Morning People

I love morning people. I am only a quasi morning person. By that, I mean that once I am awake, I am friendly and upbeat. The issue is actually getting out of bed as opposed to sleeping an extra 20 minutes. These days, I always seem to choose more sleep. I know what you might be thinking - maybe my body needs the sleep. Not necessarily. I get 8-9 hours per night. So, it is time to make some changes to my habits to become a better morning person and set the proper tone for the day. This is what my morning routine looks like right now:

6:45A: Wake up before alarm, because, well, that's my brain...

7:00A -7:25: Shower & Hair & Makeup

7:25A - 7:30: Drive 5 minutes to work listening to Mike & Mike

7:30A - 8:00: Get breakfast and coffee at work, read ESPN.com

8:00A - Day Starts emails. emails. emails.

The goals:

Easy: Set the alarm 30-minutes earlier to eat breakfast at home and read the news. If you tell me that I am sacrificing a half hour of sleep to do something slow and relaxing, I am more likely to do it.

Realistic: Set the alarm 45-minutes earlier and sit on the front porch with coffee and plan the workday ahead. 

Stretch Goal: Set the alarm an hour earlier and make that Pure Barre class, bootcamp or go for a run or bikeride. Okay, now you're telling em to wake up and go get my heartrate up immediately? This is going to take some serious motivation...

The motivation:

"10 Morning Habits of Highly Successful People that Make them Extraordinary"

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-morning-habits-highly-successful-people-that-make-them-extraordinary.html

"The Morning Routines of 12 Women Leaders"

http://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthaettus/2014/11/17/morning-routines/

 Common Themes: Okay. They wake up really early. And do yoga. I get it. Create priority lists. Send networking notes. Read WSJ. Drink coffee (fair trade). Peruse social media timelines. To-Do lists. Eat breakfast.