Mornings are easy for some people.  No snooze buttons, no extra-strength coffee, no bleary eyes.  Just pure Cinderella-esque morning happiness.  I, however, am not one of those people.  Meet me, the queen of lazy mornings.   I have no less than seven alarms set to ensure that hitting snooze won’t do me any good and only a strong mixture of caffeine can keep me from falling back asleep halfway through my makeup routine.

But lazy mornings and having a full-time job don’t mix, do they?  That’s why try my hardest to follow these five tips on how to kickstart your morning.  Happy Tuesday, y’all!

Early to bed, early to rise

The best way to kick-start your morning starts the night before.  A decent bedtime is a major key to waking up feeling refreshed without needing an IV of your favorite caffeinated drink.  I’m also the queen of going to bed, turning out the light, and staying on my phone for two hours.  Don’t do it.  Set a time to get in bed then set a time to put your phone away.  For me, I’m in bed by 9:00 pm and my phone powers down at 10:00 pm.  It may be hard, but disconnecting from electronics at a decent time will help those dark circles.  Trust me.

Plan your outfits

Another simple way to ensure you’re not running late in the mornings is to prepare the night before.  I can usually rush my shower, makeup, and hair by minimizing and skipping unnecessary steps, but when it comes to creating an outfit….it takes a little more time.  Lay out your outfit the night before so that if you do end up hitting the snooze button too many times, you can just throw it on and go, go, go!  If you want to go the extra mile, lay out your accessories too.

Get a real alarm clock

Remember what I said about disconnecting?  That goes for your alarms, as well.  Using a real alarm clock (yes, one that plugs into a wall), takes away any worry that you somehow accidentally turned off your alarms the day before and forgot to turn them back on.  It also eliminates the worry that your phone will somehow die in the middle of the night for no reason…like “smart”phones often have the tendency to do.

I love versatility and functionality, so having an alarm clock like this one that doubles as speakers and a charging dock is my dream come true.

Wake up to something happy

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed is no bueno.  So make your alarm something that makes you happy!  Tune your alarm clock to a favorite station so you can wake up jamming every morning.  Or if you still insist on keeping your phone as your alarm, make your alarm tone a song that will remind you that today is your day and you got this!

Have your power drink ready

Whether your power drink is coffee, soda, lemon water, a smoothie, or a double mocha frappuccino, have it prepared as much as possible the night before.  Prepare your fruit-infused water and have it in a water bottle ready to grab on-the-go.  Have your coffee machine cleaned and ready to add water and go.  The more you have prepared in advance, the less you have to stress over in the morning!

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