Good morning, friends! Or whenever you’re reading this, I hope your day has been lovely, or will continue to be lovely.

I am firm believer in the saying “woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” I think however your morning begins sets up the path for the rest of your day. We all know the mornings where we sleep through all of our alarms and we are rushed in finding an outfit and grabbing our stuff. We always inevitably forget something, and so we have to run back. Finally, we make it to wherever we are out of breath, and out of patience.

Here’s a photo of me on a late morning – running to class with a latte because I was too crazed to order my usual iced coffee.

I had experienced too many of those mornings in high school. My days would always feel off whenever those mornings occurred. So, in college, I adopted a routine where I would not feel rushed at all. In fact, I like to have my morning be slow and steady. After all, that’s what wins the race.

I purposely wake up early, and WAY too early. I try to give myself between 2-3 hours before I have to travel to be somewhere. I do this in order to not feel rushed, and give myself time to do what I need and want to do in the morning. (Also, I spill things way too often and often need extra time to clean things up.)

A screenshot from my Instagram story – I even did my morning routine with a 12-hour difference in Japan!

I learned this from my mother. My mother wakes up way too early every morning. Anytime I would manage to wake up at the right time for school, I would see her drinking her coffee and reading the newspapers that were delivered to our house. (Once I got into Bryn Mawr, my mother’s coffee mug changed from my brother’s alma mater to a Bryn Mawr mug.)

I was always astounded by how calm and refreshed she was at 6:30 AM. I would stumble down the stairs, almost falling down them, and there she was: a plate of toast finished, the sun shining on her face, and always wearing a smile that greeted me. She asked me what my day would look like, and I could not even form a coherent response. It mostly came out mumbled, or I would just stare blankly.

In college now, I have adopted a routine similar to my mother’s. I wake up early and allow myself time to wake up. I leave myself time to pick and outfit, put on makeup, drink tea, and do all the things I need to do. This also includes a trip to Uncommon Grounds, a cafe/coffee shop we have on campus, to grab my daily iced coffee.

At my favorite coffee shop on the Main Line, Hot House! (With some iced coffee, of course    ^ _^)

Do I have mornings where I sleep through my alarms? Of course! I had one yesterday, and I was almost late to work. No one is perfect during their mornings, no matter how much beauty gurus will try to sell us that in their “Get Ready with Me” videos. But, adopting a routine where my intention is to start the day off on the right foot helps me when my days are jammed pack full of classes, club meetings, rehearsals, work, etc., and the only time I will see my dorm room is maybe at around 11:00 p.m. A great morning helps me produce great work.

My advice to you to jumpstart your morning routine? Leave time. You don’t have to put on a million skincare products, or allow yourself to put on the cutest outfit. You can wear no makeup and be in sweatpants, but if you don’t allow yourself time to truly settle in and get ready for the day, everything will be discombobulated.

Here are my friends Saskia, Anna, and Lexie talking about our morning routines!

I made a little video about my morning routine. I’ll link it below so you can see my routine to action:

I am going to try and recommend a song every week at the end of my blogs, and this week I wanted to choose a song to help you feel good in the mornings, but is not too energizing. This week’s song is “Broken Wings” by Kupla. I hope your mornings bring you energy and bliss.