Getting Up Early

After a break of four years, I've had a hankering to blog again. I feel with a blog, you can at least try and contextualise your writing, rather than writing something pithy or witty on twitter and facebook. Some people are excellent at twitter, and it really suits their personalities, but I am a rambler and need longer prose and sentences or pictures. You find me, four years into a career at the BBC, having worked predominantly at BBC Essex, (have you heard of something called "local radio?!") but I have also ventured to Media City in Salford for 5live and where I am presently, General News Service. We're the part of the BBC that comes with the caveat, "we fix national stories for local radio". Don't get it? Oh well. I've discoverd with news and working at Auntie, there's quite a lot of "getting up early." This is something that does not come naturally to me. I very much enjoy a warm bed and duvet, it's my favourite place in the world. I'm not really sure how many before 5 o'clock starts I've done in the past four year, two hundred? but these are my tips for doing it. 1. Get everything ready the night before. Put it all next to the door. Have your pass / keys / lunch / water / make up bag in place. 2. Cashmere. I very much admire those who can wake up circa 4am and put on a starchy shirt, a cardigan, a little necklace, earings, court shoes, you know the whole "pulled together, I'm a proper woman" sort of look. But it's just not me. When I wake up I want to get dressed into things that resemble bed as soon as possible. So cashmere, yes I know its expensive but you won't regret it, leggings, snow boots, a scarf and a big puffy coat. It's a winner. Overall I'm a massive fan of the "not trying too hard look". 3. Putting your make up on at around 8 o'clock / 9am. I CANNOT face putting make up on before 6am, I feel like my face needs time to "settle" so I just whack on some moisturiser, something that smells divine ideally, Dr Hauschka Rose Cream, as that gives me a boost and then I do my face at work in the bathroom, NOT at my desk. NOT chic. 4. Have a little breakfast to take with you. I love being organised, I love looking after myself. When I was first paid and I was able to fill up my whole fridge with food by myself, it gave me the biggest feeling of satisfaction. I like making banana muffins for myself, or greek yoghurt with honey or porridge. Not a big fan of granola, scared of the sugar content but I need foods that are going to fill me up and keep me going, because early shifts tend to be front loaded. You get in, you start working, there's no easing into it! THERE'S NO TIME!!! 5. When you're there drink loads of water and nice teas. Peppermint or cammomile really help me feel in control. Being dehydrated means I get awful headaches so I try and drink as much as possible without getting weird looks. 6. And finally, if you're lucky enough to have got transport into work, CHECK YOU'VE BOOKED YOUR CAB or check the trains are running. Early morning stress = pre mature wrinkles. The cure for early mornings? I like a nice hot bath, a good plate of nutrious food and a chat with a best friend before going to bed early and sleeping right through. Hard for relationships this one. Maybe, as well as insisiting that a separate bathroom is a must for cohabitation so is a separate bed for earlies, but that's a whole other blog...