Grab that 6 am me-time!
Where everyone is talking about how to make mornings more productive, let us try and make them more about us, our self-care, and me-time! Read more to learn how to introduce 6 am me-time and build successful morning routines!
Why 6 am me-time?
There’s magic in early mornings. The silence in the air, the sole company, and the slow hum of your own thoughts – reconnecting gives you a sense of calm!
6 am-morning gives you a kick-start to the day. You rise and shine before the others and win the day by planning ahead of time.
The perfect morning routine makes you the most efficient of the lot. Even the kids find you in a better mood, since you have already achieved so much before they all wake up.
It’s the best time for soul searching – what you did till yesterday, what you want to do today, and what you will do tomorrow. Some thoughtful introspection at night helps, but you get an even better perspective after completing your full night’s sleep.
It is that time of day when you will not be disturbed by social media, kids, family, or work. This is YOUR time, you spend time with yourself and find out whether you can make yourself happier!
Make most of this 6 am me-time by planning some writing, painting, gardening, or anything that interests you. Build an efficient morning routine around morning self-care and 6 am me-time.
Do you know why you want 6 am me-time?
I agree rising early may not be for everyone. I am very religious about sleep. Actually, I am so extremist that I might just kill someone coming between me and sleep. I have been more in love with my sleep after my second daughter decided she loved to wake us up in the middle of the night. Now she sleeps tight (thankfully!!). So some are tiring days for me after a late work schedule or some are just lazy days. I like to sleep in!
But what I observed is that I don’t feel very great after sleeping extra. My extra sleep makes me even more lazy and grumpy. Instead, I would be happier if I woke just a little before others and do a little morning self-care.
Find out your own set of reasons for getting that morning me-time. Work on your own motivation to wake up early.
And write it down on a piece of paper. Write down all the reasons why getting up early is important for you. Decorate this paper and put it up on the fridge or your wardrobe or mirror, where you would definitely read before going to sleep.
Do let us know if you have put it up in the comments!
Before you continue, do not forget to show us some love by following us on Instagram! Also do not forget to download Think Metime mobile app to claim your self-care!
A peaceful morning routine has to be preceded by a nighttime routine:
As we are serious about getting our 6 am me-time, we need to start making efforts to get it. Planning for the perfect morning routine has to be done the night before. This is how you can plan –
Pre-plan your morning at night:
Check what chores you have in the morning, and find out which of those you can finish at night itself. Chopping vegetables, deciding which sabji is to be cooked, washing kids’ bottles, and packing their bags, are some of the activities that you can very well do in the nighttime rather than leave it to the next day.
Have an early dinner:
Apart from it being the healthy thing to do, if you have to finish the night chores, plus some of the morning chores, you need to have sufficient time after your dinner and before your bedtime to do all that. So… plan for an early dinner, early meaning around 8-8.30 p.m.
Cleansing regime before sleep:
Probably many of you think this is frivolous, but trust me, a cleansing regime for your face and neck, does wonders to calm you down and ready you for a nice deep sleep. Choose a nice fruity, fresh-smelling face wash, followed by a good toner and moisturizer, and you will feel all the tensions of the day ebbing away from you.
Breathing Exercises:
Once you are in bed, rather than immediately lying down (although it feels very tempting, I know!!), please have just a little more patience and do some breathing exercises. Anulom-Wilom and Deep-breathing exercises work amazing for a deep sleep at night. All the things above are given here in order to help you sleep peacefully and deeply. When you know you don’t have to run around in the morning, for last-minute chores, you will feel much better. A cleansing regime and breathing exercises will calm you down and help fall into a deep sleep. All this to ensure, you wake up nice and early and refreshed in the morning, to enjoy some lovely personal time on your own, with no disturbances from anybody!!
We have another section for all the things you can do in the morning breeze. Meanwhile –
Important Note: “Do not check Social Media sites at night”:
Checking your mobile at night makes your eyes red and tired and you will lose the freshness you have achieved from the above activities. So, even if your cell phone beckons, give it a strict talking to, and keep it far away from you at night!
Hope this helps you all! Have a lovely sleep, and wake up to a beautiful morning, and some lovely me-time!
How to plan perfect 6 am mornings? Include these in your morning routines –
Congratulations! You are almost at the end of the challenge and I am sure you have gone ahead and grabbed that 6 am morning me time for yourself. If you have started it, then I am sure you are already addicted to it!! Don’t stop, keep going!
In spite of having a strong nighttime routine, you might have certain jobs those need to be done in the morning. Just to avoid the anxiety leading to missing your morning me time, ensure that you plan these jobs to the last detail. Ensure all the family members are aware of things that need to be included in the morning routine and things to be strictly avoided.
To get more control over your 6 am mornings; read: 5 magic mantras to make mornings easier
The point is if you have two and half hours in the morning, and you want half an hour of quiet me-time (stressing on the word – quiet!!), then you should be absolutely sure that you will finish your morning chores in the next two hours.
There cannot be any spill-overs even though you are a stay-at-home mom – actually, especially if you are a stay-at-home mom! Plan your mornings. Also, remember –
Mornings are about execution and not decision making. Leave the decisions to the night before!
Although I am sure we all have different morning schedules and hence I would be giving just the pointers – you should adapt to implement it in your system –
1. Create an awesome morning ritual –
This is step 1, as this would make you look forward to your me-time. Start with hydrating yourself (also read – 7 sutras of hydration). Include a hobby routine or fitness routine or creativity routine or nature connection routine in your mornings. It should be qualitatively inspiring on a day-to-day basis and should nurture your personality as a whole.
2. 6 am morning skincare routine –
Adopt an appropriate skincare routine, depending on your skin type. The first splash of water on your face is very refreshing and do that as immediately as possible after you get up.
3. Physical exercise –
Include physical exercise in your morning routine. It sets the confident tone for the day.
4. Healthy breakfast –
Make sure you incorporate a healthy breakfast into your morning routine. This early morning energy helps you tackle the day easily. Breakfast also restores glucose levels, an essential carbohydrate that is needed for the brain to function. Skipping breakfast can lead you to overeat later in the day.
5. Include extremely essential items on the list –
Generally, preparation of lunch and breakfast will be essential, but preparation for dinner might not be essential, so ignore it, don’t try to fit everything into your morning routine. Prioritize your tasks. As we have mentioned, try to plan everything the night before. It will be especially difficult if you have school-going children and have to juggle the school commitments. But if you inculcate this habit in your kids, it will be a big help.
6. Weekly meals pre-preparation –
It also is a good idea to make preparation for daily breakfast on Sundays. It saves a lot of time on a working day. For example, you can make the idli dough, paratha mix or upma mix, or thalipeeth mix on Sunday and store it in the fridge to be used on your busy working day. Pre-preparing meals is a tried and tested time saver technique.
7. Delegate work –
Rope in any help you can have in the morning. Allocate work like laundry, small cleaning work, lunch boxes, getting kids ready, etc to your husband and other family members. Your kids can contribute too by doing their own tasks as independently as possible.
Also read: 5 household chores you can delegate to your guy!
8. Get ready –
Spend time on making yourself ready for the day – put on make-up, do your hair, wear an awesome dress. It does not matter whether you are a stay-at-home mom or working from mom or a professional. This is an important ritual that will again boost your confidence throughout the day.
Hope this list will help you plan a perfect morning routine, which will not end up in you feeling guilty for your morning me-time as well as help you in getting control of the day ahead.
What do you think?
A big hug to all you for coming this far in achieving this challenge of getting your morning me time!
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