Lifestyle – The Digital Diary

#startyourdayright: My daily morning routine

November 5, 2018 4 Comments

Your alarm goes off, you open your eyes and reality is staring you in the face: Outside it’s still dark as sh*t and your bed is about a 100 degrees warmer than the rest of the room. How the hell are you supposed to get up?

To me, organized life is the perfect life.

This is pretty much the everyday reality of us 9-5’ers, and yet there’s something nice about having a daily morning routine – at least for me, since I’ve always liked having my life organized. This can be quite tricky sometimes, because at my office we have flexible work hours and I can pretty much decide for myself when I want show up for work. So the first step towards creating a morning routine is deciding when to start the day. I try to get to the office between 8:30 and 9 am, so my morning routine starts at about 7 am.

I’m not gonna lie to you, I’m not exactly a morning person and on most days I’d rather just roll out of bed and into the office, but since that’s not an option, here are a couple of things I like to do to start my day right:

1. Planning my outfit the night before

I’m sure a lot of you can relate to this. Planing my outfit always costs me sooo much time and if I do it at the last moment, I either end up being late, or I end up wearing something I don’t like, which is an absolute mood killer for me. Planing my outfit, including shoes and bag, saves me up to 30 minutes in the morning (yes, I’m that slow) and gives me the feeling of having some control over my life.

2. Coffee first

This isn’t new to any of you coffee lovers out there, so you probably understand well why it’s a part of my morning routine. Even on the busiest mornings, I try to take 10 minutes of my time to just sit quietly, read the news and drink my cup of coffee. There’s just no better way to start the day!

3. Taking my time while getting ready

I usually need approx. 1 hour to get ready in the morning (given that point 1. has been taken care of ;)) and I like to make the best of it. I put on some morning tunes or watch a show on Netflix while doing my hair & make-up. It puts me in a good mood right away and it takes away any negative thoughts.

4. Setting goals for the day

Writing check lists is nerdy and pretty old-fashioned considering the digital world we live in, but I still LOVE it. As mentioned before, I like having my life organized and being able to check accomplishments throughout the day is very motivating to me. Admittedly, I don’t do this quite as often as I would like, but it’s something I’m working on. I usually have a to-do list at work, but I really want to start writing one for ‘personal’ daily goals such as how much water to drink, what do cook for dinner, what chores to do when I get home etc.

5. Cycling to work

I’ve already talked about why cycling to work is the greatest thing ever, so I’m not going to elaborate on this one again. Being able to cycle to work means that I’m feeling fit, that I’m generally healthy and that the weather outside is decent at worst and sunny at best. What more could I wish for?

What I should definitely work on is making time for some kind of breakfast before work. I have been ignoring this since forever because it always feels like a huge waste of time to me. With some preparation the night before, breakfast will hopefully be a part of my morning routine in the future.

Here’s to setting goals and making it through another Monday!

Cheers,

Milena

Lifestyle

Why I choose cycling to work every morning and why you should too

September 21, 2018 No Comments

Cycling has a different level of significance in different parts of the world. In Germany, bikes are very important means of transportation and in ‘bike cities’ (german: ‘Fahrradstädten’) like the one I live in, it’s not uncommon to even experience traffic jams on the bike lanes.

Admittedly, I wasn’t always a biker, partly because back home in Bulgaria we only used bikes when we were kids and we had no cars to drive around in (kinda sad when you think about it). I only discovered my love for cycling recently, when I got my late mother-in-law’s bike and started cycling to uni and back.

No matter the season, me and my bike are inseparable.

I live in the suburban part of town and my office is approx. 6km away. It takes me around 20 minutes to get there, given that I’m actually pretty fast. During the warm months of the year I cycle every day and in the winter around 2-3 times a week, depending on the weather conditions (if the weather’s really bad, I take the bus). I’ve never even considered trading my bike for a car and here are some of the reasons why:

1. I save a LOT of money.

Anyone who owns a car and pays for it themselves will know what I’m talking about. Having a car can cost you a lot, especially if you use it in the city. Bus tickets are pretty pricey out here too, and even though I do buy monthly tickets in the winter, the rest 8-9 months of the year I manage to save those extra 60€ a month.

2. It’s like 20 minutes of meditation before and after work

Sure, saving money is a nice advantage of cycling, but it’s not even the main reason I choose my bike over a car. Cycling to work gives me 20 minutes out on fresh air, with the wind blowing in my hair and my head just all cleared out (I do still pay attention to traffic though!). The ride home after work gives me time to calm down, leave any stress behind and just sort my thoughts out.

3. It’s GREAT cardio

I. hate. cardio. On most days I’d rather pull a truck with my teeth than run a couple of miles. I sometimes tend to forget that, but cycling to work and back provides me with 40 minutes of fast-paced cardio a day, which is enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And the best part? No need to do cardio after a workout, haha!

4. I’m more flexible in the city

A well known problem with driving a car is never knowing where to park (not to mention having to pay for parking). By bike you’re far more flexible – you can drive and park practically anywhere. Not to mention getting from A to B much faster than by car.

Those are my 4 main reasons for hopping onto the bike every morning. What are your thoughts on this topic? Are you a fellow biker or is this not really your thing? Maybe you have another innovative way to move around? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers,

Milena