WAKE UP- 

It’s Sunday, which means it’s almost Monday and another work week is about to begin. It can be hard to pull yourself out of bed in the mornings, still groggy from the weekend past. You hit the snooze button a few times, maybe one too many times and then you realize you’re late. The rush begins, jump out of bed, scramble to get ready, try not to forget important, and off to work you go.

For many years, this was our life. The work week felt chaotic and we found recovering from the stressful mornings difficult. Then one day it hit us, part of the reason our weekend feel blissful is a direct result of how we wake up. This thought came to light on a lovely fall morning, as we sat by an open window sipping coffee and watching the morning news. What if every day were like the weekend?

We had to put our thinking caps on for this one, unfortunately, the one thing that differentiates the weekend from a weekday, is work. The fact is Monday- Friday we are required to be somewhere by a certain time. Which means that there’s a little more structure involved in the day itself.



So how did we overcome this issue? Well, with TIME. That’s right, TIME. While at first, it sounded counterintuitive we realized that by waking up earlier and adding more time to our morning routine we would be more rested throughout the day. You know what time you have to be out the door every morning, so take that structure and work around it. It’s been almost 10 years and without a doubt, this method has worked wonders. This is what a typical morning looks like for us. (It’s only a two-step process!)

Set Your Alarm – Before bed, we set our alarm between 2.5-3 hours prior to the time we are required to be at work. That sounds crazy, right?! Even crazier, we do not give ourselves the option to hit snooze. We are big believers in our internal clocks, many time our boy will begin to wake up prior to our alarm going off if there is less than an hour to go DON’T GO BACK TO SLEEP! Allow your body to slowly wake, lay in bed for a little, think about your day, check your phone and turn off the alarm. Once fully awake, feel free to get up. You see our alarm is our fail safe. It’s used to calibrate how we’re feeling that day, typically once you get used to this rhythm if you’ve slept through your alarm it means that you are still tired or not feeling well. How is this helpful? Well, it allows you to be more mindful of your body. If you truly aren’t feeling well and you have 2-3 extra hours, rest your alarm for another hour and get the extra rest your body is craving. If all is well, you’ll have allowed your body the proper amount of time to wake. Rather than an instant rush of panic, your feet hit the floor steady and relaxed.

Create a Routine – Create a routine and stick to it. Whether it’s putting on a pot of coffee, checking e-mails, picking up, cooking breakfast or going to the gym, structure those first hours with stuff you enjoy doing. Except for the gym, we love adding mindless tasks to our mornings. Cleaning up, making breakfast and drinking our coffee while The Today Show plays in the background is our jam. By the time, Matt and Savannah show their mugs on the TV, we’ve swept, wiped down our counters, cleaned the litter box, prepared our yogurt and are ready to slowly sip our cup of coffee while they highlight the national headlines. Creating a routine brings comfort and security. These morning moments are essential to getting our thoughts and spirit in line.

The key is to not rush. By beginning your day slowly and peacefully you automatically feel rested. Your morning routine doesn’t have to look like ours, what’s so great about this method is that it’s all about YOU. For us, it’s the one moment in the day where we truly practice self-love. Below we’ve listed some morning routine options.



• Cook breakfast
• Prepare your lunch for the day
• Make coffee
• Pick up the house, leaving your home spic and span is a huge stress reliever when you arrive home at the end of a long day
• Shower
• Workout
• Watch the morning news
• Read a magazine
• Comb through your personal e-mails
• Play with your dog
• Meditate