My 5 am Morning Routine
Changing Things Up & Becoming ‘That Girl’…
I didn’t evening know that having a 5 am morning routine was a TikTok thing, but apparently, there’s a whole ‘that girl’ movement that I’ve become a part of. But yes, I am that girl and for the last month I’ve been getting myself up at 5 in the morning.
I guess the first question I should answer is why on earth I’m getting myself up at 5 am? Well, I knew that I was aiming to back into the workforce and have to plan a possible commute and get myself ready for work. I also knew I had a puppy to organise, a blog and Instagram to post to and a workout to fit in. All of this is to say, with a current wake up time of 6 am, I wasn’t going to fit everything in. There were things I didn’t want to compromise on and if I wanted to fit it all in, I was going to have to wake up earlier and have a 5 am morning routine.
So what does my 5 am morning routine actually look like? Here’s a breakdown of my mornings, from when I wake up till I leave for work.
My 5 am Morning Routine.
5:00 am: Wake up, get out of bed, change into gym gear.
5:15 am: Work out & cool down, drink a litre of water
5: 45 am: Comment on feed posts, have an espresso, check the diary for the day
6:00 am: Get Dash & go on a morning walk
6:20 am: Feed Dash breakfast, make my morning smoothie
6:40 am: Puppy cuddles and playtime, post on social media
7:00 am: Shower and morning skincare routine
7:20 am: Make collagen coffee, do hair & make-up, get ready for work
7:50 am: Check bag, grab smoothie & lunch, take Dash out for a pee
8:10 am: Set off for work
My Top Tips for Having a 5 am Morning Routine.
It sounds chocker, but it’s 100% worth it. Not only do I feel accomplished for getting everything done, but I feel more awake, focused and ready to take on the day. I walk out of the door feeling like I can take on anything, knowing everything is in order and I have nothing to sort out when I get home. I’ve got my evenings back which is great.
I have a few tips that I would highly recommend considering if you also want to join me and the 5 am club. These are my die-hard fast rules, things I won’t compromise on to ensure that I will get up with ease.
Don’t Lie In.
As hard as it is, you can’t lie in. As soon as that alarm goes off, get yourself out of bed. Personally, I’ve never been a person that likes to lie in, so I get myself up at 5 am every single day. Saturdays and Sundays included. Sounds crazy, but I just know that the one time I do it, it will knock off my routine for a while. Now, I don’t work out on the weekend. Rather, I either get up and catch up on some YouTube or lay in bed reading or writing up a blog post or two.
A great tip is that if you can’t trust yourself not to snooze, put your alarm or phone away from your bed so you have to get out of it in order to turn your alarm off. Once you’re up, you’re up.
Establish a Nighttime Routine.
Probably one of the most important parts of your 5 am morning routine is having a grounding, well thought out evening routine. If you’re not going to bed at the right time and not putting in the steps to put yourself on the right track, you’ll never have a successful morning. For me, that’s heading upstairs at 9 pm and winding down until lights out at 10 pm.
Prior to this, I’ve also got a strict rule of no coffee after 1 pm (I can hear my friends fainting at the sound of this), going for an evening walk to decompress and switch my brain off. Also, drinking water. I like to have a carafe and glass of water at the side of the bed to have some water whilst I’m reading.
It’s all these little things that set you up for a successful morning.
Don’t Give Yourself Any Excuses.
I like to make sure that I have no reason to not work out in the mornings. Part of this is to ensure that my workout clothes are ready for me in the bathroom (where I get changed so as not to disturb my husband). But the other part is to ensure my lunch is made, so that’s not an excuse. Things like having my outfit picked out the night before, my bag is packed and the house is nice and cleaned. It’s all about making sure you have no excused not to do what you need to do in the mornings because of X, Y and Z. That’s how you ensure you have a successful 5 am morning routine.