I Woke Up Like This

 

Image via

You know those articles that pop up all over the web? Those articles that make you feel like a lazy slug because of your morning routine? I know you have seen them...they are everywhere.

Now, I don't want to totally tear them apart. I understand and appreciate what they are trying to convey. We have to work hard to maintain healthy and balanced lifestyles, I get it. However, can we please acknowledge reality for a second?

Are these kinds of morning schedules truly attainable? Not for all of us.

I applaud the women who find the strength within them to wake up with enough time before work to get in a workout, eat the healthiest breakfast you've ever heard of, do some light reading, catching up on the news, and finishing their first cup of coffee (whaaaat?)

I'm gonna be real. I do not wake up energized. I wake up tired. I wish I could be one of those people who just wakes up a morning person; one of my roommates in college was that person. Unfortunately, my timing still isn't great on matching up my alarm with my REM cycle, but I'm working on it. Note: that's sarcasm. I'm not working on it. I have other things to do.

I would love to get in a morning run. It's nice and cool in the morning, a great time to clear my head and begin the day. However, that would mean getting up at 5 am — considering I would need time for a quick shower. Also, I can't say I would feel totally safe running before the sun is up. But I do try and get a morning run in when I am working from home or on the weekends.

But I do try to make my morning a good one, because I do believe that it does set the precedent for the day. I can't have a long leisurely morning and stroll out calmly for work; I would get lazy. So I wake up, giving myself between 1-1.5 hours before I have to walk out to catch the train.

The night before I will have thought about making my lunch, but I will not have made my lunch, so I will throw a salad together while the kettle boils for my coffee. In the four minutes that it takes the coffee to do it's thing in the press, I put together my breakfast: yogurt and berries, Cheerios (always the OG) and berries, or a breakfast sandwich.

I allow myself to catch up on my late night show clips and any breaking news from the night since I do my reading on the train (great way to get through the 45 minute commute!)

Compared to the morning routines in these articles, mine certainly probably seems a bit lazy, but IRL it works for me. I don't feel sluggish during the day. Sure, I get kinda tired around 2 pm, but then I get up and take a walk down to the riverfront to breathe in the fresh air for 15 minutes before I head back to finish the day.

Morning routines aren't one-size-fits-all. Never let one person's productive morning make you feel like you aren't doing enough...it's quite possible you are.

- Ashley

How do you spend your morning?