My Morning Routine as a Working Mum (and Why It Starts the Night Before)

You know the morning routines you see online. The 5am starts, the hour of journalling, the spotless kitchen with not a lunchbox in sight. This is not one of those. I'm the co-founder of The well-SET and a working mum, which means my mornings are shaped by school drop offs, a busy work schedule and, on some days, just getting through. And honestly, I've made my peace with that. A routine only works if it bends with your life, not against it.

The 7am Start

My day starts at 7am, and three or four mornings a week I'll spend ten minutes on my vibration plate with my LED mask on. It helps my body feel smoother and tighter. I have rosacea, and the mask has genuinely helped calm the redness in my skin, while the vibration plate gives my circulation a bit of a boost, something I've noticed needs more help as I get older. The other mornings? It just doesn't happen. School runs and work take over and the plate sits there unused. Do I feel bad about it? Not at all. Three or four times a week is still enough consistency to see results.

Skincare That Takes Five Minutes

My morning skincare is about as simple as it gets. The Medicube PDRN serum, Beauty of Josen SPF and the Rhode Glazing Milk, done. Unless I'm heading into the office, I keep make-up minimal, because I'd honestly rather spend that time moving my body than doing a full face. When your days are full, you work out pretty quickly which bits of your routine are actually for you. I've quietly dropped the rest. If my face is particularly puffy then I will do some facial massages to help me feel more refreshed. 

Movement That Fits Around the Day

I try to get to the gym in the evenings, but plenty of days that's just not realistic. So on those days I hop on the running machine at home instead. Twenty minutes of running, forty of walking. Nothing fancy, but it gets done, and that's the point. I've stopped waiting for the perfect window of time to exercise. I just use the window I've got.

The Real Routine Starts at Night

If you take one thing from this, let it be this: your morning routine actually starts the night before. Sleep is the thing I protect most fiercely, because I know I need a solid eight hours to feel like myself. Three years ago I quit caffeine, and I've never looked back. My sleep completely changed, these days I'm asleep within minutes, whereas before I could lie there for hours, tossing and turning and end up feeling groggy the next day. 

In the evenings I try to read something easy going for half an hour and put my phone away after 8pm. Do I manage it every night? Absolutely not. But when I do, I feel the difference the next morning, every single time.

The Supplements I Actually Take

I lean on supplements a little more as I get older, but I keep it simple and stick to what suits the stage of life I'm in. I take a B12 and iron spray, which has made a real difference to my energy, plus collagen peptides, NAD+, vitamin A for cell renewal and Berocca for immunity. Funnily enough, supplements are the one thing I never miss, purely because they take thirty seconds and I have them with a glass of water in the morning. 

Progress, Not Perfection

If there's a theme to my mornings, it's this. Some things happen every day, and some things happen when they can. The supplements are constant because they're easy. The vibration plate, the LED mask, the evening reading, they happen most of the time, and most of the time is genuinely enough. As long as I'm resting and recovering properly when I'm not working, I can handle the busy weeks.

That's what a real routine looks like to me. Not a strict schedule you've failed by Tuesday morning, but a handful of habits you keep coming back to, in whatever order the day lets you.

Feel better, not busier.