• About
  • Book Recommendations
  • Contact

Sincerely, Sara Meadows

a lifestyle blog about seeking simplicity

  • Goals & Routines
  • Organizing
  • Books
  • Family & Food
  • Wellness
  • Style & Decor

Goals & Routines, Wellness • June 22, 2020

Improvements to My Morning Routine

We all have things we can work on, and my morning routine is definitely at the top of my “to be improved” list. I’m a big believer in healthy routines, but creating consistency with them hasn’t been my strong suit.

I mean, you know your morning routine need an overhaul when the first thing you do when you wake up is check Instagram. Let’s just say I’m a work in progress.

How to Make Changes to Your Routines

When looking at my morning routine, all is not lost. I’ve had a lot of success changing my behaviors in the past and starting to shake up my morning routine hasn’t been much different than starting to stick to a budget or creating a new process in my business.

Whenever I try to create new habits, I’ve found two things really helpful. The first step is to write them down so you can see them together and put them out in the world. Keep these somewhere you’ll see them so they’re always front and center in your mind. For a morning routine, a Post-it on the bathroom mirror or on your bedside table would work.

The second step is to track routines to start to make them a consistent habit. They say it takes about two months of consistently behaving a certain way to make it a habit. Use a habit tracker or calendar to check off the days you’ve completed your routine.

New Additions to My Routine

While I’m still working at it, a few new recent additions to my morning routine has definitely improved how I start my day. Here’s what I’ve recently added to the mix.

Morning Routine

  1. Waking Up Earlier
    While I’ve always been an early riser, I used to either wake up on my own or when my kids woke me up. This was a really bad set up to a consistent routine, since I never had the same amount of time to work with. Now I’m up at about 5 a.m. every day and can plan on about an hour and a half before my kids get up and we go into “get ready for school” mode (a.k.a. me reminding them to do the same five things every single day).

    It’s been so much easier waking up since Chris got us this new alarm clock. I absolutely made fun of it at first since it’s completely enormous, mimics the sun and starts playing New Age music. (No joke.) But I have to admit, waking up early feels so much more pleasant and natural. The entire day just starts better.

    After my fake sun rises, I have my coffee, create my daily to-do list, check my calendars to mentally prepare for what’s ahead and check Instagram. If I have a lot of work on my plate, I might get a quick work project in. If it’s a quieter morning, I may read a few chapters of a book. Whatever I do, I feel like I accomplished something before the day has truly begun.

  2. Water, Vitamins and Equilibria
    A new addition to my pre-kids wake-up routine above is to drink water (which I’m terrible at) and take my vitamins, thyroid medication and Equilibria. Equilibria is a female-founded company based in Chicago that makes CBD products geared toward improving the lives of women. I started taking it about a month or two ago when I heard about it from Jess Keys, but wasn’t consistent with it at first. Once I started using it more, I started to see my anxiety level off slightly and am excited to see the long-term effects of using it more. I use the capsules in the morning and the oil at night. To be perfectly honest, I resisted using the oil at first because I don’t love the taste, but they just came out with new oil flavors that I will definitely be ordering.

  3. Peloton Workouts
    Knowing what my calendar and to-do list looks like, I’m able to get the kids ready for school and as soon as they’re off (and if I don’t have a meeting) I work out. Weather-permitting I’ll go on a run with my friend Katie following a Peloton outdoor run, otherwise, I do a Peloton ride on the bike at home.

    We got the Peloton last fall, and I’m obsessed. The app is awesome and Katie and I are able to do so much more with the runs when we’re following an instructor. I also love my indoor rides, especially the ones with Ally Love – she’s so motivating! What I love most is that I can get a workout done so efficiently without going to a gym. Since my workday is so short (I usually break at 3 pm to pick the girls up at school), I love getting a good 30-minute workout in and then moving on with my day.

  4. Beauty Counter
    Most of you know I am not a beauty expert. But this is why I love Beauty Counter. I know that when I buy a regimen set that it has everything I need and that it’s clean. I don’t have to think that my morning or evening skincare routine is missing anything. For makeup, they also have a Flawless in Five package that is pretty much the make-up for dummies set that I need.

So, while I still have a lot of room for improvement, I love these new additions to my morning routine and am definitely feeling like I’m on the path to a better morning, which then helps out my entire day! What’s your favorite part of your morning routine?

Writing more soon!

Posted In: Goals & Routines, Wellness

Get on the List

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

A photo of Sara Meadows.
About Sara

Keep in Touch

Categories

  • Books
  • Family & Food
  • Goals & Routines
  • Organizing
  • Style & Decor
  • Wellness

Sara Elsewhere

Affiliate Links

Links on this site may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Raise your hand if you love moving furniture aroun Raise your hand if you love moving furniture around in your home? 🙋‍♀️ Bringing this @serenaandlily cart into the living room and adding an old lamp gave this reading corner new life! 

#readingnook #readingcorner #readingchair #readinglife #homedecor #serenaandlily #barcartstyling #barcartdecor #readingcommunity #readingspot #redecorate
Saturday things: thank you notes, starting a new b Saturday things: thank you notes, starting a new book and a pretty cup for my second coffee of the day. Have a great weekend, friends!

#saturdaythings #saturdaystyle
New Year’s Eve at home. Love making these simple New Year’s Eve at home. Love making these simple memories together. Wishing you all health and happiness in 2022!
✨🥂Giveaway🥂✨ Ready to cheers to another ✨🥂Giveaway🥂✨ Ready to cheers to another year of reading and surpassing my goal of 52 books! I’m celebrating by giving away a book from my 2021 favorites list to a lucky winner. My blog post listing these favorites is now up — click the link in my bio — this pic only shows a few! 

To enter:
📚 Read my blog post and comment with what book you’d want to win
📚 Like and save this post
📚 Tag a friend (or more) or share to your stories

Giveaway ends 1/2 at 5 pm CT.

This giveaway is not sponsored, is for those 18+ and you must be within the U.S. to win.

#bestbooksof2021 #favoritebooks #favoritebooksof2021 #bookrecommendations #bookreviews #bookrecs #topbooksof2021 #booklist #readinggoals #readinggoal #readinggoal2021 #2021readingchallenge
Do you have a reading goal for 2022? The past two Do you have a reading goal for 2022? The past two years I’ve read about a book a week, hitting 52 books in 2020 and even more this year. I can happily say this goal is no longer a tough one for me, but a new habit and hobby that bring so much joy to my life. Part of that is this community, so thank you all! I’ll continue reading (and posting about it) just as much next year, but I’ll be focused less on quantity and more on quality. I’m excited to see where another year of reading takes me.
 
I’d love to hear what your plans for reading are in 2022! And watch for a post on my favorite books of 2021 coming soon!

#readinggoals #readinggoal #readingchallenge #readingcommunity #readingislife #currentlyreading #readersofig #readingismagic #readingisfun
Merry Christmas to those celebrating today and a v Merry Christmas to those celebrating today and a very happy birthday to @chrismeadows8 ❤️🎄❤️
Christmas Eve magic 🎄✨ Christmas Eve magic 🎄✨
Squeezing in a couple more holiday reads this year Squeezing in a couple more holiday reads this year! 🎄

#holidayreads #holidayreading #holidayreadinglist #holidaybooks
  • Books
  • Family & Food
  • Goals & Routines
  • Organizing
  • Style & Decor
  • Wellness
  • © 2022 Sincerely, Sara Meadows • Terms & Privacy