emails or scroll through Pinterest or Instagram for a little while. I like waiting to look at my phone until this point in the morning so I don’t waste time in bed aimlessly scrolling instead of getting started with my day right away.

9:00am

In order to keep myself on some sort of schedule with my school work, I like to be at my desk by 9 or so. I will check my schedule for the day, work on the blog, prep for a class, or get ahead on some homework before my first class of the day.

tip #4: have something to look forward to in the morning! For me, this is working on my blog, reading, or some other activity before starting on homework or logging into online classes. To read more about building a schedule and the different organizational strategies I use, check out last week’s post linked here!

That’s it for my morning routine! I hope you enjoyed or maybe found some helpful tips for creating your own ideal morning – I recently listened to this podcast on the same topic and I found it so incredibly helpful!

I can’t wait to show you my day in a little bit more detail in a day-in-my-life video coming soon to IGTV! Have a great rest of your day 🙂