Make your day easy - tackle your morning routine!

It wasn't long ago that I was a teenager with very few responsibilities: school and cleaning, my room were pretty much it. This gave me plenty of time to sleep-in and ignore all advice for how much sleep was necessary for brain development and drag myself out of bed at the very last minute. However, the older I get, the more I understand the value of a good morning routine. Having a good morning routine can really propel me into having a productive and successful day.

Here are my tips for helping you to do the same!

Get a decent amount of sleep the night before

You should try your hardest to get the right amount of sleep that you body needs. For adults, the recommended amount of sleep is 7-9 hours, but try your best to get 9. Sleep is crucial for concentration, focus and helping you to perform your best - both physically and mentally.

Try to be aware of sleep-debt, and make sure that you account for it when scheduling your precious hours of Z's. There's nothing better than waking up rejuvenated and charged instead of feeling like a zombie.

Don't set your alarm next to your bed

The reasons for this are simple. If you have to physically get out of bed to turn off your alarm, you're going to be less likely to hit that snooze button and sleep in. You'll also be less likely to do my cheeky favourite of re-setting your alarm to go off 15 minutes later. Be realistic when setting your alarm, and stick to it. C'mon mate, don't be lazy.

Make sure your alarm goes off early

Set your alarm for as early as possible. This also means ensuring you go to bed early enough so that you get the right amount of sleep.

There are a number of reasons to do this. You'll have plenty of time to be productive, include some exercise, get your routine in the bag and head out the door feeling like you've already achieved something.

Drink warm water when you wake up

There's a great Lifehack article written by Tegan Jones about the benefits of drinking warm water, but to sum it up: Drinking warm water (preferably with lemon) in the morning assists in kick-starts your immune system, assists in body detoxification and helps with hair health and a whole range of other health benefits. (who knew!?)

Exercise!

You should do your best to make sure you do some form of exercise in the morning. Whatever your preference, taking a walk, running, doing yoga (a personal favourite of a number of my friends), just try to do something.

Making sure you exercise in the morning helps get your blood flowing, gives you energy and releases a whole range of endorphins to really give your day an awesome start. Plus, it's crucial to take care of your physical health, which has its own benefits!

Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is a great way to take care for your mind and mental health. The practice of mindfulness, being aware of how you're feeling or how you're behaving, can really be beneficial in understanding yourself. By practicing mindfulness, it can really aid in helping you achieve a sense of alertness and calm to challenge all your tasks throughout the day - and the best thing is it's super easy to practice! My personal favourite is Smiling Mind, an app that guides you along the way, but there are a bunch of other great mindfulness practices you can do.

I hope that including some of these super simple tips into your morning routine will help you to have the best start to your day!