I feel as if I haven’t written anything about anxiety in a long time. To be honest, I’ve been feeling better. I guess the EMDR therapy works after all! 😅 However, I don’t want to put my hopes too high. 😕 If it gets better, it gets better.
.
Hmm.. Let’s begin. When I was heavily affected by the anxiety and depressive symptoms, I was drowning. Not in water, but in life. I couldn’t breathe. The moment I finally thought I had surfaced and could catch my breath proved otherwise. I knew that I couldn’t keep up with what I was doing, but at the same time, I didn’t know how to put an end to the vicious cycle. Everything seems dark and gloomy. 😕
.
I believe that was my life. This is just what life looks like for someone like me, right? Wrong. It didn’t have to. That is the lie I believed. And haha! If you tell me at that time it wasn’t “real”, I wouldn’t hesitate to mentally smack you with my purse. Ehh I would still smack you if you tell me that now.
.
But then, I figured something need to be done. A plan was needed. I decided to improve my mornings. I used to do my morning routines when I was feeling alright, but my mood was very low at this point of time so I needed something extra. When I took the time to do these 8 things before 8 a.m., my day went better. Maybe not perfect, but better. 🤗
.
Natural light// I don’t know about you, but I sleep in total darkness. If the room is dark, it will convince myself to sleep (and I love my sleep). There is something about the blast of fresh morning air when I open the window first thing after I wake up that gives me energy to start the day. I don’t know if this is true, but Mum used to tell me if we open the window early in the morning it’s something like we’re opening our room to rezeki. Well, we won’t lose anything either way. 😊
.
Drink water// I usually have a bottle of water and lemon on the desk constantly. Mostly because it helps with digestion. 🙈 Whatt, a clear digestive system leaves me light and fresh to take on the world. But drinking water right after we wake up helps us to rehydrate after going hours without water. If it is too much of a hassle to prepare the lemons, no worries, just prepare a glass of plain water. Too easy.
.
Mindfulness// I use the apps Breathe from Apple store. Since I’m somewhat impatient, I only do the 6 minutes mindfulness each morning. The duration of the session doesn’t matter as much as the frequency. Sometimes I miss the mindfulness session, but oh well, it’s not perfection we’re striving for here. 😛
.
Plan your day// Do your daily to-do list. It’s quite fun really, crossing out the completed task. Really satisfying. 😆 It takes about 5 minutes each morning to write down the things you need to accomplish for the day. It really helps to organise our thoughts and our days. I print out printables online and write down the to-do list. I can’t stress enough on how much it helps me to get a lot of stuff done in a day.
.
Meal planning// Meal planning is a vital part of eating a healthy diet and there are many benefits to it. It saves money and time, we can make sure that we get all the nutrients we need, we won’t waste food, and it saves us from the stress of “What am I going to cook tonight?”. I do the meal planning once every three days to plan ahead what I’m putting into my body.
.
Shower// I am a strong believer that everyone need to have shower in the morning. It’ll only take less than 10 minutes for a quick shower in the morning. It helps getting rid of the morning sluggish feeling too. Trust me on this; morning showers will make your day better. I just realise some time ago that since I take regular morning showers, I am able to take a couple moment where I am truly alone with my thoughts before I start the day. It’s kind of therapeutic. ❤️
.
Dress up!// It’s fun, really. I heard it from somewhere that being well-dressed is a form of politeness. It increases my self-confidence. We all know how it feels when we wear a well-fitted dress and a well-pressed clothing. It gives us an extra swing in our step and boost our spirit and in turn we stand taller, lift our head high, and exude self-assurance, not to mention, we may receive some compliments along the way 😊. How many times have you gone to run an errand looking your worst and that’s precisely when you bump into someone you know? We’ve all been there. I know I’ve experienced it a couple of times that I literally had to pretend that I don’t know them. *face palm* So girls, dress up in the morning so you’re prepared for the day.
Art from Pinterest.
.
Laundry// I am a laundry person. Who else? – raise your hand if you are 🙋🏻. I love the smell of fresh clean laundry! Doing laundry in the morning helps me start the day on the right foot as I can tick one thing off my to-do-list. There’ll be no mountain of dirty clothes to deal with, the clothes are washed frequently so the stain doesn’t set, and there’ll be no “I don’t have clean socks, pants, etc…” It’s simple — more frequent laundry makes smaller loads, smaller loads lead to less time folding and putting away clean laundry.
There you go. Those are my 8 things to do list before 8 a.m.. Do you have any other activities you do before you get out of the house?
.
.
nadirahim.com 