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Episode Description:

Who doesn't love a good morning routine?

This week, Beth shares how she maximizes her new 'early bird' existence to spend time focusing on herself, before the start of each hectic work day. From the way she gives back to her community to her favorite smoothie recipes, you won't want to miss it :)

Links mentioned in the episode:

Podcast:

The Type A Plus Podcast Instagram

Host:

Beth Lawrence LinkedIn

Beth Lawrence & Company Instagram

Beth will be back each week, delivering bite-sized tips (15-minute episodes or less) on how to optimize your life and work.

Episode Transcript can be found below:

Welcome to the Type A+ podcast with me, Beth Lawrence.

I'm a certified meeting professional, an award-winning event planner, and a classic over-prepared overachiever.

In each episode, I'll deliver bite-sized tips on organizing your business and life, even during your most hectic times.

So, let's get started.

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Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Type A+ Podcast. Happy June. Happy Pride Month. Before we get started today, I just wanted to let you know that I've been having so much fun interviewing people like Amber Lee Jones, Claire Sausen, and Amanda Jefferson, and. I really think that there's a path forward in this podcast where I interview the community and I get to hear your tips and talk to you about what being a type A plus person means to you, the good and the bad, and the things that you've learned and the things that you do want to pass on to people.

So if you're listening and you're like, oh my God, I'm a Type A+ person and I would love to be on your show, please reach out to us. We would love to chat with you. You could do that via our Instagram at the Type A+ Podcast, or you can do it via email, which will be included in the show notes.

This week we are talking about my morning routine. We've talked before about how routines are critical for Type A people, and though I actually think that my nighttime routine is a little bit more Type A+ than my morning routine, we're starting out with the morning.

One thing you should know about me before we get started, I don't have children, so for those of you that have children, my morning is going to look a lot different than a lot of yours. Please do not use this as some sort of standard. This is just what I've developed and what works for me.

It's not realistic for everybody, but without further ado, here's my routine. So five months. Yesterday, I stopped drinking alcohol and I had gone through breaks before. The longest I had gone before that was four and a half months or so. And what I've noticed, the longer the stretch is that I don't drink alcohol the earlier I wake up.

Right now I wake up literally at the crack of dawn, anywhere between 5:00 AM and 6:00 AM quite literally with the sun. And I tend to not start working till 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM So it goes without saying that I have a long time to focus on myself, take care of myself, and honestly just be Beth before I get to be Beth, who is the event expert and operations specialist and business owner that I am day to day.

So the first thing I do when I wake up is typically actually without an alarm, which is kind of annoying, but sometimes my husband's alarm wakes me up. The first thing I do is brush my teeth and put my contacts in. I do not wash my face because I work out first thing in the morning, so I think it's silly to wash my face first thing in the morning and then get it sweaty again, and then have to wash it.

So I try to, before I go out the door, drink at least half of my emotional support water bottle. If you know, you know, if you have a water bottle by your bed every night, no matter what, even if you barely sip it, you know what I'm talking about. So I try to drink at least half of that bottle before I go out the door because obviously you wake up dehydrated in the morning and that's something that's super important.

But because I work out, I wanna make sure that I am also. Fueling myself at least in some way. And then after I do that, I walk my dog Diesel for at least 20 minutes. I used to run with him about two miles a day. Um, he is 13 years old now, so he can't do that anymore, and some days I will take a large garbage bag with me when I walk him.

So in addition to like his dog bags that you would normally take to pick up, What you need to pick up when you walk a dog. I take like a regular garbage bag with me because I started to notice there was a ton of trash around my neighborhood. I live near a train station and I grew up in the woods with parents that really taught me to take care of the planet and be respectful of the planet, so I can't just sit around and let people litter and not do anything about it. So I sometimes will clean up trash from my neighborhood while I'm walking the dog. Then when I drop him back off at my house, that's the time when I start really doing things specifically for myself. Obviously, I love spending time with the pup, but At that point, I usually go for either a long walk, three to four miles a run, or I run slash walk to the gym, it's about a mile from my house, and then I'll do weights and cardio. And some mornings I do yoga. That's the thing that I let myself, decide the day of is like, what do I feel like doing today? Some days I don't feel like doing anything. I don't move every single day, but I really try to get outside in the sunshine in the morning for as long as possible.

So even if that means sitting on my porch for a little bit or just doing the walk with the dog, I'm privileged to. Live near a ton of green space and a lot of that green space has water, which I absolutely need that for my mental and physical health, and I believe everyone does, and it shouldn't be a privilege to live close to green space, but the bare minimum is some sort of movement and getting outside, especially if it's sunny outside.

and, as you probably imagine, I wake up completely shot out of a cannon. Everything is exciting. I can't wait to go do everything that I wanted to do. And my brain is very active in the morning. I used to really count on a lot of anxious thoughts in the morning, and I had a lot of anxious thoughts that took up space, particularly if I had drunk the night before.

So I actually think that this routine evolved over time to really help me counteract those negative thoughts. Working out in the morning, getting outside in the morning. It helps me get out of that headspace and create a new pattern for myself. And because my brain is so active and so hungry in the morning, I listen to music sometimes right away, or I listen to podcasts.

I love listening to a good research podcast when I work out. Or I love creating new Spotify playlists while I'm lifting weights.

Then after whatever workout I decide to do, I go home, I get a shower. It's then that I do my skincare routine, which will be a whole other episode because trust me, it needs to be, and then I get dressed, and after that is when I make breakfast. And this is anywhere from two and a half to four hours after I wake up.

Breakfast is typically rather light for me, at least the first thing that I put in my body, it's usually a smoothie or a juice from this amazing place around the corner for me that I spend way too much money on but it's okay. And if I'm making my own smoothie, it's either this tropical blend, which is watermelon, strawberries, coconut milk, and then half a frozen banana.

So, so good and so refreshing. Or if it's the wintertime or I want more of an earthy smoothie. I will do a frappuccino smoothie with, I do decaf coffee, but obviously whatever you choose. Almond butter, cocoa powder, coconut milk. Half a frozen banana and maple syrup if you blend it all together, especially if the banana is frozen, trust me, it will taste like a frappuccino.

It is so good. Just make the coffee a little bit stronger cuz you have to put ice in it to get it to the right consistency. And then at that time, once I start, I have my smoothie, and I'm sipping my smoothie. I get started with my emails and my administrative tasks. And then a little bit later, once I've gotten sort of like the overview of the day out of the way, that's when I'll have something more substantial to eat, like eggs and potatoes or, I love these gluten-free bagels from, I think it's called like Canyon Road Bagels, but they're, I love egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches.

So I'll make a breakfast sandwich and again, This morning routine has evolved over time. It is not the same every single day. Sometimes on the weekends, I wake up and watch a ton of Vanderpump Rules and I wake up and bake and I have a coffee, and that's just what it is. And other days I do everything that you just heard in the last 10 minutes by 10:00 AM and I feel like superwoman, right?

Obviously, my lifestyle being an entrepreneur, not having children living in a place with accessible, walkable activities, it makes it a little bit easier for me to craft a routine like this. But in some ways, it's the reason that I design my life this way because it does help me to calm that anxiety down and feel ready to tackle literally whatever comes in a given day because We can't ever predict what's going to happen during the day.

We can't predict who's going to annoy us or who's gonna request something from us. It just feels yucky or if we're gonna get stuck in traffic. But the things that I can control, for the most part, at least right now, are when I wake up and how much of the time in the morning that I have before I work, I spend focusing on myself, my wants, my needs, and what works for me.

And so that is my morning routine from about 5:00 AM to about 10:00 AM most mornings. And I would love to hear anything from your morning routine that is a highlight that really makes you feel like you're ready to tackle the day, even if your morning routine is 15 minutes long. I love an efficient morning routine.

Once again, thank you so much for listening. We are going to be talking skincare routines next episode, and following that we will be talking nighttime routines and that is, The big one as they say.

Again, if you're listening and you are like, look, I am so type A, I have this cool tip. I would love to have you as a guest. I love meeting people. I love talking to people. Thank you so much and we'll be back next week on the Type A+ Podcast. Take care of yourselves.

The Type A+ Podcast is written and produced by me, Beth Lawrence.

Our music is composed by Dan “Dilemma” Thomas.

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