4 tips to help you get your morning off to a more joyful start

So, are you a morning person or not? I am firmly in the “up with the larks” camp, whereas my husband would happily sleep until noon everyday if he could! Whichever camp you fall into, I believe that we all deserve to have a joyful start to our day. And that’s exactly why I’m sharing this post today, which is filled with tips to help you get your morning off to a more joyful start. Enjoy!

1) Write it all down

You might have already heard about “morning pages”, a practice made famous by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, but if you haven’t, the premise is simple - you spend a bit of time each morning filling 3 pages in a notebook with stream of consciousness writing. The aim isn’t to produce anything particularly groundbreaking or noteworthy, but simply to get whatever is in your head out on to paper. I’m not sure exactly why it works, but I do know that on the days when I make time for this habit, I feel calmer, more together and more optimistic. Even when I start the practice by simply writing “I don’t know what to write today”, I always end up feeling lighter as a result. I prefer to do my morning pages by hand, but if the thought of that gives you hand cramps, then the 750 words website might be a good option. 

2) Practice some positive affirmations

Some people love affirmations, some people think they’re a load of woo, and it will probably surprise absolutely no-one that I fall into the first camp. There’s a lot of research that exists to back up the power of positive affirmations, but all I know is that when I start my morning reciting statements or mantras that make me feel successful and in control, the rest of the day tends to unfold in a way that backs those mantras up. If you’re new to positive affirmations then this post will tell you more about them, and help you to get started with writing your own.

3) Give yourself an extra 10 minutes

I've read loads of these lists that advise waking up an hour early to practice yoga or watch the sunrise or prepare a fresh, organic lunch, and while it would be great to be able to do all of these things, if waking up an hour earlier was really THAT easy, we'd all be doing it, wouldn't we? An extra ten minutes however shouldn't be too hard at all, and it means you can get ready without feeling rushed or stressed, read a chapter of your book, or grab yourself a nice coffee on the way to the office. It gets the day off to a calmer, more positive start, and stops you feeling totally frazzled and ready for a glass of wine (just me?!) by 10am.

4) Make a to-do list (and stick to it)

My final tip for this post is a pretty obvious one - make a to-do list. However, when done right, it can make all the difference to your day! I like to make two lists each morning - a “must do” list, and a “could do” list. The must do list is made up of my biggest priorities, and rather crucially, I never put more than 3 things on this list. It might not sound like a lot, but 3 impactful things done well each day equates to pretty rapid progress. I then add anything else to my could do list, which I get stuck into whenever I’ve finished everything on my must do list. I find that this system helps me to focus on what my priorities are each morning, and most importantly, it helps me to actually get shit done.

There you have it, my 4 tips to help you get your morning off to a more joyful start. I’d love to hear about the activities that form part of your morning routine?