Depending on how closely you follow this blog/my Instagram, you might have noticed that in the past six months I’ve started working primarily from home. I still go into the office once or twice a week, which I appreciate the ability to do, but my job allows me to work remotely and I truly believe ALL aspects of my life are so much better for it. I have been thinking about doing an updated version of my day in the life post from last year to show what an average day is like working from home, but in the meantime, here’s a glimpse of what my morning routine looks like!
Is it just me, or is 2019 the year of really caring about morning/evening routines? I have read a few other blog posts about morning routines and how important it is to have a set rhythm and I find them fascinating.
I have finally gotten into a consistent routine and to a place in my life where I can appreciate taking mornings slowly rather than rushing to get to work. The other day, I decided to boil it down to a science and make a list in my phone of the basic steps:
(WFH stands for work from home, if you were wondering. I have a slightly different routine on days I go into the office).
One of my April goals was to actually wake up with my first alarm instead of hitting snooze a few times. That said, I often don’t set an alarm! I know that might sound totally crazy to people. But I probably only set an alarm 2 or 3 days a week, when I really need to make sure I wake up at a specific time. The reason? The dogs will make sure I’m awake at a certain point anyway :) Between the two of them there is literally no way I will sleep past 7:30 or so. And most days I naturally wake up before that. On the rare occasion I need to wake up at 6am or something, I’ll set an alarm.
The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is take care of Bean. Usually Bean and I get up first, and Grace and Willie sleep in a little later. But actually on this particular morning, Grace and Willie wanted to wake up with us so we all went on a walk together.
But first, I put on dog-walking clothes (aka sweats) and mix Bean’s food. Bean’s food is raw dehydrated dog food so I mix it with warm water and let it sit while we’re on our morning walk.
I love how bright it is in the morning at this time of year. It definitely makes our a.m. dog walks nicer!
After our walk (we only do about a 10-15 minute walk in the mornings), I come back in and feed Bean his re-hydrated food. He LOVES it! Willie gets fed too of course, but normally Grace handles that so it’s not really part of “my” morning routine.
Then I go around and turn on everything I need in the mornings. I press start on the coffee maker (I grind the beans and set up the water and everything the night before).
And I also turn on my essential oil diffuser to diffuse for three hours. Lately I have been adding drops of lavender and grapefruit essential oils for the morning, and then sometimes at night I’ll diffuse just lavender.
I also usually start a load of laundry in the morning. Here’ s a little homemaker-y tip for you: do laundry every day or every other day! This has been AMAZING for me once I realized how great it is. We have one of those washing machines that automatically senses how much water to use, so it might not be the most eco-friendly choice if your washer doesn’t do that, but it’s life changing in terms of household management. With two people and two dogs, we definitely have enough laundry every 2 days to do a small load, and it just makes it so I’m never stressed out doing 4 loads of laundry on a Sunday night. I start the laundry machine in the morning, change over to the dryer when I get up to refill my water or get a second cup of coffee, and fold the laundry at lunch. It’s so easy and is the best!!
Next up: freshening up and getting ready for the day. Here’s a fun fact about me, I only use coconut oil to “wash” my face. In the past six months I’ve only let soap or any kind of face wash touch my face maybe 5-6 times total.
And my skin in sooo happy about it! My skin is far from perfect, but this is an amazing solution for me right now. First I splash my face with warm water. Then I take a wash cloth soaked in hot water, squeeze the water out, and smooth a small amount (maybe 1/2 a tablespoon) of coconut oil all over my face. Then I take the hot washcloth and slightly exfoliate/steam my face with it. I do this at night too, coconut oil is the best makeup remover! Kind of like not setting an alarm, this might seem very crazy to some people. But I love it :)
After my coconut oil routine (and brushing my teeth), I put on makeup. Putting on makeup is one of those things that makes me feel productive and polished even though I’m working from home. On days I skip it, I just don’t feel as fresh. Here’s a pic of me with half my face with makeup (the left half below), and the other half none (the right half below), to give you an idea. It’s pretty basic/simple for days I’m working from home.
Also, how cute is my little necklace? My best friend Tina gave it to me right before my wedding. It has our wedding date in roman numerals, I love it so much.
Another important thing to me when I work from home: I HAVE to put on actual clothes. I still keep it comfy, and way more casual than if I were going into the office, but it cannot be PJs or I’ll feel sluggish all day. On this day, I opted for a soft comfy striped dress with a thin black pullover on top.
After I’m dressed I make some breakfast and drink coffee. A year ago, I would have thought that was so strange-I was not a coffee drinker at all. But it’s such a love language for Grace that I’ve gotten into it. A game changer for me has been putting butter in my coffee. I think I thought the butter coffee trend was just that-a trend-but I tried it and am totally sold. I like the taste and it helps my body process the coffee 100% better. I don’t get jittery. The extra fat is a good thing in the morning! (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, there are a bunch of articles about the benefits of putting butter in coffee, like this one).
I just put a little pat of butter in the bottom of my coffee cup and then pour the hot coffee over it so it melts.
I also usually have some Greek yogurt and toast in the morning.
Sidenote - I’ve always loved the little vintage-y painted fruit tiles in our kitchen and it just really sunk in that some of them are lemons (like in the pic above) which is so perfect for our little house! You can read all about my love for my lemon tree here.
This is the best part of my morning routine-sitting, eating breakfast and drinking butter coffee, and getting kisses from Willie (who really wants a piece of the bread). See the picture at the top of this post, haha.
I also have some quiet time reading and journaling before really starting my day.
At this point I feel ready to take on the day! I head into my little home office where my office dog (Bean) is waiting for me. Grace and I joke that he “clocks in” to work because he’s always waiting for me under my desk and it’s the cutest, most loyal thing. I love little Beanie so much!
Do you have a set morning routine?