An SOS To All Morning People

I think there is this misconception that people who showcase a large portion of their life on the internet (i.e. Bloggers, "Instagram Girls", YouTubers, Beauty Gurus, and the like) have it all figured out. Their content often includes advice and clever how-tos that make it seem like they glide through life with ease. But while much of this might be true, I believe it's important to showcase the moments where Bloggers, like myself, and others, need a little help, too.

Mornings are my Achilles' heel. I loathe them. Strong word, loathe, but hate just isn't strong enough for me.

The idea of being a morning person literally makes my head spin. I can't imagine waking up with a smile on my face. There's just something about leaving the peaceful world of slumber and entering back into reality that makes me die a little more each day. Alarms make me angry and getting woken up will unearth an angry Jami beast like you have never seen before.

I don't jump excitedly out of bed with gusto each morning. Rather, before my morning cups (yes, plural) of coffee and a nice, hot shower, you best not even speak to me, if you scare easily. You might be reading this thinking, "okay Jami, we get it, you hate morning time, but what does this have to do with needing advice?"

Well, a few weeks back a posted this picture to my Instagram in humor -

And as to be expected, plenty of people agreed with me, but one comment in particular stood out to me. @rosheikadsoto said, "I'm totally a morning person!!😭 but I get this post cause I wasnt always.," which immediately got me thinking.

Now, she isn't the first person to change her opinion on mornings.

Lucie Fink from Try Living With Lucie did a 5-day series about becoming a morning person where she made small changes to her routine, which included going to sleep earlier and going to the gym in the AM in order to give her more energy and help her transition to becoming more of a fan of the morning. If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth a watch. I love her work so much. But in relation to me, she's an overly positive person (which I’m not, as you all know) and her dislike of mornings can't compare to mine.

Rachel Hollis also speaks openly and often of the importance of a morning routine in her books and other presentations. She believes that everyone needs to start their day right in order to fully find success in your life. She's probably right. Starting your day off poorly can really mess up your stride for the entire day. But, I have a hard time relating to her, too. She's SO successful and her morning routine is centered around finding time for herself before her children and career get in the way. Those are issues I can't relate to, personally.

So, out of interest, I asked @rosheikadsoto for her advice on how to change up MY thinking and here's what she said. "@thejamilynhall I started to force myself out of the bed earlier than I needed to. Then it started to have a positive effect on how I interacted with others. All my grogginess would be gone because I had been up 3hrs human contact. 😭 before I would rush and only be up like an hour before, no coffee and we both know how that plays out...😂 long story short, and I know it seems crazy, but try getting up earlier, it may help. 😊"

She's right about one thing - rushing (like I do) and forcing human interaction too soon can cause so many problems in your day. I thought about what she said more and more and then I wondered what other great ideas were out there for ways to start your day off on a brighter note. Yoga? A hearty breakfast? Meditation? A walk? What are other people who have a hard time with mornings doing to improve the first few hours of their day?

So, this is where you come in, my friends. Have you changed up your morning routine to better start your day? Or have you ALWAYS done certain things to get started on the right foot? I know there are so many great ideas and suggestions out there and I'll take all the help I can get.

Leave me a comment below, send me a message, send me an email, or write to me on any of my socials. I'm so interested to hear what you all do to get the sleepies out of your eyes and get your day started off right. What are the first things that you do when you wake up to improve your mood and mindset? And what have you added or removed from your routine to make morning times more enjoyable and maybe even a part of your day you look forward to? And most of all, how do you combat chronic sleepiness - especially if you're someone (like me) who gets mostly enough sleep, but can often still feel exhausted before the day even begins?

I'm leaving this one up to you. Let's get the conversation started. I know I'm not the only person wondering these things. Let us morning sloths know in the comments below and maybe I’ll implement some of the ideas into a future post about changing up my own routine.

With that I’m sending an SOS to all the morning people out there - what's your best advice for a good morning?