- There is nothing worse than starting your day
on the wrong foot while simultaneously scrolling
the social media world to see everyone's
seemingly perfect lives.
I have a better idea.
Actually, I have 25.
(engaging music)
Good morning, good life!
Welcome back to "Amy TV" where we come together
to help you go after the life that you want.
And, if you're like most people, you probably sleep
with this thing on your nightstand.
I get it, you need it.
It's your alarm, right?
Well, that's all well and good
until your alarm wakes you up
and then you just naturally open up your favorite apps,
like Instagram, and just start checking things out,
passively, still in bed, haven't done anything,
haven't even had your own thought for the day.
Do you ever find that whatever you end up seeing
on that scroll fest just puts you in a mood?
I want you to have more options than that
so today, I have 25 way better things
that you can do in the morning
than spend your time scrolling social media.
This episode of "Amy TV" is also in partnership
with our friends over at Gevalia.
Stay tuned until later to find out how their K-Cups
can make your mornings even better.
Let's not waste any time.
Here are 25 things that are better, way better,
for you to do, in the mornings,
instead of scrolling Instagram, Twitter, Facebook,
all of the places.
TikTok, I hear is hot now, too.
Not in the morning, okay?
Number one, a skincare routine.
I had to make this number one because this is
the absolute first thing that I do in the mornings
and I love it!
It gets my skin moving.
It gets me hydrated, makes me feel like
I can actually move into the next room,
into the next move of my day
and not still have the crusties in my eyes.
It's also a lot of the reason why people
don't think I'm as old as I am.
Number two, drink water.
Specifically for me, it's lemon water.
I've probably talked about this 800 times
but again, keeping the hydration going.
You just went a long time without eating or drinking
and your body needs moisture more than anything
to start the day.
Number three, play music and dance.
I actually found it so fantastic, over the weekend,
I realized I could play music from my Apple watch
without having to touch my phone,
and turn it on in my living room speakers,
and I literally danced out of bed.
If you can do this because you don't have anyone
in your house sleeping, you just need to start the day
on your terms, moving your body, I highly recommend it.
Number four, walk outside.
I try to do this at least on my balcony in our apartment
but if you can actually leave the house, this is great, too!
I feel like coming into contact with the environment
definitely wakes you up in a different way
than all the other things that are happening
in your own space, especially if you wake up
with the sun, feeling that sunlight on you might
be exactly what you need.
Number five, read a book, or at least one page.
If it's too hard to fit time in for reading
throughout your day, this is probably the best time
to do it and make no excuses
by at least absorbing one page,
even if it's just one Kindle page, better than nothin'!
Number six, write down three priorities for your day.
It's gonna be a crazy one, you gotta get stuff done,
so keep yourself focused by just having three things
to focus on, three things to be your goal
to complete the day with.
Number seven, listen to a motivational book.
I actually have found a book on Audible
that is short, and exciting, and motivational,
and it's literally only an hour-and-a-half long,
so it kind of feels like I'm listening to a podcast.
But the entirety of it is as motivational
as an instructional self-development book and it's the best!
I'll link to it below so you can find out what it is.
But just find something that works for you.
If you especially don't like to read pages,
just listen to it.
It might be exactly what you need to move into the day.
Number eight, stretch.
Your body needs to lean out with a little bit
of stretching, even if you're not good at it.
I'm very bad at it.
Just use a little bit of a guideline
from, like, a Pinterest graphic, right?
Just like, a couple things you can do
to make your body move a little bit better today.
Number nine, journal.
It's a great idea to be one
with your actual own thoughts
at the beginning of your day.
I like to do the practice of morning pages
which Julia Cameron talks about in, "The Artists Way,"
but you can do any kind of journaling
and it will really be that mindful moment
that you might need to get going.
Number 10, exercise.
My least favorite suggestion on the list
and some of the most important of all the suggestions
on the list.
We know we need it for our own health,
both diet and exercise, so why not get it out of the way
first thing in the morning?
Even if you only do a 20-minute workout,
ya did somethin' today.
Number 11, meditation, and this is something
that I don't do everyday but I did do it today.
'Cause I was like, "You know what?
"Last night I was very stressed.
"I don't wanna start today this way.
"Let's calm the mind, let's have some stillness."
And, maybe it's worth a try every once in a while.
Just set a timer for five, 10 minutes.
Don't think too much into it, literally,
you're not suppose to think too much into it,
so give it a shot.
Number 12, only speak positive words.
I found myself saying the most cuss words in the morning
'cause I'm not that excited about the progress I'm making
and how bumpy of a ride it tends to be.
But even when I finish a sentence
that doesn't sound very good, if I said it out loud,
I at least to try to end it positively.
As positive as possible, like,
"Oh, my day can only get better, question mark!"
(laughing)
Number 13, make the bed.
Okay, if you really wanna get things done
throughout the day, prove to yourself
you can do something small, like, cleaning up the space
that you made a mess of for the last seven to eight hours,
so that later on, when you are ready to fall
into that space again, it's ready and willing for you.
Number 14, text something nice to somebody that you know,
maybe somebody you haven't talked to in a while.
I don't want you to spend a lot of time on your phone
but if you're going to spend any time on your phone,
it should be to create good things for the world,
not absorb anything from everybody else.
Send a nice text to somebody
and whether it's their birthday, or just,
"I'm thinking of you," let yourself feel good
about reaching out.
Number 15, write three things that you're grateful for,
especially when we wake up in a hustle, and a bustle,
and, like, it's not going so great.
At least sitting down and saying,
"Okay, let me present right now.
"What's going well?"
(laughing)
Like, let's write that down.
Number 16, tweet a motivational quote.
I don't know if you're one
of those people that likes quotes.
I live for them.
If you follow me on Twitter and Instagram,
you know that I share them all the time,
and I personally feel like a much better person,
more reflective, when I read a quote
that motivates me and I share it with my community.
It's good vibes for all!
Number 17, cuddle your animal, or your child,
or your significant other.
If you like to have that connection in the morning,
if you're a snugly type of person, I'm not really,
(laughs) so this is really hard for me to say,
but if you are then you should enjoy that!
If you feel the need for that connection
then make it happen, especially if those are around you
are excited about it.
Lucy is very excited about it, when I actually do the thing.
Number 18, tidy something.
I personally tend to be pretty tidy in my life
and I'm very tidy when I'm procrastinating.
So if you're trying to procrastinate
on your day a little bit, at least do something
that is productive, maybe tidy up the kitchen counter,
or the dishes in the sink, or your dining room table,
or your office, or whatever.
Number 19, dry brushing, how random is that?
You know, I had to bring a little bit
of skincare back into the game.
This is a really fun tactic
that really gets the cells moving,
exfoliates you and really gets the blood pumping.
It's also fantastic for lymphatic drainage and maybe,
you know, like, gettin' rid of some of those cellulite.
Let's get rid a that!
Number 20, listen to a podcast.
I would be selective about what your podcasts are
first thing in the morning because, again,
you are filling words into your head,
of what other people are talking about,
and podcasts tend to go rogue all the time,
no matter what the content is.
But try to do something that tends to be
a little bit more uplifting to start your day.
Number 21, take an online class,
whether it's something free on YouTube,
or you go to, like, a skillshare to try something.
Learn something, work on your mastery for the day
to really feel like you're owning the day.
Number 22, rewrite your goals.
If you don't wanna forget why you do what you do,
and all the hard things that you're gonna have to do today,
and what they go back to, refresh your memory everyday,
and rewrite those goals.
I rewrite mine three times, every single day
because I do not wanna forget
what the heck we're doin' here!
Number 23, take a fragrance journey.
What do I mean by that?
Well, it's a good question.
I personally have been getting
a little bit more into, like, essential oils.
My mom really got me into it.
So, just even starting a diffuser and putting
a really great scent in there,
like peppermint, or lemon, or something citrus-y,
to, kind of, wake you up.
I just love doing this but if you just prefer
to smell your perfume when you put it on,
take a moment and really be present with the scent.
It's nice!
I love connecting scent to happiness.
It's like a different level of things.
It's like you can't compute it the same way,
as like, tangible items and their connection to happiness,
which everyone would argue is not a real thing.
Number 24, write about something you know, like,
in a blog, or in a micro-blog,
like a caption in your Instagram posts.
Again, if you're gonna share something with the world,
at least create it and have it come from you.
Stop absorbing everything else.
What is something that you know
that you can write about and let people in on?
I like to share my specialty, my expertise,
any information I find useful for other people,
I love sharing it with the world.
And, number 25, take a photo and log your day.
I think it's really fun when people do, like,
the 3-6-5 challenge, where they have a photo
of every single day.
I'm not as good at that but if you use apps
like Five Minute Journal, it'll let you upload a photo
for your day and you can kind of go back
and scroll through this photo journal.
If you add other words to it, that's cool, too.
But a photo journal of essentially what your life
has looked like everyday.
It's just kind of fun to look at
even if the photos aren't, like, perfect.
All right, those are 25 things
that are literally better than you just mindlessly scrolling
Instagram for another half-hour after your alarm went off,
while you lay in bed.
So if you need the reminder, then maybe just play
this video for literally many, many, many more things
that you could be doing.
All right, how 'bout a bonus tip?
Who didn't see this one coming?
Number 26, have a cup of coffee.
It's not just about my love of the bean.
Holding a warm beverage in your hand is the best.
It makes you feel better, that first cup of coffee
is more impactful than any other cup
you're gonna have the rest of the day.
You gotta love it!
Today's episode is sponsored by one
of my favorite brands of coffee, Gevalia.
I don't like to waste a lot of time
going and getting coffee,
as much as that's a fun experience every once in a while,
I prefer to have a cafe-like delicious coffee experience
at home, as quickly as possible.
I treat my coffee experience a lot like
I treat my wine experience.
I really wanna taste what I'm drinking
so I actually drink coffee black, like 100% of the time.
I can't remember the last time, actually, it was like 2014,
was the last time I put something in my coffee.
So it's really important that it's a delicious,
great cup of coffee but it can't be too intense.
I don't like the super-intense coffees.
I don't need to, like, feel like I'm tastin' the bean
where it grew out of the ground.
Gevalia does not taste like that, and fortunately,
I love drinking it because it tastes just as good black
as it would if you wanted to put something else in it.
So obviously, the taste is important
but the convenience is, too.
And, that is why we've actually started using
a Keurig at home and we use the Gevalia K-Cups.
We made this decision because we just found
we were wasting a lot of coffee, and it's pretty annoying
looking at a pot of coffee, and seeing
that it's not gonna have anyone drinking it,
and you have to dump it out and start over the next day.
With the K-Cup, you get exactly what you need.
You really enjoy that first cup
because there's only one cup with the K-Cup
and it brews super fast.
I don't even have to think about it.
I just pop the K-Cup in and it starts making itself
while I run around and do some other things.
And, it's tremendously less wasteful for us.
I also never waste time shopping
for coffee at the grocery store.
I usually don't even go to the grocery store anymore,
I order my groceries.
And, one of the ways that I do that
is by getting my K-Cups on Amazon
because, you know, I'm already on Amazon a lot
as it is, right?
(laughing)
Who's not?
Also, in an effort to reduce waste,
we found a local facility that actually does
special recycling for K-Cups since it's a little bit more
of a complicated situation,
the grounds are within the plastic,
they actually dismantle them and take care of it for us,
so we recycle those specially.
There has been a time in my life
where I went without caffeine for a while
but I would never go back.
Coffee is just so, so good for you,
it's good for your brain.
It's a great way to start the day
and I would definitely rather be drinking
a cup of Gevalia coffee than scrolling Instagram
the first moment I wake up, okay?
Coffee and my own thoughts, please and thank you!
I will leave a link below
where you can find out more details
about how you can improve your coffee experience
in the morning with Gevalia K-Cups
and thanks to them, again,
for being a partner to "Amy TV".
All right, question of the day:
What is something that I did not mention,
that you like to do first thing in the morning,
other than scroll social media?
Leave that in the comments below.
That's all for today!
Thank you so much for tuning in.
I appreciate it!
As always, make sure you subscribe for good vibes,
kiss the ones you love, and go after the life that you want!
Cheers!
(engaging music)
What's my dress line?
What is ringing?
I'm in the middle of filming a video.
What are you doing?
What if I threw it?
No, no phones!
No, actually, I kinda need it!
Oh gosh, love technology!
(gulping)