Hello, it's me, NeonFiona, checking in to let you know that I'm better than you. I have evolved. I've reached a higher level of existence than people who sleep until a more human hour. Bask in my presence.
Anyway lol hey what's good team. Your girl has been waking up at 5am (let's be real, usually 5:30am) for a few months now, and 7am is officially a sleep-in. When I took my month without social media and side hustles due to complete and utter burnout I knew that something had to change. I was spending every evening working on videos or writing, and cancelling plans to... Work? More? Outside of my normal office job? It was ridiculous, but I truly love creating content online. I decided to start waking up earlier. This way I get to edit and film and write and create, and still maintain some level of sanity with evenings spent working out, seeing friends or just Doing Nothing. So, that's my explanation for my ridiculously early morning. Let me know if you want my tips on how to get up early and I'll write another blog post but WITHOUT FURTHER ADO here is my morning routine.
5:30am - Caffeine & Music
The first thing I do when I wake up is get myself a large glass of water with ice and lemon, and make an iced matcha latte while listening to chilled out music. The music helps to set the tone of the morning, and the small caffeine dose actually wakes me up enough to move.
5:45am - Morning Pages
This is time to just write a stream of consciousness and let my brain unload. I used to write these by hand, but it would appear no pen can move as fast as my genius brain, so we have moved to Google Docs. I write at least one page, and sometimes more if I just need to empty my head.
6:00am - Stretching & Strength
Now that my brain has worked out it's time to actually move my body a bit. I'll usually start with stretching because I'm not actually awake yet, but once my blood is moving I'll do a short strength workout too. There's not much to this one- lift some weights, do some squats, touch your toes, arch your back, etc etc. I like to keep it chill and save cardio for the evenings when I want to burn up some energy before bed.
6:30am - Content Time
Now we get to why I actually get up early. Part of it is, of course, the uninterrupted "Me Time", but being able to smash through some content before work is my favourite thing. I'll usually edit videos, but sometimes I'll script, take flat lays for my second Instagram account, edit images for Instagram, or write captions. This lets me be creative before work (which doesn't always let me flex my creativity), and gives me a sense of accomplishment before the work day has even started.
7:15am - Get Ready
Taking time to get ready has really allowed me to appreciate my mornings and relax a bit. I used to kind of roll out of bed and throw on some makeup before stumbling out the door. Having some actual time to put makeup on (which I generally have to for work), get dressed and make my hair look like it was washed at least once in the last week is SO much less stressful than my previous routine. I also need to dedicate time to this because otherwise I assume it'll take me five minutes when in reality it takes a lot longer. I'll usually watch YouTube videos while doing this because if my brain isn't concentrating on fifty things at once I'll explode.
7:45am - Coffee, Pack Bag, Get Outta There
Once my face looks awake and I'm wearing something more professional than an oversized t-shirt with Santa dabbing on it I'll make an iced latte to take to work. I'll pack the coffee, my breakfast (overnight oats made the night before), and lunch (probably leftovers) in my bag, get my girlfriend to help put on my watch and bracelet that I wear every day, and get out of the house by 8am for my commute.
So there you have it! The morning routine of one of those weird people who voluntarily wake up before they realistically need to. I'm definitely not naturally a morning person, but realised it was the best way to achieve everything I want to get done. Are you a morning person? Can you imagine waking up at 5am? Let me know!
