Revamp Your Morning Routine
By: Laura Winter
Tags: Morning Routines, Lifestyle, Mindfulness, Routine, Morning

Revamp Your Morning Routine

With schedules thrown off, now is the best time to try a new routine

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

The world is in quarantine and everyone’s normal routine has been completely upturned. People are working from home, avoiding public spaces, social distancing, and hoarding toilet paper. It’s a strange time for us all, but it’s in our best interest to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

With schedules thrown off and mornings opening up without a commute, we aren’t sure how to handle the changes.

But now is the perfect time to revamp your morning routine. Without an hour-long commute in the morning and afternoon, I’ve gotten two hours back in my day to focus on my health and getting things done around my home.

If you’ve been looking to try a new morning routine, now is the best time to adjust. There’s no pressure to be out the door in time so you can play around with new habits and try new ideas. Here are some great ideas to revamp your morning routine.

Get up on time

Without that hour commute, it’s really tempting for me to stay in bed just a little longer. To keep myself on task before work officially starts, I’m still getting up at the same time. It will help the transition when I’m able to return to normal working hours but it also keeps me on task in the morning. I still have an extra hour to work on the things I want.

First task

Typically, my trick to getting out of bed is having a project I really want to work on first thing. Usually that’s writing. It helps get me up before the sun and keeps me focused until it’s time to leave for work.

Now that I don’t have that hour commute, I’ve switched up my first task. Since I have some time and would much rather keep my evenings open, I’ve moved my workout to the morning again. Right now with some nagging injuries it means I just go for a 30+ minute walk around the neighborhood (pending weather) but I’ve pushed my writing to my second task.

Getting movement while stuck in a quarantine is crucial. Look up ways to get some exercise during the day. You can always run up and down the stairs every hour, get some squats in without being judged by coworkers, walk your backyard/driveway/apartment parking lot, or find some quick YouTube workouts to do in the morning.

Declutter

It sucks to be stuck at home but even more so when you’re forced to stay inside a cluttered space. If you’re trying to work from home and your desk, space, or home is messy, you’re going to be distracted — or tempted to clean all the time! Now that you have some morning time back, consider adding a quick five minute decluttering session. It will help you clear your workspace and get focus back into your day.

Meditate or journal

It’s times like these that we realize how much of our lives we take for granted. Consider adding some gratitude to your morning routine through meditation or journaling. I’ve been focusing my evening journal time toward gratitude and using the morning to meditate and focus for the day. Having some positives to remind yourself that you’ll get through this is great for your mental health and keeping your spirits up and prepared for the day.

Family time

For those of us quarantined with kids or family, use the extra time in the morning to bond with each other. Play a quick game, talk with each other, catch up on some conversation, and just grow as a family. I’m thankful for some extra play time with the cats before they take their day-long naps (I’m very jealous of their lives). It helps relieve some stress and calms me down before the day is full of calls and telework.