My Realistic Morning Routine
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I don’t get to work from home. I work with the public every day, so that’s not even an option. I’m lucky that I have a 20-minute walking commute and don’t need to worry about traffic. But I don’t have a very Instagram-able morning routine to share on social media. So what does my morning look like?
6 am
My alarm goes off but I generally press snooze and give myself another 10 minutes or so before I wake up. Don’t you judge me.
6:10 am
I grab my phone that’s now off Night Mode and see if there are any pressing notifications. Usually there is not. I don’t get push notifications for email, so I open my Gmail app and very quickly delete the junk. Sometimes I get ambitious and unsubscribe from mailing lists I never open, but that comes in spurts. I really should get better about that.
6:15 am
I get out of bed and stretch a bit. My hips pop. I tend to have a slight kink in my neck or shoulder. I’m over 30, so that is just how it is.
6:17 am
I make my way to the kitchen and get a serving of steel cut oats in the cooker. I used to make oatmeal in a pot on the stove (I didn’t have a microwave for years), but when I got married my husband brought a steel cut oats cooker to the marriage and I made the switch. It’s nice because it can cook while I go about my morning and I don’t need to tend it. (I very much dislike the microwaveable stuff.) Cooking time is about 30 minutes.
6:20 am
Depending on the day, I head to the shower, or if it’s not a hair wash day, I’ll do some skincare and Day 2 or Day 3 hair care routines. I’m trying to do the Curly Girl Method with limited success. I don’t use expensive things for either skincare or haircare — the hair products I get from TJ Maxx and the skincare is pretty much just Neutrogena because it’s treated me well for years.
6:37 am
Now that I’m a little more awake, I fill up my Blender Bottle with Brita water from the fridge and add in a packet of flavored water enhancer. We get them from Walmart or Hy-Vee. I’ve been taking these for years — I get my caffeine boost, 20oz of cold water to start my day, and a few vitamins for good measure with a fruity taste. Right about now I take my gummy…
