Full disclaimer: I am not a morning person. The idea of a morning routine being anything other than blind panic induced by approximately 17 snooze buttons is alien to me. But over the past year, I've gained newfound appreciation for those blissful early hours - all that early-bird-catches-the-worm stuff I had heard so much about.
Going freelance has gifted me not only the ability to spend way more time with my cat, but precisely one extra hour to my morning; one that I would normally spend dozing in someone’s arm pit, standing up on the tube.
How much good I’ve done with this extra time, however, is debatable. There have been some great improvements, but also some breakfasts in bed watching Netflix, which, as motivating as two eps of Arrested Development are, can make me feel sluggish and unproductive.
So, I challenged myself to a week of seriously upgrading my morning ritual - for a better start to the day and (obviously) a better me, right?
I decide the best way to kick-start the week is with health and exercise. For breakfast, I make natural yoghurt with muesli and bananas, then down a bottle of water.
Next up is exercise. I hate cardio, but I used to be a dancer, so my preferred exercise is anything dance related.
My favourite workouts are actually online. The New York City Ballet has an excellent, and very rigorous, fitness workout you can watch on YouTube. If you want to get fit but loathe the gym like me, it's a great shout: just clear a space in your home and use a yoga mat, or similar, as a base.
After I'm done, I make my obligatory first morning coffee and hit my emails by 9am, feeling very awake and very smug.
One of the great things about working from home is the ability to wash my hair properly in the morning, with time for it to dry and be styled. Whilst most people can do this without any issue, I happen to have hair the size of a large toddler and with the consistency of a matted dog, so #thestruggleisreal.
Getting up early and dedicating time to my hair is, therefore, really rewarding. I am a loyal FrizzEase girl; especially their Deep Conditioning Mask which works especially well with my hair type. The best way to use it is to comb it in wet and leave for several minutes.
My ideal helpmate for this is Tangle Teezer’s The Wet Detangler hairbrush, which is specially created to work with wet hair without pulling or breaking. It’s an upgrade on my old Tangle Teezer, largely because it has a handle, which is a serious improvement for people with VERY big hair like mine. It’s become a godsend as it genuinely does not snag. Plus mine is Millennial Pink and I love that it reminds me of a brush my Barbie had. After it's washed off, I briefly towel dry my hair and run my Wet Detangler hairbrush through it again, this time with oil, to ensure minimum matted-dog-look for the rest of the day.
I have a breakfast meeting this morning so I get up early, make a coffee and try and plough through emails before I leave. I’m a furious note-taker and have several notebooks and diaries I use for different aspects of my job.
I also have a Question of the Day book that was a gift from my best friend last Christmas. It’s a totally cheesy concept; that the book poses a different question each day – from how you’re feeling and what you want to achieve that day to who you most admire. But it’s actually become quite a mindful morning routine for me to write in it. Plus, it has space for five years, so you can ideally look back at an answer you gave years ago and see how much you have changed. It’s a great, reflective focuser for early in the day, and takes up hardly any time at all.
It’s a beautiful day so I decide to totally revolutionise my morning routine and, after a quick breakfast, go for an early walk. I live right next to a gorgeous park that I criminally never use, so I finally decide to take advantage of it. I bring my headphones and listen to a podcast because I may be off for a morning stroll, but I’m still a millennial.
I love listening to podcasts when I’m walking. Some of my favourites include, Call Your Girlfriend and The High Low, The New Yorker’s various offerings, especially their Politics and More, The Hollywood Reporter’s great celebrity interviews and the Longform podcast, which profiles great writers and journalists. They’re a fun and inspirational way to engage your brain in the morning, as was, it turns out, 40 minutes walking in my neighbouring park. No screens + lots of fresh air = a great start to the day.
I don’t have an appointment till mid-afternoon and I have met all my deadlines, so I decide to have a somewhat more relaxed morning. Instead of lounging around watching Netflix (and therefore increasing my screen time), I choose to have a bath and read.
I always have one fiction book and two non-fiction books on the go because I am a voracious reader with a short attention span. Non-fiction is a great bath read because essays are short and you can reduce the time you spend turning into a prune. At the moment, I’m jumping between the latest collections by Martin Amis and Zadie Smith.
One essay and a great bath oil (I recommend Susanne Kaufmann’s Bath Oil for The Senses) is a genius way to tackle a Friday morning and kick-start your weekend.
I wash my hair and use my Wet Detangler hairbrush until I feel a bit like a mermaid. If you time it right, you can be back at your desk by 9.30am; well-informed and stupidly relaxed.
THE VERDICT
By Saturday, I genuinely feel more revitalised when I wake up in the morning and, frankly, lazy if I stay in bed. Challenging myself to up my morning game has given me great ideas for a sustainable routine. My hair is seeing significantly less breakage and I’m spending far less time in front of a screen, which is great for my eyes and, probably, my soul. I’m not saying I’ll be totally immune to the snooze button going forward. But given time, hopefully my mornings will be as detangled as my hair is now.
