Do your days begin with mad mornings where there's never enough time to get everything done? If you're not a morning person, worry not. These five changes can make the start to every day a lot more manageable.
Screen out
From work emails to group conversations to the #wokeuplikethis selfies, there are many temptations that make you reach for the phone as soon as your eyes open in the morning, but not only is this a health risk (who wants eye strain and computer face first thing in the morning?) it eats up a chunk of time and sets the tone for an unnecessarily hurried day. Even though the ping of an email might sound urgent, there's usually nothing that can't wait for you to get out of bed, stretch and wash your face at the very least.
If you can train yourself to stay away from screen time at least for an hour after you wake up, you'll find your general stress levels much lower throughout the day.
A little homework
While an hour of languor every morning is ideal, not everyone has the luxury of taking one's sweet time. You can still minimise the rush by getting some stuff ready the night before. If you've picked out and ironed your outfit for the day, packed your bag, and made breakfast or packed your lunch before you went to bed the night before, there will be fewer things to check off your list in the morning, and you can pace yourself more comfortably.
You snooze, you lose
If you're the kind of person that punches the snooze button on the alarm at least fifteen times before finally getting out of bed, you're going to hate us for this next one. Skip the snooze and get up when the alarm rings, and, after a groggy minute or two, you'll start to feel more relaxed throughout the morning. Snoozing only gives you the illusion of more rest, so if you want to wake up feeling refreshed, it's better to try turning in earlier at night.
Breakfast of champions
This has been said so many times in so many articles, it's almost a cliché. Start your day with a big breakfast, and you're set. It stabilises your blood sugar, keeps you full and less likely to indulge during the day, and thus keeps your weight gain at bay. Also, starting out the day on a full stomach can boost your productivity by a significant amount. And sweet lovers rejoice – if there's ever a time when it's okay to treat yourself to something sweet, it's breakfast time.
Priorities
To-do lists are awesome. They help us plan and organise our days. But a to-do list that's too ambitious can leave you feeling frazzled. Go ahead, make that list in order to put things into perspective, but focus on the priorities and focus on getting the three most important ones out of the way before you look at the rest. Strategising about a smaller number of tasks makes it easier to manage, and helps you feel accomplished.
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