A Morning Routine for a Productive Day

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®  and The J.M. Smucker Company, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DunkinDonutsPublix  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

I am a very routine person by nature. Growing up, my sister would aways joke on me because every night when I would get ready for bed, I did the exact things in the exact same order (PSA: I still do for the most part). Having a routine as a mother – especially a mother who works from home – is crucial, in my opinion. Without a good routine, it is next to impossible for me to get anything done. The days that I haven’t made a to-do list or made a plan and far more chaotic and I seem to not get anything done those days. Trust me, I know because we had a day like this last Friday. My entire day was thrown off by me not taking the time to go through my morning routine.

My Morning Routine:

Wake up and brush my teeth / hair and get dressed for the day. – Even if my outfit consists of a tee shirt and workout leggings – which it normally does until after my morning workout.

Make some time for quiet time – whether you meditate, pray, or do a bible study, it is always best to do it first thing in the morning. Otherwise, it just doesn’t get done.

Make a to-do list – I stay more focused throughout the day if I have a list in front of me that tells the tasks that I need to get done.

Exercise – sometimes this happens in the morning, and sometimes it gets pushed back until nap time depending on the day and how early I (or my kids) wake up.

Enjoy a cup of coffee – as all the mamas know, coffee is life in the mornings. Definitely important to mommy’s mood and productivity level of the day. During the warmer months I enjoy making iced coffee (see recipe below). But whether it is hot or iced coffee that I am drinking, I love to drink Dunkin’ Donuts® coffee – which is sold at Publix in many flavors and varieties (ground and K-cups)! We shop at Publix all the time, so grabbing a bag of ground coffee is so convenient. My grandparents actually turned me onto Dunkin’ Donuts coffee a couple of years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. It is so delicious!

Review the calendar and prepare for the day – make Hampton’s lunch for school, get the diaper bag packed appropriately for the day’s activities, etc. Whatever I have to get done that I couldn’t do the night before, this is when I do it.

Tip: I normally multitask and drink my coffee while making my to-do list and having my quiet time. Also, like I said, I sometimes have to push my workouts back until the afternoon when the kids are asleep or in the late morning while Hamp is at school and Weston is napping. Sophie loves to workout with me, so we have fun doing it together. Do whatever works for you – just get it done! And schedule, schedule, schedule. If I don’t write it down, it does not stick with me. Especially right now being so sleep-deprived.

Iced Coffee recipe:

My recipe is so simple but it’s really delicious. I brew a pot of Dunkin’ Donuts ground coffee in our keurig and pour half of it in ice trays to freeze coffee cubes for my iced coffee days. I do this so that my iced coffee doesn’t get watered down by ice. Plus, as the cubes melt, you get a refill without having to get up and fix more!

Once the cubes are frozen, I blend a cup of coffee in the keurig and add cream and sugar to it. I love caramel macchiato and french vanilla creamers the most. Add as much as you normally would if you were fixing hot coffee. Pour it over the coffee cubes and that’s it! Super easy! If you make your coffee cubes early in the week and make a couple of trays, you will have plenty for the whole week and it will be so easy to fix when you are in a hurry.

Be sure to take advantage of $1.00 off any ONE (1) Dunkin’ Donuts varieties now through 5/6/17 at your local Publix, while supplies last!