Own Your Morning by Making the Most of Your Favorite Drink
Whether you like dark roast, breakfast blend, flavored coffees, or everything in between, there’s no doubt that for many of us, coffee is the cornerstone of our morning breakfast routine.
Not only does this give us a boost of caffeine, which helps us shake off the night’s sleep and prepare to face the day, but it’s an enjoyable beverage that helps force us to slow down and take time for self-care, as we get ready in the morning.
If you want to own your mornings, there’s a good chance that you’re already including some kind of coffee routine in your morning preparations. However, if you’re doing the same things day after day, it can begin to lose some of its luster.
We want you to make the most out of every morning and own each day you face, so we’ve come up with some useful tips that you can use to keep your morning cup of joe both interesting and exciting.
Before we jump into some tips, let’s talk a bit about how including a coffee routine as part of your morning can actually have health benefits.
How Can a Coffee Routine Benefit You?
There’s more to coffee than just its natural caffeine. There are several great benefits to including a coffee routine in your mornings.
It’s no surprise that many of us use coffee as a method of self-care at the beginning of the day since it’s been shown that coffee consumption can lead to a lower risk of depression – an 8% lower risk according to some studies. That’s a pretty substantial benefit if you’re someone who’s predisposed to experiencing bouts of depression.
Other studies are still being done, which aim to show that coffee can benefit other parts of our bodies as well, such as brain, health, and liver health.
As you can see, there are lots of ways that building a coffee routine at the start of your day can have potentially positive impacts on your overall mental and physical health.
Now, let’s get into some tips to keep your routine from getting stale.
15 Ways to Improve Your Morning Coffee Routine
1.) Find a Unique, Meaningful Mug
Sometimes it can be fun just having a special mug to use as part of your coffee routine in the morning. It doesn’t have to be enormous, expensive, or overly complicated compared to an average mug.
It just has to have a special meaning to you. That alone will help improve your enjoyment of using it for your morning routine.
2.) Experiment with New Brewing Methods
Having the same type of coffee every day can get boring after a few months, especially if you’re just using the same type of beans or pods every day.
Consider buying beans and roasting them yourself with this bean roaster, which will add a richer depth of flavor even if you don’t switch to a different type of coffee bean.
3.) Scroll Through Your Digital Feed
A distraction can be a great way to allow your mind to relax and begin waking up, as you enjoy your coffee routine in the morning.
So, sit back at the kitchen table, grab your phone, tablet, or laptop, and spend a bit of time scrolling through your social feeds. Wish loved ones a happy birthday and check in on friends, while you’re savoring a hot cup of java.
4.) Try Buttered Coffee
Are you trying a ketogenic (keto) diet for the first time? Then you’ve probably heard about buttered coffee.
Used instead of cream or sugar, buttered coffee has become a popular addition to coffee routines for many dieters that are looking to increase the fat content of their drink, while removing the sugars. Many fans of buttered coffee even claim it adds to their focus and energy levels.
5.) Decalcify Your Coffee Maker
You may not realize it if you’ve been using the same coffee maker for a long time (especially the pod coffee makers), but eventually, you need to decalcify your machine. Trust us – it can make a huge difference.
Not only will this make brewing smoother (and quieter) for your machine, but it will improve the flavor of your coffee because the water being used for brewing won’t be tainted by high levels of calcium build-up from within the heating coils of the coffee maker.
6.) Read the News
Although some people may not want to look outside their bubble during their morning routine, others find it valuable to spend their coffee routine scrolling through the latest news updates.
This helps wake you up, and keep you well-informed on any breaking information that may be relevant to your area as you start the day, and it’s also a nice form of relaxation if you’re an avid reader.
7.) Listen to a Podcast
Perhaps you’d rather shut your brain off and just listen to something while you’re enjoying your coffee routine? That’s okay too!
Putting on your favorite podcast can allow you to make good use of your self-care time in the morning, while also letting you enjoy being entertained by whatever podcast interests you the most.
8.) Put on Some Music
Grab your earbuds, lay back on the couch, sip your coffee, and enjoy some of your current favorite tracks from whatever music service you enjoy.
If you’re having a groggy morning, some light coffee shop jazz can be a nice, soothing way to wake up. If you’re feeling stressed about the day ahead, some rock or country might be more cathartic. There are no wrong choices – as long as you’re enjoying the tunes and your drink.
9.) Preheat Your Coffee Mug
You may not have even considered this option in the past, but heating your coffee mug can help your drink stay hot for much longer than pouring it into a cold mug.
For coffee lovers that are adamant that their drinks need to be so hot they can only sip, this is an absolute must-add to your morning coffee routine.
10.) Enjoy Your Coffee Outside
Just because you’re getting ready for the day inside, doesn’t mean that your coffee routine has to be confined to the kitchen or living room.
Step outside when the weather is nice and soak up a bit of Vitamin D, while you’re enjoying your coffee. You might be surprised by how motivating a bit of sunshine combined with caffeine can be, before you rush off to tackle whatever the day has in store for you.
11.) Have Coffee in Bed
Alternatively, you don’t have to rush into your coffee routine, especially if you’ve had a rough night’s sleep and are feeling quite tired still in the morning.
Don’t force yourself to jump into a full sprint on tough mornings. Grab your coffee, head back to bed, curl up in the blankets, and just relax for a bit.
12.) Grind Your Own Beans
There’s a huge difference in taste and quality when you take the time to make your own coffee from scratch at home. This involves more than buying pre-filled coffee pods – it means grinding your own beans. For that, you should consider getting a bean grinder.
Taking the time to grind your coffee fresh daily makes an enormous improvement to the flavor and aroma of your morning cup of joe, which can give you even more reason than usual to savor every drop.
13.) Add Spices to Your Ground Coffee
A bit of spice goes a long way when it comes to exploring unique and interesting additions you can mix into your coffee grounds.
Nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger – there are plenty of ways that you can shift the flavor of your normal coffee routine into something spectacular.
14.) Wait Until You’re Settled for Work
This might seem like a strange suggestion, but if your coffee routine brings you a lot of happiness and encourages mental wellness for you, there’s no reason you shouldn’t bring those benefits to the workplace.
Whether you’re working from home and getting set up in your home office, or you commute to work every day, giving yourself 10 minutes to enjoy your routine at work can be a great way to put yourself in a positive headspace to start your shift.
15.) Try Flavored Creamers or Additives
Another wonderful way to add a bit more flavor to the mix is to use a flavored creamer or syrup in your morning java.
The best part is that you can find plenty of sugar-free and low-calorie flavored additives for your coffee routine, which won’t ruin the flavor of good quality beans or add unnecessary calories to your daily intake.
Shake Off Boredom by Bringing New Ideas to Your Coffee Routine
Make the Most of Your Downtime, so You Can Face the Day Head-on
Variety is the spice of life, as they say. Keeping your morning routines interesting by trying out new ways to enjoy both your drink and your setting will prevent you from falling into a rut, or getting bored with this valued part of your mornings.
In the same way, you may have to go through some trial-and-error to find the best skincare routine, you may need to try out a few different suggestions before you find some that really appeal to you.
Even if you occasionally try something you don’t love, it’s the adventure of trying it that will keep you interested in finding the next exciting idea to test.
And when you start every day with excitement and adventure, you’ll always be ready to own your mornings and rule your days.