The Secret Diary of Lauren Morris Age 51 3/4rs

Have you seen all these social media posts about morning routines? They look EXHAUSTING! It is all drinking water, meditating, yoga and going to the gym.....then home to write lists and eat protein bars. And THEN go to work......The lies we tell!

Your morning routine has to suit your lifestyle. When I was working in an office my routine was to stumble out of bed and grab a takeaway coffee. I listened to music and did what I had to do to have a productive morning. It did not involve Vinyasa flow and it certainly did not involve listening to someone telling me how to breathe. If you have time for these things and find them beneficial then crack on ..... but I just can't do it.

One thing I did start doing was journaling. I started when i stopped working my 9-5 job. It allowed me to write promises to myself on what I wanted to achieve each day. It gave me something to ensure accountability and progress. It worked a lot of the time - not all of the time but a lot. It took 5-10 minutes with my coffee in the morning and let me focus on what I needed to do.

About a month ago life got busier and the journaling slid away. I never even noticed until I found the book lying on a table.

I can't help but feel that someone was looking after me - I found that journal just at the right time.

I had been suffering a slow couple of days. I was lacking motivation and my plans were not progressing the way I wanted. I was feeling stagnant and just blaaaaaa...

When I stumbled across my journal I read my last entry from a month ago - it had a list of all the things that were overwhelming me and frustrating me. They included:-

- just can't figure out how to do this website DONE

- need to think about blogs and how that works DONE

- how do I get a domain and email addresses etc? DONE

- should I be doing more? ONLY IF IT IS PRODUCTIVE (WHATEVER 'PRODUCTIVE' LOOKS LIKE THAT DAY)

Coming across the journal made me realise how hard I had been working and just how much I had achieved in such a short space of time. It was a timely reminder that not everything has to happen at warp speed. It is so easy to be self critical about your own achievements and without a record of where I was only a month ago, I would never have stopped and acknowledged the progress I had made.

Celebrate your achievements - regardless of the scale, give yourself a pat on the back (or in my case go to the local shop and buy a coffee and a yum yum!)

So - if your schedule can allow you 5-10 minutes in the morning and you have things you've always wanted to achieve - try writing it down. It takes no kit, minimum time and could just be the kickstart to something beautiful.

It might even lead to a coffee and a yum yum!