5 Things Smart Moms Do to start the morning

Do you need to give your mornings a makeover? If your mornings need a bit of help, check out these 5 things that smart moms do to start the morning.

I didn’t set any resolutions this year. The New Year has already been so hectic for me that I didn’t have time to think about any, let alone stick to them.

Instead, I’ve been focusing on setting daily goals for myself and starting each morning out right. A bit part of that has been making sure to give myself the chance to ease into each day with a morning routine that allows me to slow down and focus on what I want to accomplish.

Resolutions are really just doing the things you already know you should be doing. To revamp my morning routine, all I had to do was go back to the tried and true tricks I’ve found to start my day off the right way.

Take a few minutes to be still. 

I don’t get very many moments of stillness during my day. I’m guessing you can relate to that. I’ve found that if I take a few minutes to just be still in the morning, it can make such a difference in my mood as I start to the day.

Write down your thoughts.

We’ve all had those days when our worries and stresses get the best of us and our mood impacts our ability to be the kind of mom we want to be. 95% of the time, when I find myself being short with my kids I can trace the reason back to something that has nothing to do with their behavior.

Journaling is a fantastic way to get your thoughts down and make sense of them. Since having kids, I’ve found I don’t have a lot of time to journal the way that I used to. I’ve had to get a bit creative. The idea of keeping a journal is often too much to add to my to-do list for the day but I can take a few minutes to write down my thoughts, whatever they may be.

Write down your worries and concerns. It can be on a scrap of paper if you don’t want to take the time or energy to hunt down a journal.

Start with a good breakfast.

I can’t tell you how many mornings I’ve made my family a good breakfast, cleaned everything up then realized I forgot to eat. Slow down a bit and take care of yourself. Our mornings are so hectic that I like to take those few minutes before my family wakes up to eat my breakfast before dealing with the chaos of getting 6 tiny (and not so tiny) humans ready for the day.

I haven’t always been a breakfast person but I’ve learned that even grabbing something light first thing in the morning (and then adding protein in later in the morning) really helps keep my energy levels up during the day. I’ve also focused on swapping out my old breakfast choices for better options.

One switch I made was swapping out my regular orange juice for Trop50 juice beverage. It has all the delicious goodness of orange juice but with 50% less sugar and calories and no artificial sweeteners. I love when I can enjoy my favorite breakfast items with less sugar. It’s always so refreshing to jump start my day with that boost of citrus flavor.

The best part?

Each 8-oz. glass has 100% of your daily vitamin C requirements (plus a good boost of potassium)!

Look at your schedule.

There are few things that can throw your day off more than forgetting about an appointment until the last minute or getting the time wrong for an event. Take a few seconds to glance over your schedule for the day and make a mental plan. You’ll be able to confirm there isn’t anything you are forgetting about (mommy brain is REAL) and make sure you plan enough time to get ready for anything that you have going on during the day.

Write out a to-do list.

I always tell my kids that nothing gets unless I write it down. Take a few minutes and physically write out your to-do list. You’ll forget things if you don’t have them listed out somewhere. I try and list the most important things first and work down from there whenever possible. I find if I get the hard tasks out of the way first, everything else feels easier.

These 5 tasks do not need to take a lot of time in the morning. With 6 kids, as soon as I start get going on anything I find that someone is waking up so I generally only have 10-15 minutes in the morning.

Even when I only have a few minutes, doing these 5 things makes such a difference in the tone of my day and helps me stay on track.

What things do you absolutely have to have as part of your morning routine?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.