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7 tips for making your morning count

A good morning means a great day.

GETTING YOUR MORNING off to a great start can take a little effort and mean changing to your routine, but it’s so worth it.

From waking up five minutes earlier and not running around like a headless chicken every day, to eating a proper breakfast – simple changes can reap big rewards.

Here are seven tips for making your mornings count.

1. Get up five minutes earlier and meditate

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When you wake up in the morning, it can often be a case of jumping out of bed and racing around in an effort to get everything ready to get out the door.

Adding a little calm to your morning before you even get started will have a ripple effect throughout the day. Sit and breathe for anything up to five minutes – but even three breaths will do.

2. Work out or stretch

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While we might have great intentions of hitting the gym before work every day, when that alarm goes off at 6am, well… it just doesn’t happen for most of us.

In order to get your morning off to a great start you can do a little stretching when you get out of bed.  If you’re feeling more lively, it might be easier to use a workout DVD rather than the big effort of heading to the gym.

Although, if you can manage it – by all means do. That gym membership won’t use itself.

3. Read… even a page or two

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Before now, you’d have said you don’t have time to read in the morning. But you’re getting up earlier and you’re so much more organised that you’re well able to sneak in a page of your latest blockbuster or inspirational read.

It’s good for the brain, good for your eyes and good for your mood – especially if you read something that makes you feel good.

4. Eat breakfast

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You’ve heard it before – eating breakfast gets your day off to a great start, giving you a foundation of energy to get you through to lunchtime.

But it’s often the first thing to go in the rush to get out the door. But now, thanks to getting up five minutes earlier, you can squeeze in a little breakfast before you go.

5. Have your outfit ready

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Preparation is the key to  a great morning and nowhere is this more evident than having your outfit ready the night before.

You’ll be able to see that all the elements of your outfit are clean, work together, and have no little problems like tears or stains.

Pick it out the night before and you can fall into your clothes in the morning.

6. Walk

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Even if it’s only getting off the bus a stop or two early, or parking the car slightly farther away from the workplace, it’s a good way to get a little exercise in before you start work for the day. You’ll get some fresh air and so long as you’re not power-walking because you’re late, will arrive in work calm and energised.

7. Plan your day

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Planning your day in advance, whether that’s on your journey in, or giving yourself five minutes when you arrive in work, will really give you focus for the rest of the day.

Knowing what you have to do and when it’s due means you’ll be less likely to be distracted by unnecessary things that pop up over the course of the day.

Have you any tips for getting your morning off to a great start? Let us know in the comments below.

Feeling more together already? Great. Here’s another way to make your commute as pleasant as possible – head over to Transport for Ireland and check out the National Journey Planner. No matter where you’re going around Ireland, the National Journey Planner helps you plan and cost your public transport options using your browser or mobile phone. Transport for Ireland - your journey starts here. 

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