Hey guys,
Welcome back to our blog. We hope that September has gotten off to a good start for everyone and that you found our ‘5 simple tips for planning’ blog to be helpful in setting yourself up for a successful month.
Now that you are aware of your goals, and some action you can take in planning and achieving them, we want you to focus on how you can set yourself up for success on a daily basis. Having an effective morning and evening routine has proven to have many benefits and we, at EXCAPE would like to share with you some of the things that we find beneficial in creating our own morning and evening routines.
Starting and ending the day on a positive note, and on your own terms is essential to ensuring a successful and productive day. Distractions are everywhere at the moment, and the intentions of a productive day can diminish quite quickly when we don’t have a routine in place. We’ve all been there, starting the day with great intentions, and before we know it, it’s dinner time and we haven’t even accomplished half the things on our to-do list.The same goes for the evening, how many of you have gone into the evening without a routine and suddenly you’re wide awake at 3am, scrolling through your phone or finishing off some tedious task that you had planned to get done earlier that day. It goes without saying, you’re not setting your body or mind up for a very restful sleep if this is the case. If you want to achieve your goals on a daily basis, you need to be aware of your priorities. Of course, it’s not going to be realistic to stick to our morning and evening routine every single day but the more consistent you are, the more you will reap the benefits. The things we think you should bear in mind when creating a morning and evening routine are:
In our ‘5 simple tips for planning’ blog, we encouraged you to break down your goals and pick at least 3 priorities for each day. Once you’ve discovered what you’re most passionate about, and where you want to be, you can make sure your day is aimed in the right direction. You can do this by ensuring that your morning routine is in line with your priorities for the day ahead, and you're evening routine reflects on these and prepares you for those that will continue into the next day.
This is one of the most important things for both your morning and evening routine. Don’t check you phone or email first thing in the morning. You don’t know what to expect and you don’t know how it will impact your mood. Do something that will benefit you, and your mind on waking up and let everyone else wait. The first thing you do in the morning is going to set your mood for the day so why not make it something that you enjoy and something that benefits your mind, body or soul. The same goes in the evening, your wind down time should be free from all external stressors and should be aimed at preparing you for a restful sleep.
There are plenty of different routines that might work for you. Try keeping note of what you find useful, and what you don’t. Therefore, you can make changes accordingly to find the perfect routine for you.
- Wait 30 minutes MINIMUM before looking at your phone/ email
- Pre-prepare your breakfast the night/ day before
- Wake up 30-45 minutes earlier so you’re not in a rush to get ready
- Get some fresh air or incorporate some form of movement
- Spend some time planning for the day/ reflecting on how you’re feeling
Some of our top tips for an 'effective evening' routine:
1. Include something you enjoy/ take some time for yourself
2. Turn off all technology/ blue light at least 45 minutes before sleeping
3. Write down your plan for the next day
4. Brain dump: reflect on the day you’ve had and write down anything on your mind, that might prevent a restful sleep
5. Stretch or complete some bedtime yoga/ Read a book
Stay tuned next week for some tips on helping you with a different kind of routine, meal prepping!
