Mornings Made Easy - How to Get Through the First Few Hours of Your Day

Mornings can be challenging to your "get up and go". There are ways, created and revised to suit your own tastes, that can improve your early hours no matter what faces you.

Pamper Yourself - think of what gets you up in the morning. Is it that first cup of coffee, tea or seeing a favorite photo that hangs outside your bedroom door? With some forsight, you can make your special, inspiring things available to you and ready for those challenging mornings. Surround yourself with a few minutes of special coffee, memories from photographs or a scented soap in the shower. Pamper yourself a little before you begin the day and see what happens. When you plan to pamper yourself, even in the calm before the day's chaos, you will feel more special. That special feeling can carry you through. It's a good reminder that we must first treat ourselves, before we can be of encouragement to others.

Know you are ready- this follows the age-old advice that mothers pass onto their children and is in all of the best checklists: "Prepare your clothes, lunches, breakfasts and items the night before you must take them with you". It's true, no matter how hard it is to actually do, because many of us are tired at the end of the day as well. At that end of your day, imagine the morning after, and give yourself a few things to be grateful for by doing some of those morning tasks now.

Begin Early(er): Set that clock a few minutes before everyone else will wake in your home. Give yourself a few minutes to pray, meditate, or breathe before the day begins. Sleep may be precious, but peace in your mind may be priceless when you've had a few moments to mentally prepare for your day.

Soothe the Morning Crankies: Find music that either revs your engine or gently wakes you into your day ahead. Whether you prefer rock n' roll, classical, or inspirational music, create a CD which you can have at the ready to get your day started. Consider also, trying new genres of music for those different types of mornings.

Do Eat Breakfast (but it doesnt have to be breakfast food): Have your egg (any style), yogurt, toast, cereal - or whatever your stomach will digest. Make it protein, to best see you through the morning until lunch. Prepare or purchase a breakfast which fits your time and your need for brain power. Don't start on "Empty" and expect to efficently outlast the morning. Give yourself an an edge - and a break, choose food that fuels you.

Leave Something Good Behind: When you are prepared for your morning and you treat yourself well, there should be time to pick up after yourself and begin something to look forward to when you get home. Imagine coming home to what you leave behind, and consider something you can leave at the door to welcome your return. Would that be a new magazine, book, or have you taken dinner out of the freezer? Invest a few minutes in making your home a place you can't wait to be when the day is done.

Creating better mornings encourages you when you wake, even in the most challenging of times. Realize that you are worth those few extra minutes it may take to find music, foods, and other ways you can bring some joy back into the first hours of your day. Make smart, worthwhile choices such as having something for breakfast which will work for your as you begin your day. Before you leave home, turn that encouragement into something you can have waiting for you at days end.