Ah, the Sunday scaries. A sort of unspoken dread characterized by the realization that Monday is fast approaching and you’ll have to wait five whole days for another glorious weekend. That feeling is so, so real.
Make the inevitable Monday morning wake up more manageable by making your life a little easier. These five tricks are so quick and easy, you might actually look forward to waking up for work.
Drink matcha
Ditch your morning cup of joe for matcha. The powdered green tea isn’t just pretty—it’s chockfull of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. And it’s still got a little caffeine to help you feel alert and focused. It used to be that making a cup of matcha was a bit of a process—boil the water to the right temperature, whisk with a special bamboo tool, and so on.
But the geniuses at PANATEA developed a special instant matcha blend that comes in single-serve packages that make life so much easier. All you need to do is add hot water to the pre-packaged mix, and you’ve got an instant matcha latte with all the metabolism- and energy-boosting benefits of a conventional cup.
Shop PANATEA Matcha here.
Sip your breakfast
Smoothies are our kind of fast food—portable, drinkable, and easy to digest, we’re happy to load up all our fave fruits and veggies into a cup. But sometimes often, we either open the freezer and realize we don’t have the right ingredients for our smoothie of choice, or we add too many things to the blender and the result is a weird-tasting drink.
Daily Harvest’s pre-packaged smoothies (they even come in a recyclable cup with a lid, so you can take them with you as you dash out to catch the subway) are the answer to all of our liquid breakfast prayers. Each smoothie recipe has been crafted by a nutritionist, so you know you’re getting all the good vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients you need. It’s a no-brainer, and literally takes 30 seconds: All you do is add the contents of the cup to a blender, pour in the liquid of your choosing, and blitz.
Shop Daily Harvest here.
Get grateful
There’s scientific evidence that keeping a gratitude journal not only improves your psychological well-being, but it can boost your physical health, too. Beginning your day by writing down what you’re thankful for can completely change your outlook—and make the rest of your morning a lot more pleasant.
Try a gratitude journal app like Happier, which reminds you to write down what you’re thankful for and allows you to see what’s making the people around you happy (in case you need a little inspiration!).
Slough it off
Instead of stumbling towards the shower first thing in the morning, take a moment to use a dry brush. The all-natural bristles increase blood flow to the skin and fascia, and it’s a nice all-over exfoliating technique. When performed daily, it naturally detoxifies the body, and in the long run daily dry brushing can improve skin tone and reduce the appearance of cellulite.
Shop dry brushes here.
Get a mini-massage
Stand on an acupressure mat while you wash your face and put on makeup. It’ll massage your feet, but more importantly it will increase blood flow and circulation, which naturally increases your energy levels.
Shop the Shakti mat here.
