Is it really impossible to have a moment where I have time for just… myself? Should I feel guilty that I don’t want to spend every waking moment with my little one(s)? Absolutely not! The easiest “trick” I found was to wake up before my baby does and protect that time the best I can. Of course there are times when my pregnant body loves the bed more than the extra time I have for myself and on those days I seriously weigh my options. Some days I stay in bed and wake up when my baby calls for us but on most days I wake up at around 6:30am which is about an hour before our little one wakes up for the day.
Let me preface that the following 5 things I do before baby wakes up ALSO fulfills 3 main goals for the day:
- Time for God
- Time for myself
- Time to start the day
I try to dedicate 20 minutes to each of my 3 goals and I call this the 20-20-20 morning routine.
- Pray, read, meditate (20 minutes): I’m a believer of God and you might (or might not be) too! I use this time to reflect on myself and my relationship with God by reading the Bible and meditating on what I read. There are times when I leave Christian music on in the background and sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and worship! If you’re not a believer, perhaps you can carve out some time for self-reflection or journaling! Expressing your thoughts on paper helps to organize your thoughts and set your intentions for the day.
- Tip: If you find yourself having a difficult time choosing where to start in the Bible, try reading 1-2 chapters in the Old Testament and 1-2 chapters in the New Testament. Reading this way definitely helps to read in a dynamic way.
- Tip: If you find yourself having a difficult time choosing where to start in the Bible, try reading 1-2 chapters in the Old Testament and 1-2 chapters in the New Testament. Reading this way definitely helps to read in a dynamic way.
- Move (15 minutes): I stretch every single morning and it’s amazing! During both pregnancies and after giving birth to my first child, I experienced pelvic pain due to the loosening of ligaments and joints during pregnancy. I lost flexibility in my hips and doing something as simple as jogging was painful. The only thing that helped my pelvic pain was stretching. Not only does stretching help me loosen up my stiff body, it definitely puts me in a positive mood that lasts throughout the day.
- Tip: If you’ve never stretched before, start with a short YouTube video! That’s how I started. After about 2 weeks, I was able to make my own stretch routines with the stretches I found best for my body.
- Tip: If you’ve never stretched before, start with a short YouTube video! That’s how I started. After about 2 weeks, I was able to make my own stretch routines with the stretches I found best for my body.
- Hydrate (5 minutes): Immediately after I wake up and after every morning stretch session, I drink water — just water first! Rehydrating after hours of sleep is crucial for priming good digestion and hydrating after stretch sessions helps flush out toxins out of your body.
- Tip: Before you drink your morning coffee, aim to get about 16oz of water in each morning! If you have trouble drinking plain water, drop in a few berries or a couple slices of cucumber into your water.
- Tip: Before you drink your morning coffee, aim to get about 16oz of water in each morning! If you have trouble drinking plain water, drop in a few berries or a couple slices of cucumber into your water.
- “Pretty up” (10 minutes): By “pretty up” I mean I wash my face/shower, put some clean clothes on, and maybe experiment with a new makeup look. I do this to be the best version of myself and to feel refreshed and get me in the mindset to conquer the day ahead. I definitely saw a difference in productivity on the days I put in a few extra minutes to “pretty up”.
- Tip: If you’re not trying to go for a full on glam look, curling your eyelashes, putting on a moisturizing lip balm, and wearing some tinted (or not) SPF will go a long way!
- Tip: If you’re not trying to go for a full on glam look, curling your eyelashes, putting on a moisturizing lip balm, and wearing some tinted (or not) SPF will go a long way!
- Get a head start (10 minutes) : Lastly I leave some time to get a head start on the day. What that looks like for me is to tidy up the kitchen and/or playroom if I didn’t get to the night before, write my to-do list for the day, get baby’s bottle warmed up, and begin preparing the ingredients for my breakfast smoothie.
- Tip: Just do what you can do in 10 minutes. The point of this is not to get all your chores done in a short amount of time, it’s just to get a head start to alleviate a little bit of the morning chaos.
These are just 5 things I like to do in the morning before baby wakes up. Hopefully these tips help! Try this for at least a week and see how different you feel and what your productivity level is like! It may be hard in the beginning but don’t give up mamas!
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