1. Q: How many years young are you and what is your living situation?
1. 26. I currently live alone.
2. Q: What's the biggest challenge you faced in changing your morning routine? How have you dealt with it/got over it/are still dealing with it?
2. I think the biggest challenge was learning that, in order to change my morning routine, I had to start changing my evening routine. I'm naturally a night owl but I typically use that time to relax and unwind from the day, but in order to have a productive morning I needed to start my routine the night before. It's still something I'm having to tweak and consciously think about, but it's definitely helped me work towards being more of a productive morning person!
3. Q: What time did you wake up and go to sleep before you started using the Morning Sidekick Journal, and what time do you wake up and sleep now?
3. Before the journal, I was getting in bed around 12am most nights. After the journal, I've starting making an effort to be in bed by 11:15pm.
4. Q: What did your mornings look like before you started using the Morning Sidekick Journal? What do your mornings look like now?
4. Before the journal, I would typically wake up an hour and a half before I had to be somewhere. This was the exact amount of time I needed to get ready before I had to rush out the door. After the journal, I now consistently wake up at 7:30am (yep, even on weekends!) and I have a more strategic routine. I love food and realized that breakfast was a great way to get me out of bed because it was something I could look forward to, so I make breakfast first (I fill out my journals and planners over breakfast), then do a 15min yoga session, then I shower and get ready for the day. If I have extra time, then I do a small household chore that helps me feel like I've completed a task (like washing dishes or paying a bill) so that I can go into work already in a task-completion mindset.
5. Q: In one sentence, what's your favorite thing about the Morning Sidekick Journal?
5. Figuring out what my most important task for the day is. As an event planner, my day is constantly filled with ever-growing to-do lists, but being forced to stop and think about my most important task every day gave me a way to focus.
6. Q: How long have you been using the Morning Sidekick Journal?
6. I started using the journal in July 2018 and I'm on my second one :)
7. Q: How has using the Morning Sidekick Journal and doing your morning routine impacted your life overall?
7. The journal has really helped me enjoy my mornings. As more of a night owl, mornings used to be just something I had to get through in order to start my day, but the journal has really helped me learn to appreciate my mornings. I don't have to think or stress as much as I did before the journal, and a lot of that has come from the wonderful pro-tips and challenges that the journal provides. I may not complete every task I set for myself, but I now have specific things that I do in the mornings that are now ingrained in my routine that have made me more productive and joyful.