Be it another boring day at work or a special day for an anniversary or birthday, we find ourselves sulking  to the same morning routine that we have- pressing the snooze button 2-3 times, then finally waking up, cursing and hurrying our way to the bath, to dressing up and having breakfast(a tall coffee and a bagel) on our way to the office. Then a series of paper works overwhelms us in the office and we get to go home late in the evening-  tired,  dreading our work, cursing the boss and everything around. We sleep, sometimes with our office clothes on, and hitting the snooze button xx times again in the morning.

Thing is, we always start our day hurrying and everything else would follow. Starting your day an hour earlier would make you enjoy the simple pleasures of waking up relaxed and smiling in the morning. Here are some activities that you can do to make your mornings stress-free as possible.

1. Personalize your alarm. You can choose your favorite song or a song that would make you feel MOTIVATED. Personally, I have the song  Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys to keep me motivated in going to New York (my dream city). If your favorite song is kinda mellow and would make you want to continue sleeping, you can opt it out for a fast, feeling good song. Our motivational speaker has the song I Feel Good by James Brown since it would make her all revved up for the day.

2. Fluid up! The 7-8 hour sleep you had will make you dehydrated hence drinking a glass or two of water first thing in the morning will do wonders.

3. Stretch. Stretching loosens up our muscles. Some sleep all curled up in bed, while others have those military positions (straight and up) and a few take really odd positions in bed (my cousin rotates 360 during his sleep). This makes some of our muscles compressed for a couple of hours. Stretching relaxes these muscles and prmotes blood circulation throughout our body.

4. Have some sun , take a morning walk. As Hippocrates said, ” Walking is man’s best medicine”. A 15-20 minute walk under the sun will help us clear our minds from all the worries and stress. The sun also has this feel good effect on us, making us more in tune with nature. Try walking without thinking of anything else- it  can put your mind at ease.

5. Make your breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day hence it is a sin to skip it. It increases our energy levels and  prepares us for the challenging day ahead. Choose a healthy breakfast and try making it special by cooking for yourself  and enjoying every bit of it.

6. Take and enjoy your shower. Most of us stick to that “wet body-shampoo-soap-rinse” shower routine, and ola! all is done in just 3-5 minutes! We need to pamper our bodies. Pampering does not necessarily mean applying every hair or skin product in the market. Enjoy your shower, put on some Beyonce or Rihanna and sing and dance with them. We owe this to our bodies.

7. Plan your day. After clearing your minds up through your morning walk and shower, it is best if you list the things that you have to do aside from working- list it according to the degree of importance. Do not overwhelm yourself, plan one at a time so that you won’t feel bad if you are not able to achieve all your to-dos  at the end of the day.

8. Dress to Kill. Dress to impress. Even if your day will all just be a series of errands, you still have to dress nicely and neatly. Who knows a ” someone ” might bump in to you. Right?

9. Arrive 15-20 minutes early. Arriving early at the office would spare you the time of having to rush all the workload. It might even give you the “me time” you’ve been craving for in the office. Take this time to clean the clutter, arrange your desk and have some chit chats with girlfriends.