My (Super Early) Current Weekday Morning Routine.

     This shop has been compensated by Inmar Intelligence and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CleanHealthyBold

     Once people find out that my day job is working as a morning radio host, the follow-up question is almost always, "How do you wake up so early on weekdays?" Fair question! Once people get over their shock at hearing that my alarm goes off at 3:30am five days a week, they're often curious what my weekday morning routine looks like. Do I spend a couple hours before work getting a workout in and cooking a full breakfast? Do I roll out of bed five minutes before I have to leave the house and wear my pajamas to the radio studio? Somewhere in between? I'm breaking it all down today for you, and also talking about some items that make the super early mornings easier, like LISTERINE® Ready! Tabs™ Chewable Tablets!

(Click on the image above to shop the image and purchase from Walmart.com)     My alarm goes off at 3:30am every weekday. I wish I could tell you that I started my day with something super productive... but nope. The first thing I do is reach for my phone to shut off my alarm, and then lie in bed for a while playing on it. Delilah usually sleeps on the other side of my bed or somewhere else in my room, but as soon as my alarm goes off she hops on top of me to cuddle and roll over, which is so cute! 

     The light from my iPhone really helps me to wake up faster. It's painfully bright at first but within a few minutes I feel myself waking up. The first thing I check are urgent texts that might've come in the night before after I went to bed early. Then I check either Twitter or Facebook, I alternate which one I check first. Last but not least, I might check my blog emails (if I was expecting anything from yesterday). The only thing I'm adamant about not checking in bed when I just wake up is Instagram. I save that to check once I'm already at work! IG is easy for me to fall down the rabbit hole of being on it too long, so I just eliminate that from my morning routine. Plus it's motivation to get out of bed so I can check it-  ha! 

     When I'm done on my phone, I pick up my clothes that I laid out the night before (such a time saver!) and head to the bathroom, which is where I spend the most time before work. The next couple photos are so accurate to what actually happens in the mornings when I get in there. Delilah follows me and immediately jumps in the sink or bathtub to play in and drink the faucet water! She is obsessed with running water and I swear she thinks I go into the bathroom at this insanely early hour just to turn them on for her.

              

     While Delilah is in the sink or bath, I start getting ready! I do my makeup, then put my clothes on, and then finish with my hair. Usually earlier in the workweek I'm more likely to curl, straighten, or actually do something fun with my hair. By the end of the workweek I'm usually a lot more tired and I'll just do second or third day curls with dry shampoo, or throw it in a ponytail or braid to save time.

    Even though I wake up at a very early hour, it's so important to me to do my makeup each day for work. Occasionally on a very casual Friday I'll skip it, but generally I always do it. It helps me to wake up and feel my best, and I swear putting a little time into my appearance helps me to feel more awake and ready to tackle my day! If you currently don't spend much time getting ready for work- I challenge you to set aside an extra 10-20 minutes in the mornings and see how that works.

     It varies so much what I listen to in the mornings before work! Some days I'm all about a good podcast. Sometimes I'm feeling a certain Spotify playlist (lately when I've done music in the mornings I'll go for my country or throwback pop hits playlists). And other times I prefer to get ready in silence. I like to mix it up, and it depends how awake I'm feeling that day and the type of mood I'm in.

     After my face and hair or done and I'm dressed, Delilah and I head to the kitchen! She meows very loudly if I don't feed her first thing when we get in there, so that's always what I do first. Next I start my electric kettle for water for tea. I'm not a fan of hot coffee, but I definitely need caffeine at work, so I always opt for some sort of hot black tea. I usually switch between Early Grey or English Breakfast.

     As my tea water heats up and breakfast is usually in the toaster (typically I do an English muffin or toaster waffle- something quick!), I make sure that I have my LISTERINE® Ready! Tabs™ Chewable Tablets ready to go in my work bag. I think these would be a weekday morning lifesaver for anyone, but especially for me and the nature of my job! The fact that I talk for a living (literally for hours each day) means I have zero tolerance for bad morning breath or feeling like I have an unclean mouth. No thank you! Whether you’re headed to work from the gym or a favorite coffee shop and unable to get back home, or just leaving for work at a crazy early hour like I do, these chewable tablets transform from solid to liquid in seconds and leave your mouth feeling as clean as brushing and rinsing at home for up to 4 hours! You just chew a tab to activate, swish to clean, swallow and you're good to go. These are also great to curb "mask breath" too... such a 2020 thing but an annoying one nonetheless! LISTERINE® Ready! Tabs™ Chewable Tablets in Soft Mint are sugar-free, zero alcohol, gluten free, vegan, and kosher​. My local Walmart fortunately always has these in stock, so they're easy to me to find (and also sold online if you're still doing grocery delivery or pick-up!). The soft mint is a less intense flavor and it's a perfect way to swish smarter, not harder. 

     Once I make sure I have my LISTERINE® Ready! Tabs™ Chewable Tablets ready in my work bag, I also get my water bottle, tea in a travel mug, and blue light glasses ready to go. (I typically bring snacks into work each Monday and have them last the whole week, so that's the only day I bring food.) Next I give Delilah one last big kiss, and then it's time to head to work! All this before the sun comes up.

     Thanks so much for following along my weekday morning routine! I'd love to know a bit about yours- what time does your alarm go off?

   

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese