Get up and go: Starting the morning right can have a great influence on your whole day
is a presenter on RTÉ 2fm’s morning show, Breakfast Republic. The 32-year-old mother of Florence, aged one, lives in Ranelagh with her daughter and her husband, Lau.
“Our show goes on air on RTÉ 2fm weekdays at 7am, so I get up at 5.30am every morning. I’ve learned not to hit snooze, and instead drag myself up and into the shower. I start the day with a shake which has oats, peanut butter, chai seeds and protein powder in it, and then get on my bike and cycle to work for 6.30am.
Sometimes, I stop off and grab a coffee.
“I always get my clothes ready the night before, only because I can’t be clattering around when the baby is still asleep. It actually puts me in bad form if I forget, and sometimes has ended up with me wearing my husband’s joggers to work with odd shoes. I’m not mentally awake until after 6am.
“I was never an early bird before, but now I never sleep in — not even at the weekend or with a hangover! Florence wakes at around 7am, so lie-ins are a thing of the past. I actually enjoy mornings now, the only thing I dislike is going to bed early. It means only one episode of Netflix’s Making A Murderer a night which is (if you’ve seen it) nearly impossible to do.
“Sometimes I get a sneaky snooze in the afternoon, but only ever for an hour max. I don’t drink caffeine after 4pm. At the weekends, it’s all about family time. We cook a nice breakfast or meet friends for brunch, which is the new dinner. It’s all very civilised and grown up.”
Hectic start
40, is the executive producer of Xposé on TV3. From Cork, she lives in Blackrock, Co Dublin, with her husband Johnny and her two sons Marcus, eight, and Sam, two.
“My morning routine is hectic and involves a lot of juggling. Most mornings I feel like I’ve a full day’s work done by the time I sit at my desk in TV3.
“It starts with a bang when my boys wake up before 8am. I dress both kids, Marcus for school and Sam for creche. Breakfast for the boys follows while Johnny and I make the school lunches. I usually grab a coffee on the go and I’m the last to get dressed before I walk Marcus to school. After a quick chat with the other parents, I drop Sam to crèche. Then I head straight for TV3.
“I’m not really a natural early bird but eight years doing the early shift while I produced Ireland AM changed that. When your morning needs to start at 4am, it either makes or breaks you.
“It was a struggle at the start but I adapted quickly. Now, mornings are my favourite part of the day. I love that time in the morning just before everyone wakes up, you get very used to it when you have a small baby.
“My husband Johnny is a personal trainer and has clients to see most mornings before the boys and I are even out of bed — the expression ships in the night springs to mind.
“I lay the boys clothes out the night before — it’s vital to make sure that my son’s uniform is clean and has its elbows and knees in tact. My own attire is a lot more relaxed I try to work a 45-minute Pilates reformer class into my morning once or twice a week — twice is a luxury. It takes a lot of forward planning but I find it brilliant for mental health and keeping in shape.
“The weekend routine is mostly about the boys. It starts with a ‘struggle’ with the remote control as I want to watch Saturday AM and the boys, SpongeBob Squarepants. They usually win! We have breakfast and then I’m on the road driving the boys to karate, football practice and play dates. Even on the weekend, routine is key or there’d be nothing done.”
Working from home
Author, 27, lives in Ringsend in Dublin with her husband Ceri. Her novel Spare & Found Parts is due out in the autumn.
“My morning routine really varies depending on what stage I’m at with my novel, editing or on deadline. I don’t get weekends when I’m on deadline; I work every day, and tend to rise around 8am; If I’m under a lot of pressure, I try and be at my desk for 7am.
“Breakfast can go amiss sometimes if I’m just looking to get stuck in, but tea is always vital.
“I work from home, and the spare room in our little house is my office. I try to not work in my pyjamas, that’s a pretty serious rule: I may not have to wear business casual clothes, but I do have to try and look like a person.
“Working from home requires a lot of discipline, and treating it like a regular job is key.
“I’m not a great sleeper to say the least, so given the chance I’m eager to catch up on rest until late morning. I have a buddy system with some other freelancers I know. They sometimes work at my kitchen table with me and if I know they’re coming at 9am, then I have to be presentable.
“There’s a special silence in the early morning, too, it’s a really holy time of day. When I have to transition from no deadline back to deadline, I pare back my rising hour by half an hour every day for a couple of days until I’m organically ready to go as early as I need to be.
“The glorious non-deadline weeks are very snooze-heavy!
“There have been many weekend mornings when I’ve got work due, while my husband, who works eight to five, is chilling with the cat. But then there many weekdays when he’s been up and out in the cold at seven and I’m not likely to stir for hours. A mutual lie-in is rare.”
Morning with baby
Business owner, 31, is mum to six-month-old Spencer and wife to Barry. She runs Gold Fever Hair Extensions from her Co Dublin base.
“On weekdays I set my alarm for 7am. Spencer is usually awake before that anyway, so it’s just a case of setting it in case he decides to have a miraculous lie-in.
“I give him a bottle and spend about an hour with him. I love this time, as he loves the morning.
“I have a Nespresso once he’s finished his bottle. If I have time I have either yogurt and blueberries or chia seeds and blueberries for breakfast.
I then run to the shower and throw on my clothes, but I always style my hair because I have to look the part, it gets done no matter how late I am. I get up a little earlier if I have to, just to make sure my hair is done. I’m out of the house around 8.45am, always rushing to the office.
“I’m a total night owl, but I got used to much less sleep when the baby came along. I have to get everything ready the night before. I don’t prepare my lunch, but it is my new year’s resolution.
“I prefer having a routine, but we are lucky because we can be a bit flexible. We have a fantastic nanny for Spencer as I had to go back to work very quickly after I had him. Barry and I can end up working late into the night or sometimes early mornings from home, so flexibility is key.
“Our routine doesn’t vary much at the weekends because Spencer is up anyway, but we get much more play time with him and downtime in general. And isn’t that what it’s all about?”
Working to routine
32, is a freelance fashion stylist and journalist. She lives in Dublin city centre with her husband Anthony.
“Being self-employed, people have this misconception that I’m having a big lie-in every morning and working in my pyjamas. But when I decided to go freelance in 2014 I forced myself to establish a routine and found an office in town that I can work from every day.
“As a stylist my job is so varied that every week is different, so my morning routine changes. A couple of times I month I’ll be up at 5am to do live morning TV, and other days I can be up around 6am for a fashion shoot. On a normal day though, I get up around 8am.
“Because I live in town I don’t have to worry about a commute, but I do like to snooze. I always set my alarm for a bit earlier so it feels like I’m getting more of a lie-in.
“I hate going to the gym so if I want to squeeze in some exercise before I set off, I have kettlebell workout on my AppleTV. I’m not really a big breakfast eater, but I always manage to make a juice with my Nutribullet — seeds, veg and fruit fill me up.
“I usually mentally prepare what I’m going to wear when I’m snoozing. I think it’s important to have a few go-to outfits that you can rely on.
“Once I’m up and about, I’m fine. But I suit having a routine; my husband works from home a lot so if I didn’t have the office it might not be so harmonious in the mornings! But it does feel amazing when I’m able to decide to take the morning off and go have a leisurely breakfast. There are some perks to freelance life.”
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