Celebrating a morning win, on a Monday morning, is an amazing accomplishment. Many mornings I am not celebrating… but merely surviving. Mornings in our house are typically filled with running around trying to get ready for our day. Mornings can be busy and hectic. It is always a morning win when the children are dressed, clean, fed, and ready to head out the door to start the day (on time).
I am learning to celebrate those small victories each morning.
Today I am teaming up with belVita and PopSugar to share with you a few simple tips to help your morning routine go smoothly. It is our hope that these tips will help you celebrate your #morningwin on those busy mornings.
One of the many things I love about belVita is that they want you to stay optimistic about the day. Don’t dwell on the challenges, hardships, and mess-ups that life and crazy mornings can bring. Instead, we should be encouraged and feel empowered about our morning wins (big or small). Those small victories will get us through the day!
As our family adjusts to a new routine and new life post-move, I decided I would share with you a few tips to help YOUR morning be a WIN with these tips.
10 Simple Tips to Help Your Morning Routine
Plan Ahead
Make a plan the night before. Write down your to do list before you go to bed. Knowing what you need to do in the morning, having it written down, and all laid out for you when you wake will help you sleep better, and rest easy knowing that a plan is in place.
Plan and Lay Out your Outfit (the night before)
Pick out YOUR clothes and Kids clothes the night before. This goes with being prepared and planning for the day. Having an outfit picked out the night before is super helpful for those lazy morning moments where nothing looks good
Pack and Put Bags and Items in View (the night before)
If you have school aged children, make sure their backpacks are filled and ready the night before. Check to make sure their homework and needed books are in their pack so there are no surprises in the morning (or worse at school).
If you know that you will be out of the house all day, set aside any bags or items that you need to take with you for your daily routine. For me, it is my gym bag, running shoes, jogging stroller, library books or other similar items.
Pack a Healthy Lunch (the night before)
Plan or pack a healthy lunch for the next day. Just like you would eat a healthy breakfast, a healthy packed and planned lunch will keep you on track with your health and nutrition goals… as well as help you save money.
There are some super cute and fun lunch ideas on pinterest that are healthy too!
Get YOU ready FIRST
I know it seems very simple, yet for me this is the hardest yet most helpful tip for a smooth morning. If possible, try to wake before your children to get a head start on the day. Get dressed. Enjoy your coffee. Get your workout in (if you are really motivated). Read your devotional. When you are calm and ready for the day… the children will take note and usually follow.
Teach your children to be independent.
Depending on their age and ability level, they can be amazingly self-sufficient. My boys (5, 6, 9) can dress themselves, pour a bowl of cereal, clean up their breakfast and brush their teeth. Teaching them (and often reminding them) of the morning routine and independence is very helpful for a smooth morning.
Eat a Healthy Nutritious Breakfast
This might seem like a no brainer, but eating a healthy breakfast will fast track you and your children into having a great day. Our family enjoys eating belVita Bites for those busy on-the-go mornings.
The new belVita Bites Breakfast Biscuits are a nutritious, convenient breakfast choice that contains slow-release carbs from wholesome grains to help fuel your body for 4 hours. I would call that a morning win for sure!
Each packet of belVita Bites contains 20g of whole grain, 4g of fiber, no high fructose corn syrup, no partially hydrogenated oil and no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. Did I mention that it tastes good too! Healthy and yummy!
When our mornings are crazy busy, I have enjoyed fueling on-the-go with belVita Bites as part of a balanced breakfast with a vanilla Greek yogurt and/or fruit. Yum!
I must admit that the chocolate is my favorite, but the mixed berry is a close second! It reminds me of the childhood teddy bear cracker I used to eat… but this one is actually good for you! Now I feel good enjoying a sweet chocolaty treat to start my morning off on the right foot.
No Media
No media, of any kind, until everyone is completely ready for the day: dressed, eaten a healthy breakfast, brushed teeth and is ready to walk out the door). For me and my boys, if we sit in front of the TV or computer (hello facebook) we get sucked in and lose track of time. Before we know it we are running like crazy at the very last minute.
No media until everyone is fully ready to walk out the door. What is even better… no media at all in the morning. Play some fun uplifting music to get everyone excited for a great #MorningWin.
Give Grace
Make sure that you give grace and have patience for the forgetfulness and silliness that morning brings. No one is perfect and everyone, even mommies, need grace. Learn from the setback and move forward with a smile on your face. We all can use more grace in our lives.
Smile
Yup. That is it. Try it. Smile. Instantly you feel better. Amazing, isn’t it? Smile. Breathe deep. You got this and you will have a great day.
What are some of your tips for a smooth morning routine?
How do you celebrate your #MorningWin?
For more information on belVita breakfast bites, please visit: http://www.belvitabreakfast.com/bites
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by belVita through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a post about belVita, all opinions are my own.
Organizing the night before is key for us since my kids have to be out the door by 7. I’ve not tried these bites but I hear the commercials on the radio a lot.
Seems this is on a lot of minds today, but its a good thing! These are the kind of detailed, but helpful tips most people need to get out there and do it! I think like you mentioned, planning the night before is CRITICAL, and I kinda enjoy doing it at night, knowing that in the morning I can just go 🙂
I love my morning routine and have it down pat! If I don’t follow it, my whole day will be thrown off! But I love your last tip…to smile! That can always set the tone for a good day!
Yea, I”m not good at organizing my morning either, we are usually scrambling about 5 min before we have to leave. Great tips!
These are great tips. I pretty much have to take these into account every morning in order for things to go smoothly and low stress!
I always lay my outfit out the night before- helps so much!
Packing the night BEFORE is something I need to get better at. I always think to myself “ehhh I’ll do it in the morning…” only to absolutely SCRAMBLE…and usually forget something!
love all of these, especially packing your lunch the night before- something i tell all my clients! and the raising independent kiddos one- i’m working on that!
Good call on “no media.” That’s the one that always gets me distracted.
Very useful tips here–thanks!!!
I like that you added getting YOU together first–kind of like the put your own oxygen mask on first!
i need to practice the no social media. Ahhh i know! shame on me
I have been working hard to try to plan better the night before so that I can get up and get started with my day in the morning. These are some fabulous tips!
I’m bad for media in the morning but with my boys getting up so early, letting them watch one show while I get ready, get the baby ready makes our transition much smoother. When the show ends, they know to come up and start getting ready to drive to preschool. It’ll be much easier when we don’t need heavy coats and boots!
I love Belvita! Gret tips. I don’t have any because I work nights so my hubby helps my daughter with her morning routine, but we usually have everything laid out and ready to go.
Our morning routine is like a well-oiled machine. I get up at the same time each day, wake each child at a precise time, etc. They’ve learned to look at the clock and know exactly what they need to do next. Keeps everyone calm and starts the day off right. (Never mind that I haven’t budgeted time for me to do anything but drink a cup of coffee. No one needs to know that sometimes the leggings I’m wearing are my pjs, not my running clothes LOL)
I couldn’t even imagine right now what it would be like to have to get others ready in the morning. I can barely take care of myself! But I can definitely use some of these tips for myself. I need to get better at planning the night before.
I love these tips. You’re right on every point
I think having a morning routine is SO important to not only your mental and physical health, but also your productivity. I know that when I’m following a more “strict” routine in the morning, I have such a better day. Thanks for sharing these tips!
So many great tips here. For me, the biggest thing is to prepare as much as I can the night before so I don’t have to think in the morning (when it’s inevitable that I will forget something). And it’s so helpful when the kids can get themselves ready!
Such great tips! I always pack lunches the night before and we choose clothes too. Definitely helps with the early morning headaches. The BelVita Bites look tasty!
I also do some of these things at the beginning of the week, like plan my clothes and write down any major meetings/events I have during the week. That helps save time too. Great list!
News and SM come first for me to “wake up” before my workout. Also use that time when I’m not feeling well to assess whether or not I should workout.
I hate Monday mornings. But I think the tips you shared will help me in making my ass move off the couch. Thanks