Why the 'That Girl' Morning Routine Trend Could Be Adding Pressure, Not Peace

Some routines are so lavish and extreme that to someone of us they border on unhinged. A recent viral video depicted an influencer rising at 4:30 am, swiftly transitioning from an ice bath to infrared sauna therapy, before calmly journaling by candlelight and preparing an elaborate, nutritionally balanced breakfast—all within the space of an hour. The price tag of her morning ritual? Well into hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds when tallying the cost of specialist skincare products, wellness supplements, and equipment. For many watching, particularly parents operating on limited sleep and tighter budgets, such routines feel more like dystopian satire than genuine inspiration.

Yet the romanticisation of early mornings has become so pervasive that women find themselves trapped in a loop of self-comparison and guilt. The idea of maximising every minute, converting even restful time into productive self-improvement, is exhausting. What began as well-intentioned inspiration is now another stick to beat ourselves with- another reason we feel doomed to fail if our mornings don’t include freshly frothed matcha or a sunrise Pilates session.

Womanhood already comes pre-loaded with expectations and pressures. The "that girl" clean living trend, often performed by either by child-free, normal job-free influencers or those with vast resources and help, only exacerbates feelings of inadequacy. Many of us simply don't have the luxury of time or quiet mornings. The reality is late nights, hurried breakfasts, packed trains or dependants demanding immediate attention - none of which aligns with the neatly packaged wellness rituals dominating our feeds.

More troublingly, the focus on perfection in morning routines undermines the very wellness it claims to promote. Genuine wellbeing should not come with pressure to tick off an endless to-do list of beauty and health rituals before sunrise. It should account for life’s inevitable unpredictability. While investing in oneself and prioritising healthy habits is undoubtedly positive, the problem emerges when these curated ideals become benchmarks for personal success or failure.

But outside the chokehold of perfectionism, there are ways of carving out "me time" that feel achievable, relatable, and genuinely restorative. Easy suggestions from the trend include dedicating even just ten quiet minutes for yourself - reading a few pages of a book in bed, having a good stretch or, yes, upgrading your usual brew to a fancy matcha for extra antioxidants. Exercise before work, if you can, can really set you up in a good mindset too. But instead of obsessing over how much we can cram into the earliest hours, let's normalise mornings that honour our humanity - imperfections, interruptions, and all.