I hit a really low point this semester where I would literally wake up 30 minutes before class. Remember, ladies and gents, that I have a 15-17 minute walk to my first class every morning. Yeah, that left me 15 minutes to get ready, fill my book bag, and run around looking for all the things I couldn’t find. It was stressful and not very effective. Mornings should be like the movies, you wake up fresh faced and full of promise for the day ahead.

My day was looking very bleak.

So, naturally, I finally had internal reflection time and decided I needed to rethink how I ran my schedule and life. I changed a few things and now my mornings run much more smoothly so that I can actually enjoy the start to my day!

If you’re looking for a change up on your morning routine, keep reading!

1. You have to (MUST, really) prepare as much as you can the night before.

I’ve been starting to do most of my homework in the library, Starbucks, the lobby of my dorm, anywhere that isn’t my dorm room really so that I have a calming and school-free zone to come home to. When I get back, I like to shower, watch some Grey’s, and maybe have a little dessert! Well, I also learned that this is a great time to prepare a little bit for the next day. Five things to do the night before:

1. Check the weather and plan your outfit.
2. Planner Check: I make sure I haven’t forgotten any major events.
3. 30 min- an hour before bed: Shut down all electronics. Phone -> airplane mode.
4. Pack up your backpack with all the necessary class materials.
5. Read a book, newspaper, magazine for pleasure.
6. Make a super yummy breakfast!

2. No caffeine after 10 p.m.

Y’all know how obsessed I am with coffee. The saddest part is I don’t typically drink it when I’m tired, but simply for the taste. I had to wean myself off having coffee after 9 p.m. because it was disrupting my sleep patterns. It was harder for me to fall asleep and it wasn’t that great “knocked out” sleep that I was use to! While that may seem like common sense, really make sure you’re not filling up on any caffeinated beverages late at night (tea, soda, coffee, etc).

3. Put your alarm far enough away so that you have to physically leave your bed, but close enough that you’ll still hear it.

This actually works. I set my alarm for about an hour and a half before my first class starts. That’ll give me an hour to get ready for the day and 3o minutes to commute! There’s nothing like being early and not stressed! It’s my paradise, honestly. It’s all fine and dandy until you hit the snooze button 10 times and you have 20 minutes to “sweats and dart.” I’ve started putting my phone far away so that I have to get up, and at this point I’m so lazy that I won’t even feel like hopping(running and leaping, really) back into bed. After you turn your alarm off, make your bed so that you won’t get back in it.

4. Get a rocking morning face wash.

I have a Clean and Clear face wash that I never used until a couple of weeks ago! That was a mistake. It has super refreshing exfoliating burst beads and it’s infused with cucumbers, and is literally the perfect face wash to wake me up in the morning. It puts me in such a great mood, I love it!

5. Make a Morning Soundtrack with pump up music!

So, I’m still living the dorm life and I have a roommate (she rocks by the way), and I’m not gonna blast Beyoncé at 7:30 am and wake her up either! I do use headphones to listen to my YOU GO GIRL playlist in the morning! It has some of my favorite artists and songs, and it’s just a good time really! I do this when I’m at home and it’s great!

6. Try to stay off the electronics for at least 30 minutes after waking up!

Go easy on your eye balls when you wake up in the morning! I can’t tell you how bad it is to immediately check the messages you didn’t get and look through the 12 emails that you won’t even read. SO, stay off it. The first time I look at the screen is to read my email from TheSkimm over a bowl of apple cinnamon oatmeal! Instagram and twitter for the blog come next, and that’s about it!

My {Ideal} Morning Routine: School Edition

8:00 am- Alarm goes off! I’m up and ready to start the day.

8:05 am- Clean&Clear Face Wash wakes me up even more! Brush teeth & use Face Moisturizer.

8:10 am- IFTTT sends me the daily weather report!

8:15 am- Plan out outfit, pick jewelry, and start doing my makeup.

8:30 am- Read email from theSkimm and start up Keurig.

8:40 am- Finish makeup and do hair.

8:55 am- Put on clothes and make oatmeal.

9:10 am- Grabs book bag and heads out the door!

As you can probably tell, I do a lot of multitasking and it gets kind of hectic in the morning and that’s why I always have my book bag packed and I try ~really hard~ to have my outfit planned ahead of time, but that honestly rarely happens. Also, during high stress times, like most of spring semester, this completely gets blown away {but I’m trying really hard to get better}!

Thanks for reading! I hope this was helpful and that you found it relevant to your life. Ready to take back your mornings, tweet at me (@theswirlblog) and tell me what’s your first step!