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Mornings have the power to make or break the rest of your day. Having a good routine can get you off on the right foot. Coffee has a reputation of kick starting our mornings and McCafé brew-at-home coffees are a great choice. Start the coffee pot and get ready to brew up the perfect morning routine.
McCafé is part of the Kraft brand. If you need more inspiration, perhaps for breakfast or ways to use your coffee, check out the Kick Off Your Summer Cookbook website from Kraft and Walmart. It has recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons and more!
We also attended a live in-store demo for McCafé Coffee where we were able to sample some brewed coffee. Oh, it was so good. My husband and I treated it like a little date. Funny story–he hated coffee until he met me. I turned him and there’s no going back.
Tips for Easier Mornings
Morning routines are for more than just a way to wake up; they offer the opportunity to influence your mood for the rest of the day, as well as set you up to get more accomplished. This is why finding a routine that works for you is important. My routine shared below may not work for everyone, but it will give you a great place to start on planning your own.
1. Plan the Night Before
Most nights I’m already thinking about the morning. I take a few minutes to set out the clothes I’m going to be wearing and preparing anything else I may need for the day, like editing pictures for the next day’s post. I also attempt to keep up with cleaning the house every night so I wake up with less stress.
2. Wake Up Early
Of course this means you should do your best to go to bed a little early to get sufficient sleep, or waking up early will be very difficult to do. My goal every morning is to make myself wake up a decent amount of time before my kids wake up so that I can get ready, reflect, and get some things accomplished before things get crazy. While it isn’t easy to wake up so early, I love that I can have some quiet time to myself and the more I wake up early, the easier it becomes. I wake up between 6:00 and 6:30 most mornings which gives me some time to do the following steps.
3. Stretch
One thing that wakes me up and puts my body into motion is stretching. This can be quick and small and only take a few seconds. I just sit up in bed with my legs over the edge, reach my hands up into the air and stretch up and to either side.
4. Open Your Curtains
You may see those memes with someone who seems way too cheery for it to be early morning. Did you notice what that person is doing? She’s opening the curtains. I’ve noticed with myself and even with my kids, that when we wake up in a darker room we tend to get a bit crabby. It feels dismal and makes it a lot more difficult to wake up. A little sunlight in the morning puts me in a good mood and also helps me to wake up more naturally. Sometimes I wish I could put my curtains on a timer to open each morning and use that to wake up instead of an alarm.
5. Take a Shower
Most people take showers in the mornings, but some take it right before bed. For me, taking a shower in the morning is an important step because it gives me a chance to really wake myself up and feel clean and ready for the rest of the day. Having two little kids and still managing to take a quick shower daily makes me feel rather accomplished.
6. Make Your Bed
Don’t feel like you need to tuck your bed in all over and neatly add throw pillows; not everyone can have or wants to have that. For me, I keep it simple right now. Sometimes I will add throw pillows, but usually I just pull up the sheets and blankets and set the pillows in place so it looks tidy and is already prepared for bedtime.
7. Drink Coffee
You don’t need a lot, just one cup is sufficient. For most, it will give you some needed energy and relaxing me-time. Coffee’s magical energy-boosting powers have no effect on me, but I drink some for other reasons. Did you know that coffee may help improve your memory, increase circulation, and help your muscles? Drinking one cup an hour to an hour and a half before a workout may also help stimulate weight loss. Rather than putting creamer in my McCafé coffee, I’ve been making it into “bulletproof coffee” and I love it (I’ll be sharing my experiences and recipe on a post soon!)
McCafé premium coffee is made with 100% Arabica beans harvested in the foremost coffee growing areas of the world. The flavors are rich and soft, thanks to the soil of the mountain-region where the beans are grown. They are now available at Walmart and come in 8 great flavors, so you are sure to find your new morning favorite.
8. Eat a Good Breakfast
We all hear this all the time. “Eat a good breakfast,” they say. “It is good for you,” they say. Easier said than done, right? Eating breakfast is not easy for me and it is recommended to eat within 30 minutes of waking up. I’ve found that having quick, easy-prep options makes this so much easier. Bananas are a great option because they boost everything, even your mood. I also enjoy a handful of fresh red raspberries. Getting protein and vitamins is good too, so eat some nuts, add some peanut butter to a breakfast smoothie, or drink a protein shake then take your vitamins.
9. Pray and Reflect
While I sip my coffee and nibble my breakfast, I pray and make time to read in God’s word or work in a devotional book. Not only does this offer a relaxing quiet time, but also a chance to prepare my heart and soul for the day and challenge me to stay in God’s will.
10. Get Something Accomplished
If you wake yourself up early enough, perhaps you still have time to fit this in before they wake up. I do not always have time for this before the kids get up, but when I do I try to get a blog post written. If the kids are already awake, sometimes I will prepare a list of things to do, tidy the house a little more, or finish another task on the day’s to do list. Perhaps you will choose to get a morning workout in, and even include your kids if they are up. Some mornings I am way too tired to get out of my seat and do things, but I have found the mornings where I get myself in motion tend to be the most productive.
You do not need to take several hours with this routine. In fact, many of these tip take only seconds or minutes or can be done simultaneously. You know your schedule and what you have to do that day, so plan your day accordingly.
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Such great ideas for the morning! Planning ahead is the biggest one for me – it reduces the amount of time running around finding things, organizing items, etc. Plus there is something about waking up, stretching and smelling that wonderful coffee aroma 😉
It’s definitely helpful to plan ahead!
My morning routine needs some love lol. I get out of bed at the last possible moment before I drag myself and my kiddos to work… It’s pretty insane. It’s tough when you have an eleven hour work day though…I just don’t want to get up. Great tips… this is one of my resolutions!
Lol I have days like that (today) but they best, most successful days are the ones I force myself to follow the routine. It’s definitely a challenge when you’re a parent!
I love these! I always open the blinds and curtains during the day! It helps get me going too. And you can’t top a wonderful cup of coffee! YUM! #client
It definitely helps me too! Sometimes I believe we must be solar powered lol.