I'm admittedly not exactly a morning person, and my own routine generally involves snoozing several alarms before wrenching myself out of bed and into the shower.
Determined to shake things up a bit, and hopefully feel more energised and ready to seize the day in the process, I decided to look to King Charles III for inspiration, given that reports of the new monarch's own morning routine have caused quite a stir over the years.
I wasn't prepared for just how much falling over I'd end up doing in the process, or indeed how decidedly unrelaxing a royal bath actually is. I did feel more awake, however, so perhaps he really is onto something.
Bagpipes at 9 am
Ever since the days of Queen Victoria, a piper has roused the reigning monarch from their sleep by playing bagpipes outside their window at 9 am, and King Charles has carried on this tradition like his late mother before him.
Now, my shift started at 8 am and I wasn't entirely sure that my boss would be 100 per cent okay with me sleeping in and missing the first hour, even if I were to explain that I was being royal for the morning.
The piper plays for 15 minutes outside the royal window, clad in full Balmoral tartan. Honestly, it sounds like a very lovely way to wake up, and far more pleasant than the usual loathed screech of my iPhone alarm.
It may shock you to know that I don't have a personal piper, and I felt my boyfriend might not take too kindly to taking lessons and donning a kilt while I lounged around in bed. I therefore turned to trusty Spotify for assistance.
I won't pretend to be an expert when it comes to traditional Scottish music, but I did find a playlist entitled Greatest Bagpipe Hits, with songs from the likes of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, and The Band Of The Scots Guards.
Although I can't speak for my long-suffering neighbours, I found this to be quite a soothing way to gather my thoughts and particularly enjoyed the 51st Highlanders' rendition of The Morning Light.
It made me wonder why more of us don't start our days by listening to some of our favourite songs, and I resolved to create my own 15-minute morning playlist.
Half naked headstands
In his explosive autobiography Spare, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, claimed that his father the king would practice headstands in his boxers as a way to alleviate neck and back pain.
The Duke wrote: "Prescribed by his physio, these exercises were the only effective remedy for the constant pain in Pa's neck and back. Old polo injuries, mostly.
"He performed them daily, in a pair of boxers, propped against a door or hanging from a bar like a skilled acrobat. If you set one little finger on the knob you would hear him begging from the other side, 'No! No! Don't open! Please God don’t open!'."
I don't possess much in the way of natural athleticism, and the idea of headstands freaks me out a little bit. I'm quite a clumsy person and so dangling about, limbs all over the place, feels like a recipe for disaster.
I managed to carry out a couple of shaky handstands balanced against the wall, however, and the rush of blood to the head certainly woke me up a bit, as did the panicked miaows from the understandably confused cat. I didn't risk doing it in my undies, however, just in case I needed to shout for help.
If I'm being honest, I don't think headstands are for me, whatever time of day it might be, but it did make me wonder whether I could squeeze in a bit of exercise before work to get the blood pumping, rather than saving my runs until the evening.
Soaking in a lukewarm bath
I tend to associate baths as more of a way to wind down in the evening, however, it's previously been reported that King Charles likes to take a morning bath, and to be honest his method sounds anything but relaxing.
In the 2015 documentary Serving The Royals: Inside The Firm, former royal butler Paul Burrell revealed: "The water temperature has to be just tepid, and only half full."
Burrell, who famously served as a butler and personal butler to the late Princess Diana went on to claim that the bath plug has to face in a specific direction, while the bath towel must be arranged according to Charles' taste.
Now, my own bathtime preferences differ greatly from Charles'. For me, you just can't beat a scalding hot bath deep enough to soak your shoulders in, filled with fragrant bubbles and ideally paired with a nice gin and tonic.
Unfortunately, my one and only experience of royal bathtime was surprisingly the least luxurious I've ever felt. The lukewarm water felt positively freezing on an unseasonably chilly April morning, and I was left with chattering teeth and goose pimples.
I have absolutely no idea whether or not I arranged the plug in the correct position, but really, there was no one else around to scold except for myself anyway.
Usually, I'll end up spending so long reading in the bath that someone will eventually come pounding on the door to make sure I haven't fallen asleep. In this instance, I couldn't wait to jump out and get to work, and so, in its own way, I suppose it did the trick.
Although not everything about Charles' morning routine was exactly my cup of tea, there were a few positive takeaways. Firstly, music in the mornings is always good, whether that be bagpipes or Radio 1. I'll also try and take Charles' alleged dedication to morning exercise on board while skipping the semi-nude headstands.
As for the lukewarm baths, I'm not sure whether these will ever be my thing, but I will endeavor to take a few minutes every morning for myself before work to get myself nice and chilled, figuratively speaking at least.
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