Is getting up in the morning a drag for you?
Oof. We can relate.
As soon as the alarm goes off, it feels like a struggle to get out of bed. Other days, you’re tempted to call out. These days do happen but there are things you can do in the morning to positively nurture your mental wellness.
Think of your morning as the foundation of your day. What you do and how you do them can create a strong foundation to handle the rest of the day.
In this blog post, we share with you a morning routine that does just that.
First, take a deep breath and repeat this affirmation 3x:
I meet today with an open mind.
Wake Up 1-Hour Earlier
What time do you wake up usually? Think about setting your alarm back one hour earlier, and that’s not Lovet Planners' advice. It’s scientifically proven that waking up one hour earlier than you normally do can help you be happier.
CNBC Health and Wellness reported, “The authors of a recent U.K. study, which also found that a genetic preference for waking up earlier “is protective of depression and improves wellbeing,” said that “circadian misalignment,” referring to how out of sync our daily routine is with our internal clock, “is a potential explanation...with evening people tending to be more misaligned.”
They also add that being exposed to light for most of the day and to dark most of the night helps regulate your circadian rhythm.
Use a Guided Journal
When you read about journaling for your mental wellness, you rarely see mention of what kind of journal. And what happens is many people sit down with a notebook or lined journal and feel the pressure of not knowing where to start.
Or how to journal in a way–with the right questions and intentions–for your mental wellness.
To make it easier to get started, Lovet Planners has a Guided Journals Collection. It includes a variety of journals that help keep your pen ink flowing and mindfully. Which journal you pick from the Guided Journals Collection all depends on what you’re seeking.
- Gratitude Journal
- Positive Thinking Journal
- I Love My Body Journal
- Abundance Affirmations Journal
- Manifesting Journal
- The Self Love Spark (90-Day Self Love Journal)
- Click Here To View All
Does journaling really work for mental health?
Yes! According to PositivePsychology.com, “It’s hypothesized that writing works to enhance our mental health through guiding us towards confronting previously inhibited emotions (reducing the stress from inhibition), helping us process difficult events and compose a coherent narrative about our experiences, and possibly even through repeated exposure to the negative emotions associated with traumatic memories (i.e., “extinction” of these negative emotions; Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005).”
Silence Notifications For The First Hour
If you’re using your phone as an alarm clock, it’s either time to get an alarm clock or resist the urge to open unread messages in the morning. It’s even better if you can stay disconnected for the first hour altogether including social media.
Why? Because the first hour of your day can be the most vulnerable, giving you two outcomes for the rest of your day: positive or negative. And while you can control your actions and reactions, you cannot control the actions and reactions of others.
That even boils down to the opinions we read while browsing through our Facebook and Instagram feeds, even if you’re in agreement with them. It makes it more difficult to focus because your mind’s first impression of the day is how you spent it online.
Write Down Your Daily Tasks
Sit with a planner or Manifesting Journal to go over what needs to be done that day. Reschedule things if days get overloaded. By using a planner regularly, you keep tasks at the forefront of your mind and create a routine flowing to stay on schedule. When you stay on schedule, you are more likely to complete tasks on time.
From there, you enjoy a release of dopamine which is the neurotransmitter and hormone that plays a positive role in your brain’s reward and motivation system.
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