5 tips to get your mornings off to a great start in Lagos

While some people in Lagos have the natural gift of waking up full of energy and ready to face the day…there are some who need extra motivation and possibly pampering to accept the dawn of the new day.

If you are within the city and you find yourself registered to the camp of the unlucky for whom mornings are not pleasant, Jovago.com, Africa’s No.1 online hotel booking sitehas got some tips to make them more bearable.

Los Angeles, California, USA --- Man looking in bathroom mirror, smiling --- Image by © Blue Images/Corbis

Start your morning the Night Before

Many times, you may find mornings chaotic because you have so much to do and little time to do them. To save yourself the added stress, try to prepare for the next day the night before. There are a lot of things you can remove completely from your morning to-do list by completing them before you go to bed. Picking out your outfit for the day, sorting your office lunch, even putting bags in the car that you know you need for work are simple tasks to complete the night before, that way all you have to do is brush your teeth, take a bath, put on clothes and shoes, and you are out the door. When you are organized, you are less stressed.

Set Up Your Favorite Song as Your Alarm Tone

Almost everyone in Lagos sets the alarm for the next day before they sleep. Most people believe that an annoying alarm tone is the best move if you want the alarm to actually wake you up, but this may be the reason your mornings have been unbearable.

Rather than set up the alarm with the one sound you dread, try setting it with one of your favorite song. Just ensure the song you pick for the alarm is something fast and loud; R&B or blues would just lull you back to sleep. Using your favourite song as alarm tone does not just give you a good mood swing first thing in the morning, waking up and dancing to the rhythms of that song can refresh you up. You will feel less lethargic and will be pumped with enough positivity to face the rest of the morning.

Add something positive to your morning routine

Mornings are unbearable not necessarily because we have an unsatisfying sleep or were forced to wake up before we were ready to, they exist because we dread starting our day and dealing with intense commute in places like Lagos.

The thing is, mornings do not have to be all gloomy. Plan to do something pleasant and positive at the outset, something you can look forward to, it will make getting up and out of the house much more bearable. It could be something as simple making a playlist specifically for your morning routine, allowing yourself one glass of early morning juice, watching a funny clip on your phone, listening to an audio novel or devouring the one chunk of carb you allow yourself per day. The moment you can do something fun and get your mind in a positive place, the rest of the morning will not seem like such a chore as your mood will be brightened.

Give yourself transition time

This sounds like a waste of time, but this actually has a solid impact on your entire day, not just morning. You need transition time between sleep and getting out the door. The moment you wake up, your brain literally starts to boot, so, you need to give it time to start up fully before bombarding it with new tasks for the day.

Wake up earlier, and get your blood pumping by doing some stretch or talking a walk round your apartment. Just five minutes of simple stretches can have a huge impact on you both physically and emotionally, throughout the day, it helps stimulate blood flow and kick-start circulation, a sure way to get yourself feeling more alert, faster. Also, taking the time to slowly move your muscles by walking can have beneficial effects on your heart, lungs, digestive system, and brain, and also brings a satisfying start to the day.

Take out 1 minute to just smile

Taking out 30 seconds to one minute to just smile is not weird. The act of smiling has a special way of making us happier. Taking out time to smile fills you with positive energy and keeps you optimistic for the rest of the morning and possibly day. Smile at yourself in the mirror for the set time, either immediately you wake up morning routine or just before you head out the door. And if the effect wears out and you start to feel negative energy during the day, consider top-up smile session.