Well its official…I have done one productive task over this quarantine and it is to organize my pantry. If you follow me on stories you know that I started this little task months ago with the idea that I would finish it in a weekend. Well fast forward weeks later and it was a half done more of a mess than when I started. I decided to finally buckle down over the past week, order the final pieces and put it all together. I honestly think a lot of my proscastination on this project was due to my struggle with pretty versus practical. Search for organized pantries on Pinterest and I promise, you will close your computer with total pantry envy but honesly most of them have very little food or have the food all contained on baskets that you can’t see into. Unpracticality honeslty doesn’t bother me in the slightest but unfortuantely it doesn’t fly for the rest of my family. So the last few weeks my goal has been pretty meet practical.
So without futher ado here is the final product…I’m sure I will change it here and there over time but we have been living with it for a couple days now and so far its stayed put together.
For me starting my day off right sets the tone for my entire day. It’s taken me a long time to find a routine that works for me but now that I have one I never stray away. Oh except for maybe this little thing called quarantine…it has definitely caused me to tweak my routine a bit but I still try and accomplish the same tasks just not necessarily in the same order. I did however want to share what my routine is in normal circumstances.
Make My Bed:
Without a doubt making my bed is a morning ritual I never skip. There is something about having a made bed that starts your day feeling accomplished. And not to mention it just makes your room feel and look good which for me automatically bring my stress/anxiety levels down. It’s also the best feeling later that night when you can crawl into a made bed and feel so comfy and warm.
Workout:
I want to make it very clear that during normal circumstances there is nothing better than doing and finishing a workout in the morning. Quarantine times however have been a little different story and my workouts have moved to the afternoon because lets be real…a 5:00am wake-up call right now is just not in the cards. But when life goes back to normal (and it will) I love getting my workouts done in the morning before the hustle and bustle of the day starts.
Drink A Cup Of Lemon Water:
I am not personally a coffee drinker but know so many people who rely on their morning cup of jo to get their day started. For me a cup of lemon water does the same thing. I typically drink this after my workout and while writing in my gratitude journal and then while I’m getting ready. This might just be me but I also find drinking my warm lemon water out of a cute cup makes it that much better. There is also a ton of health benefits that come along with drinking warm lemon water that
Promoted hydration
Helps with weight loss
Improves skin
Aids digestion
Freshens breath
Prevents kidney stones
source (www.healthline.com)
Write In Gratitude Journal:
Sometimes when life gets chaotic the best thing you can do it stop and be grateful for the things you have. For me it gets really easy to get sucked into stress, anxiety and the unknown. Taking a moment to write down and reflect on the things I do have and am so grateful for immediately changes my frequency and I am able to carry on. I have been using the journal Be Great, Be Grateful for a while now and love it. I have linked it and a few others below.
Morning Protein Smoothie:
Now this part is so important, what I start my day off eating definitely sets the tone for me for the rest of the day. I mean I would probably prefer starting the day with a bowl of some sort of sugary cereal but that just creates and uphill battle for the rest of the day. A protein smoothie is perfect for on the go when I am rushing to get out of the house and I typically drink it on my drive to take the girls to school and myself to work. It’s also a very filling option that keeps me full until lunch whereas another option like cereal always has me hungry around 10am. Below is a link to my go to protein smoothie as well as a few others I’ll make every now and then.
I think we can all agree that laundry is probably none of our favorite activities. At my house I feel like it is never ending and I am never really caught up. There is also nothing worse than loosing what feels like an entire weekend to laundry. To make laundry feel a little less overwhelming I like to do one load per day and I do it in the morning. In normal times (not quarantine) I put a load in the washer before my morning workout and then stick it in the dryer after my shower. Typically it doesn’t get put away right away but this helps me keep things manageable and not doing what feels like 25 loads on the weekends. It’s another task that makes my mornings feel so productive which then carries into the rest of the day.
Hope you all enjoy reading and maybe some of you would even be interested in making this your morning routine as well. I would also love to hear about your morning routine if you have one. Send me a comment or email letting me know what works for you. Happy Friday!!
