Most Productive Mornings

Sleeping in. You wake up feel refreshed and like you had the best sleep of your life. You roll over glance at your clock, which your phone is charging at it's 10:30. That is the right amount of sleeping in. You get up and pour yourself coffee and sit on the back deck, you hover the hot steamy mug over your lips as you look out at the view. You drink it slowly and enjoy every waking moment of the this peace and quiet. After you reach the bottom of your mug, you step back inside and have that hot shower that smells of mint and eucalyptus and after getting out you realize it is 11:30 almost noon. Maybe you should have some breakfast, so you fry up and egg and pop some toast in the toaster, and you munch on it thinking about what you should do today. This life sounds so peaceful and quiet, some parents might describe this as the perfect day without children screaming or yelling. However, if you are childless like me this sounds like every Saturday morning.

Here comes the shocking part that for me is a wasted day already. I feel so groggy and cannot seem to wake up. Here's what my perfect day feels like: I wake up at 5:15 am, I get ready and drive over to my sister-in-laws house to do a 30 minute Pilates workout, I then take my dog to the dog park while it is still quiet and peaceful. We throw the ball around and all I can hear are the birds and the nearby river creating such a peaceful environment it's hard to leave, but 8:30 I am heading home with my dog smiling back at me. I make myself coffee using the syrups I purchased from the local grocery store and it tastes better than Starbucks. By then, it is 9:15 and I grab the grocery bags and my list and drive to the grocery store and pick up the ingredients for the nest few weeks. It's is about 10:30 and I feel like I had already done a lot more in that morning than I get done on a slow Saturday.

Odd thing is I do not feel that tired after a good work out, it could be because of the all the endorphins that make me feel happy or the fact that neurotransmitters are flaring up and spitting out serotonin and dopamine, which is what decreases symptoms of depression and anxiety. I think this is also why so many people during covid did poorly mentally. At home workouts became more popular, and going on walks for mental health was very vital. I think I understand the gym bros and why they like going because a) is it healthy b) you feel good c) you look good. Now that I work at a gym I find there are so many people leaving in a great mood wishing me a great day.

There are also health benefits to waking up early such as: feeling more calm, better sleep quality, reduces risk of heart disease and obesity. Comparing to night owls the early risers such as myself feel a lot more happy. It also gives you more time to do more things such as meditate or even have a skin care routine, so you might complain about getting barely any sleep due to your children or the fact that your child was up at 6:00 am when you wanted to sleep in, but that is a health benefit that you need to wake up early. I know, I know - but you only got two hours of sleep, which I do feel for you. But that it your super power minimal sleep and you can still parent!

However, for you childless millennials out there- get up early and start feeling the benefits!