Hi,
I can relate to all the things you’ve mentioned to have an early and productive start each day.
What made a huge change in my morning wake up moment was starting to use an alarmclock that starts progressively to give more and more light. It starts 30 minutes before the actual alarm and by the time you hear the alarm: it’s already giving its full light. In the evening it’s the other way around: it fades until complete darkness. You really feel a lot better that way!
A short meditation before starting the day, is also very helpful to focus on the important things you want to get done and to tune down on the stress the more trivial ones might already start giving you. ( which was very much the case for me)
Thanks for the tip on dark chocolate! I am guilty of the chocolate pleasure too…!
Getting up in the weekends around the same time has proven a huge benefit too. During the week I get up at 6 and by 7am I am on my bike to cycle 1 hour together with my boys. By 8am I am sitting behind my desk fully energized. During the weekends it was hard to find a routine and hence the welcome energy. Now I get up early too and I go for a run together with my husband: it gives us energy and is a excellent moment to talk. It’s hard the first couple of weekends but once you start to feel the benefits, it becomes easy!
