Do you set five of six alarms? Do you snooze most of them? If this sounds familiar and you dread waking up early during the autumn/winter months then this post is for you. I for one am not a morning person - I really struggle to wake up early during the week and it automatically puts me in a bad mood so I've adopted some tips and tricks in order to help with the early rises and the dark evenings walking home from work.

For work, I need to leave the house no later than 8.30am, which means realistically I need to be up and out of bed before 7.30am (not always achievable I must admit!) In order to ensure I have a productive day ahead of me and I'm not waking up in a bad mood there are a few steps that I take that help me to embrace the early mornings.

1. Start the day right
As soon as you wake up, get yourself a warm cup of tea or coffee and a hearty bowl of porridge. My favourite mornings are spent in bed drinking tea so this is the easiest tip for me to adopt. I haven't always been a porridge kind of gal but in the winter months you just can't beat it. I personally eat my breakfast when I get to work as I'm never hungry enough before I leave so I often make my porridge from the sachets - so simple and easy (and fills you up too)!

2. Exercise
I can't say that I do this very often (I should probably start living by my own tips but hey ho, baby steps eh!), but exercising in the morning is a great way to feel refreshed and awake when it's dark and dreary outside. My boyfriend and I are very lucky as we live opposite our gym so we can go to classes of a morning and not have to wake up too much earlier. Exercise is a good way of making you feel ready for the day ahead and the bonus is you won't have to go after work when it's dark and cold either - BONUS!!



3. Prepare the night before
I know this sounds a bit silly because this is supposed to be tips for embracing the early mornings but if you didn't do this step then you can't be productive in the morning! Preparing for work the night before is essential for me. I usually prepare my lunch for the next day, pack my handbag and choose an outfit. It saves me so much time in the morning and means I only have to shower, put on some makeup and go.

No productive morning can start without a good nights sleep and this means you need to wind down in the best way possible. When I get home after work I do a few things to make me feel relaxed.

1. Have a hot bubble bath
You cannot beat a good old bubble bath in the evenings. It literally is what I look forward to when I'm at work. Grab your favourite lush bath bomb, light your autumnal candles and pop a tv series on and relax. The perfect end to a long cold day.

2. Get cosy
The best thing about dark evenings is getting home, putting on your cosiest pj's and snuggling up on the sofa with snuggly blankets watching your favourite tv shows. I can't stand being cold so we have lots of blankets to make us feel all warm and cosy in our flat!

3. Turn off your electrical's 
These days we all spend way to much time on social media and on our phones and laptops and although I am a blogger I think it's important for us to all switch off sometimes. I blog three times a week so I am constantly coming home and switching on my laptop to write content however it's important to have a cut off point. I like to turn off my laptop around an hour or so before I go to bed and try and limit my time on my phone during that period too. Let's face it, I'm addicted to my phone but at least we're making small steps to using it less.

4. Get a good nights sleep
The most important thing to do is get a good nights sleep. I like to create a cosy, warm enironment in my bedroom. I switch on my fairy lights, get the blankets and a good cup of tea and wind down before switching off completely and having a good 7-8 hours sleep.

Remember, the more productive you are in the mornings, the more you can do in the evenings to relax.


What are your top tips for embracing the early morning and the dark winter evenings? Have you got any other tips? Let us know in the comments section below.

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