Life in Colour - 5: My Non-Negotiable Morning Routine

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

In this episode of Life in Colour, I’m taking you through my morning routine—the little rituals that set the tone for my day. I’ll share how I prioritise movement, my go-to breakfast for energy, and why outfit planning is a non-negotiable for me. Plus, I’ll talk about how practicing gratitude helps me focus and stay grounded, even when life feels chaotic. It’s a peek into how I create a mindful, productive start to the day and the habits that keep me feeling my best. Tune in for some inspiration to make your mornings work for you! Want to learn more about seasonal colour analysis? Get my free Finding Your Colours Guide @ https://www.lovingcolour.au/findyourcolours Or want to know your perfect colour palette now? Purchase a Virtual Colour Analysis with me to find out exactly which colours light you up! Go to https://www.lovingcolour.au/colouranalysis Follow along on Instagram: https://instagram.com/lovingcolour__

Welcome to Life in Color, the podcast where we dive into the real, raw and wonderfully colorful aspects of life. I'm your host, Ashley, and I'm here to explore the ins and outs of seasonal color analysis, navigating motherhood, thriving in your 40s and beyond, and embracing health and wellness with a healthy dose of humor. Join me as we uncover the secrets behind finding your perfect palette, share stories of the joys and challenges of being a mom. And from practical tips to heartfelt conversations, life in color is your space to laugh, learn and live life. unapologetically in all of its colorful hues. So grab your favorite drink, settle in and let's add some color to this adventure that we call life.

Welcome to Life in Color. Hello, hello. I hope you've all had a great week in between episodes. Thank you so much for joining me today. And whatever you're doing, whether you're on a walk, doing some housework, driving to do pickup, driving into work, I hope that this episode, which is a little bit different to what we've had so far is going to be useful for you and sort of help you. So I put up on Instagram this week about which episode topic would you like. And one of them was my non-negotiable morning

routine and that was actually what was voted. So that is what we are going to be chatting about today. So a little bit of a detour from talking about style and fashion. But you know me, I like to talk about all the things. And I think when it comes to routines, so I'm a Virgo. I'm a I'm a September born baby, and I definitely have those Virgo traits within me. Ask anyone that's in my life. I like to have those lists. I like to be organized. I like to know what's going on. You know, I like surprises too. Don't get me wrong and spontaneity. However, especially at the moment. So in Australia, we are in term four of the academic school year. And that is when the wheels can start falling off. Like seriously, we've got two and a half weeks. I feel like we're crawling to the finish line.

And there are multiple things happening every single week with the kids and also with my husband traveling and other bits and pieces. And therefore, in order for me to be on top of my game and be the best that I can possibly be and also obviously for work as well, I have to have these routines in place. I have to have lists in place to keep me on track. Because otherwise, like at the moment the house is just kind of veering onto the fact of, you know, getting a little bit out of control. and when that starts to happen, that's when my stress levels start to rise and also then I feel

overwhelmed. And when I feel overwhelmed, I have a tendency to freeze. So rather than becoming sort of like, oh, I'm not going to get everything done, it literally more becomes a thing of I just don't necessarily do anything, which is not a great place to be in, but it's something that I've really learned about myself over the last few years. So I do things now to combat that and how having a morning routine is one of those things. So obviously everybody's morning routine is highly personal and really, really different. And obviously it also depends on what stage or season of life that you're in. For example, you know, I do have three teenagers.

You know, my morning routine was very different when they were little compared to when it was just me and my husband, for example. So depending on what stage of life you're in, your morning routine is going to vary. And it will also vary depending on how much time you actually have. for my morning routine to work the best, I actually have to have that start the night before. And I know that that sounds totally counterintuitive. And no, it's not about eating my breakfast the night before. Even though I do have a tendency to do that, I've actually just started having a really nice brecky.

And it actually is a really nice snack as well, but I'm not going to get ahead of myself. But when it comes to being organized, I generally plan out and map out my weeks on a Sunday. And I look at what everybody in the family is doing. And I look at what I'm doing. And so then I can look in a snapshot what I've got on the next day, whether I am doing a full working from home day, whether I'm doing a day that includes some errands and chores that I have to get done for myself or with the family,

whether I have meetings that I'm going to be attending, like Zoom calls, whether I'm meeting someone face to face, whether I'm going for a walk with the friend, all of these kinds of things I look at, and I map them out for the week. And the reason that I take a look at that the night before is because it gives me a really good idea of what do I need to wear tomorrow. And so, yes, the Virgo and me, I do actually like to think about my outfit choice

the night before. Not 100% always, but in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, okay, well, tomorrow I've got, let's take tomorrow for example, tomorrow I actually have to do a quick errand in the morning for one of my kids that they need something for school. this week. So I'm going to be doing that. But then as soon as I get home, I'm not doing any washing or housework or anything like that. It's literally straight into my office and working. And then I actually do have a call tomorrow as well. So based on that, I know I want to look really presentable because I'm obviously going to be doing work, things and calls, but also I'm

going out. And then I want to make sure that my hair and makeup is nice. So it's allowing all of that time in the morning to have all of that done too. And so by thinking about it, I'm like, okay, what's the weather going to be like? So I check weather. And then I give myself a couple of options in my head. I don't necessarily take them out of the wardrobe and lay the outfit out. But I definitely take the time in my head to plan, well, what am I going to wear tomorrow? Doesn't need to have a little bit of layering because it starts cool in the morning and then warms up. Do I want to wear jeans or do I want to wear something else. So all of that comes into that the night before. The other thing that I do is one thing that is always laid out is my active wear. So that's part of what happens for tomorrow.

I'll take you through what I actually do. But my active wear is always laid out. So I have a pair of leggings. I have my bra ready. I have the top that I'm wearing. And then I even have a jumper or like a lightweight, I guess like fleece kind of thing in case it's a little bit chilly and cool. So that's one part that I do the night before. The next part that I do is, so my hubby and I like to watch TV at night. That's our thing and we love watching TV shows together. And at the moment, we are working our way through the resident. I'd never watch that before. It's really good. I have to say, I don't get queasy with like blood and gore and all of that kind of thing. But this one, wow, that's, I've got to say that's as close to real life as you can get it,

surely like seriously like there's blood spurning everywhere and yeah all kinds of different bits and pieces happening highly recommend it for a tv show really really loving it love the lead actor the male lead actor i've watched him in gilmore girls and in the good wife so yeah think he's amazing really enjoy watching it i used to be quite the night out like when i was at uni i used to definitely do my best work from 10 p.m to 2 or 3 a.m and i got into that really routine and I can actually function on quite a little sleep and I think it's A from that time, but it's also from when we had kids. I'm actually a really light sleeper. And so for me, if I get really into a TV show, I can find it really hard to switch off. So he's actually

really good at that. He's a non-negotiable note. We're turning the TV off. So I've actually this year made a really solid effort to get back into reading books. And I've read some fabulous books this year. I know this is a bit of tangent, but you know me. By now, I like a bit of a tangent. The books that I've absolutely loved, I would have to say the Nightingale by Christian Hanna. Absolutely one of my all-time favorite, favorite books. If you haven't read it, please go and read it. It is phenomenal.

I've also read the women by her this year. And I also read my first, like, thrillery kind of book. So first lie wins. I can't for the life of me remember the author, but that's the name of the book. So I've been following Reese Witherspoon's Book Club. And I have to say, there's been a few hit and misses. Maybe that's another episode, actually. have because I'm really trying to get into books. So if you've got any suggestions, make sure you

email them through to me. I'll give you the email address at the end of this week's episode. So I've been trying to read a bit because A, it takes me away from blue light, so being on my laptop, but also I do like reading and I can get into the habit of potentially reading articles on my phone and that's not good either. So I've really been trying hard to put my phone down by about 8.8.30 doesn't always happen, but I've definitely been trying to do that. If anything, if I'm on there after that, it's not on socials. It's texting friends back who have text me because, you know, I would say the majority of us are busy moms here. And that's when you suddenly remember you haven't text your best mate back because you got sidetracked by one of your kids or something

else happened during the day. So that's what I try and do. I've been trying to read at night to switch my brain off and to help get a really good night sleep. So then the next morning, the actual morning part of my routine, I don't need to have an alarm because I have two lovely felines that like to wake me up. I would say by about 10 to 6, 6 o'clock they are meowing. So they are left out at night. They're generally pretty good. But boy, do they let you know when it is time to get up and to feed them. Yeah, it's seven days a week. So I'm pretty much awake by about 10 to 6, 6 every single day. I don't jump straight out of bed. I actually sometimes find that really hard to do. Some days I can do it like this morning I did because there is nothing that will get you out of bed

faster than hearing a cat being sick in the hallway and thinking, no, I don't want that to be on my carpet, that stain. So that was this morning. So generally, as soon as I get up, I get straight into my active wear. I don't go down, unless it's a weekend, I don't go downstairs in my PJs. I get changed immediately into my active wear. I grab my laptop. I grab my phone and then me and the cats head downstairs, feed them. And then I don't do anything else. I don't look at the kitchen. I don't think about anything else. I am straight into the room where I do my pelvic pilates every single day and that's what I do for my exercise. Now, this does vary. I used to go for a walk every morning, but then things with my own health and my pelvic floor and other things like that,

again, is a whole other episode, but I can't walk up heels right now. I'm getting much better, but I can't walk up heels. So healing my pelvic floor has been like my number one priority and strengthening my pelvic floor and I'm doing really, really well. I'm almost, I think it must be about five months into this program. The program is run. Actually, I'll give her a plug because she is amazing, not sponsored at all. This is overcome by Dr. Brie. She's phenomenal. She's on YouTube, which is how I found her. But I do her overcome program. Now, in the mornings, depending on what week I am in the program, it can vary from like a 20-minute workout to a 32-minute workout. So I do have to sort of make sure I've got enough time in there

because I think anyone would know with kids, no matter how old they are, you need every minute that you've got to get them out the door in the mornings on time. So that is the first thing that I do. So I put on my pelvic Pilates. It's all through my laptop. And then I put on a Pilates playlist on Spotify. And I actually find by having that music on for me, I'm very much a person.

I love music. Like we've always talked about or I've always done this as like a conversation thing with people. If you had to choose between books, TV or music, what would you choose? And for me, I would always choose music because I love it. I love the way that it makes me feel. I can definitely change my emotions depending on the music I listen to. But I just love music and I find that by putting that really good playlist on with the pelvic

Pilates that I'm doing, it just really helps set me up for the day. And there are some days I can guarantee you and hand on how it can tell you I do not feel like doing it. I just everything in me is like I do not want to do this, but I know that my body physically feels better for it. Mentally, I feel better for it. But also, it's almost become like a muscle memory kind of thing. That if I don't do it, I almost feel a bit antsy by the afternoon of like, well, you haven't, you haven't done any exercise today. And my body starts to miss it.

So I find that that's really important. So one of the other reasons that I do that so early in the morning is because it's just me. generally I am the only one up at that time, well apart from the cats, I'm the only one up and therefore the house is quiet and it's just me and I don't really get interrupted that often. If I do, it's really quite rare. And so I just have that sort of half an hour, you know, waking up, coming into the world for the day, I don't really think about what I've got on that day. I just focus on the music and I focus on the exercises that I'm doing and I just go all in on that

and I really enjoy it. And then once I've completed it, then that's when I start to think about, okay, well, better get the kids up, better do this, better do that. So that's my exercise part of my routine. Then I actually have changed things around a little bit. I come straight back upstairs or I put the kettle on for whoever wants cup of tea. And then I come straight upstairs and I get ready for the day because I find if I don't do that pretty much immediately when they are all.

all still upstairs getting ready. A, they then have access to me to ask, where's my shirt? I can't find a pair of socks or that kind of thing. But if I leave it too late, A, then I find I'm rushing. And secondly, when they're downstairs, that's when I get asked like a million different things and I just don't have time. Or they'll literally come up and find me every five seconds. So I come back upstairs. And because I've thought about it the night before, I generally sort of have an idea of what I want to wear for the day. I will then do my hair. and makeup, if my hair is good to go, I have to wash my hair every about two or three days. Just because, you know, those lovely hormonal changes, I've definitely noticed my hair started

to go a bit more greasy again, like when I was a teenager. So I will get ready. If it is a day when I need to wash my hair, I do need to buffer in, obviously, a little bit more time. Makeup I'm quite quick with. I just do the same kind of routine most days. I change it up if there's something special that I'm doing or going to, or if it's something that I know in the evening, like later this week, I have another event

in the evening up at school. So I will do makeup that I can then top up quite easily or I can make a little bit more eveningy, like just with a change of eye shadow or popping on a bit of eyeliner or something. And so I can just freshen it up really quickly before we have to go out. So I do my hair and makeup. I then like to give my room a quick tidy and put things away if I can. And if not, I do that at night to make sure that I'm not waking up to a messy bedroom because I just, I can't stand that. And then from there, that's when obviously it becomes kid time. So I'm not necessarily going to take you through that because I think it's pretty much the same,

but different in every single household. And then my morning routine then continues again after I've got back home. So our school goes in quite early. So by about 10 to 9, I continue that. I give myself half an hour before I start work when I get back home to pop a load of washing on if I need to or hang it out if I've already put it on in the morning. Then I clear away the kitchen from anything that has been left from making lunches, making breakfast, all that kind of thing.

And generally I put a timer on for this because I find that that is super effective. So say I have half an hour, 45 minutes, I rarely do an hour, very, very rarely. generally it's half an hour, 45 minutes. It's like, right, what can I get done in that time? And so that is clearing up the kitchen, washing, putting the vacuum cleaners on to do the carpet and to do downstairs. And then what I like to do then is just it clears my mind. The reason I do all of that is if my mind knows that there is mess downstairs, I can't

really settle for the day. I find it really, really hard to do that because I know it is waiting for me when I get downstairs and it's just one more thing I have to do whereas if I know it's clear my mind is clear it's all coming back to you know if there's physical clutter there's mental clutter and then that's where that overwhelm for me starts to come in to play so once I've done all of that that's when I then grab like a bit of morning tea I always have my water bottle I bought a fabulous water bottle from a company called Montecchio I've used those for the kids for years and years and years. I bought one for myself when we went traveling to the US last year and I always have it with me.

Like everyone will see me. I get in the car. I have it. I'm in my office. I have it. Wherever I am in the house, that drink bottle is pretty much with me. And that is the way that I find that I drink more water. And that's part of my routine is to make sure I'm drinking enough water. I'm known, especially in like the colder months, I'm known not to do that. And obviously that has so many different health side effects when you don't drink enough water. So that's what I do. I make sure I have my water. I've taken my supplements for the day. And then I start work. So that's my morning routine. So by about 930, quarter to 10 on the days that I am working, that is my morning routine. So the non-negotiables for me are I have to do that exercise. Oh, I forgot to tell you what I have

for breakfast. It's a really nice breakfast that I'm having at the moment. So I like to have yogurt. I get the one from Aldi, they're Greek yogurt. Really creamy, super rich and creamy. Absolutely love it. I think it's called, I don't, maybe it's not called Farmers Union. Maybe it is. I can't remember. So yeah, I have that. I have gluten-free special K on the top. And then I have a mix of berries. Sometimes I have some mint. Sometimes I have a bit of honey or maple syrup on the top. I put saltanas in there. Don't really put nuts in there anymore just because of my allergies. But that's what I have. And the reason I've mixed that up recently, is because I was learning that I wasn't having enough protein in my breakfast.

And so I was getting hungry really quickly. I used to have the cereal literally just with skin milk. So, and the reason I have skin milk is because I've only just recently this year reintroduced dairy after like five years. So anything more than that, I feel a bit sickly. But skin milk, I really like very much. But I was finding it wasn't filling me up. And so by I do school drop off and I'd come home and I would be really,

really hungry already. And my husband and I joke about me having a second breakfast because that's pretty much what's been happening. So now that I've switched to this kind of breakfast with the yoghurt, I'm finding that it's really filling me up much better. And so by having that, I try to have that before I drop the kids off in the morning. It doesn't always happen depending on what I'm doing. But I always try to do that beforehand because then I can really hit the ground running when I get home. Otherwise then it's like, oh, you've got to have your breakfast and you've got to do that. When I have my breakfast, I like to do my, what I call my dreams and gratitude journal. So I learned how to do this from Rachel Hollis. She's got it on her podcast. And it's a whole vision thing that you do.

Go listen to it. It's amazing. I've made so many people in my life listen to it. And I generally do it once a year around that new year time because sometimes our dreams and our visions of what we want for our life change. See, I told you I go off on tangents and I like the whole spiritual thing. but it's very much about manifesting as well. And so by writing down the same 10 dreams every day, I'm reminding myself what I'm working for every day or what I'm working towards every day and the goals that I have that are really important to me.

So when I have my breakfast, that is what I'm sitting doing. And so I write out my five things of gratitude and it's from the day before. So I'm thinking about what happened the day before and I'm looking for not always big things. I'm looking for the little things. have happened. And it can be as simple as sitting in the sunshine with a cup of tea or a hot chocolate in my case. Or it can literally be that one of my kids has done something really nice.

Or it can be like today that my husband bought me a really beautiful rose. So all those kinds of things become your gratitude. And so I do my gratitude and then I write down my 10 dreams with the one goal. Go listen to Rachel Hollis. It is amazing her process. And like I said, I have done it for years. And I just find all of this grounds me and sets me up for the day. Now, some days, obviously, things go out the window. My absolute non-negotiables are that the Pilates has to be done. The pelvic Pilates has to be done.

And I do that every day, seven days a week. The gratitude is really important for me as just a reminder and a grounding thing. Having my breakfast years ago, I used to skip that a lot. and then I would end up having something sugar at morning tea. So no, a really important breakfast. Having my supplements is really important. And I also find having the clear kitchen and having my bed made in a clear bedroom, I just feel so much lighter for having all of that done.

And I know that so much of this is common sense and I totally get that. But I also know that there are times when or if you're not somebody who routines or organization comes naturally to you or you don't necessarily enjoy it, that those things can feel a little bit overwhelming almost to put in place. So if you're just starting out with a routine, start with the small things, start with a non-negotiable. So like I said for me, exercise, breakfast, clear bedroom, clear kitchen. They're what I would start with if you're just starting out because I really think that they help set you up. And by doing that kind of exercise in the morning, if you're able to on your own, it just, it just really helps clear the mind. And I think it gives you time.

I don't think about anything. I find it really hard when I go to sleep at night. It can be really easy for my brain just to start racing. And I've actually started saying to my entire family, I get to about eight o'clock at night. And I say no more questions. No, no more, unless your limb is falling off, you're being sick, or it's something so urgent that cannot wait, it will, you know, you can keep it till the morning, purely because otherwise I don't sleep. And then I dream about things. So I might be sleeping, but then I dream about it. I have the most crazy insane dreams, like all the time.

My poor best friend literally gets text messages so many mornings saying, oh my gosh, you will not believe what I have dreamt about tonight, which is just reminded me. I actually need to tell her about what I dreamt about last night. I should be interested in that one. But yes, we talk about all that kind of stuff. But I find that putting all of these sort of boundaries in place, but also boundaries with family, boundaries with yourself, and then also non-negotiables.

If I haven't done that exercise, if I know I'm going for a walk with a friend, then maybe I won't do it. However, if there are times when I know that I haven't done it because I just really didn't feel like it, then I feel disappointed in myself because I am not going to get better. This pelvic floor is not going to get it better.

I'm not going to be able to walk up a hill if I don't do this. And I know that my mind is so much better for anxiety, for any kind of stress, trying to reduce any kind of that overwhelm. I am so much better for doing all of these. So that's my morning routine. It is a non-negotiable for me. My family pretty much know the things that I won't. sort of bend on because in order for mum to be nice, she has to do all these things. No,

it's more about it just keeps the balance. It keeps the balance for me, but it also keeps the balance for the family. And I think it actually shows how important it is to your kids that having a good morning routine can really set you up for the day. And that's what I'm trying to instill, especially as I have teenagers and they're getting to the pointy end of high school. I think it's really important having some of those routines in place because just keep you going. You know what to expect, you know what you're doing, rather than thinking, oh, my goodness, I'm starting the day and I have no idea.

So that's me. That's my morning routine. If you have any questions or you'd like to have a chat, then please send me an email to Ashley at lovingcolor.org. And as always, that's color with a you. Otherwise, come over to Loving Color double underscore on Instagram and send me a DM or pop a comment on one of my posts. I am always up for a chat about anything really, but especially to do with fashion style, beauty, motherhood, teenagers, anything to do with life, really, which is what this

episode has been all about. So I hope you have enjoyed it. Take care. Have another great week week. Week. And I will catch you on next week's episode. Thanks so much. Bye.