Are you a morning person or a night owl? Did you know that the way you start your mornings can have a huge impact on your productivity? That’s why I’m a big believer that if you want to have a successful day, you need to have a morning routine in place.
Please don’t worry if you’ve never had one up to now, it’s always a good day to start and today, you’ve come to the right place! After years of not having any sort of routine, and even more years creating and trying new ones, I have found a system that works extremely well will me, and I want to share it with you today.
No matter if you are a stay at home mum, or a student, or a busy entrepreneur or you work a 9-5, you can (and should) have a morning routine to spend some time with yourself only, before you start ticking off your lists, answering emails, and attending everyone’s needs.
So I’m going to talk you through the one I have created for myself, and I will also share some tips on how you can create your best morning routine.
Note that my routines change over time because things in life never stay the same – we should all know that very well after 2020. I also don’t want you to feel like once you have created one that works well for you, if your circumstances ever have to change, then it’s all going out the window.
The secret with routines is that you want to follow them consistently, but you need to create them in a way where they are flexible so that even though there are different seasons in life, you can always adapt them and continue to practice them.
I’m personally a morning person, I feel super productive in the first hours of the day, and by the time 10 pm hits, I’m ready to go to bed. I wasn’t always like that though, and just because I’m more productive in the morning doesn’t necessarily mean I like waking up from my sweet sleep. I also haven’t always had a morning routine in place, and after creating one and then occasionally “skipping it”, I felt a huge difference in my mood and the number of things I’d be able to do, so I promised myself I would never do that again.
The reason why I believe that having a morning routine is so important, it’s because in the first hour or so from you waking up, no one is looking for you yet, and you can enjoy some peace and time to dedicate to yourself before jumping on the busy train of life (visually and literally – hello commuters!). Whenever I have my morning routine, I feel calmer during the day, more patient with others, less exhausted, and more able to complete the tasks on my to-do list. So, here is how I plan my typical morning routine, and you can personalise it and adapt it to your needs.
5 tips to create your best morning routine for success
1. SET THE ALARM 1H BEFORE YOU’D ACTUALLY HAVE TO WAKE UP
I know it sounds painful, but if you are willing to go to bed an hour earlier the day before, it won’t be a huge sacrifice and your body will soon get used to it. Waking up earlier than the actual time you’d have to, will ensure that you have 60 minutes (or longer if you wish) to dedicate to yourself and not jump out of bed to rush into the day.
I know that taking time for yourself when you are busy can be very hard, so I encourage you to plan a self-care routine as well to make sure you’re never running on empty.
2. DRINK A BIG GLASS OF WATER AND HAVE A GOOD BREAKFAST
Drinking a glass of water as soon as you wake up will help hydrate your body and wake up your system, as well as purifying your organs (I didn’t fully believe in this but after I tested it for some time, I can say I feel definitely better when I drink water than when I don’t). I found this article from India Times very interesting, as they explain a few of the benefits of drinking water first thing in the morning. Secondly, you need to eat breakfast. I’m not going to be here telling you the benefits of eating breakfast the way a nutritionist would do, I just always heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that you should not skip it, and I sure don’t. Personally, I wake up quite hungry and I really can’t function if I don’t have breakfast first thing in the morning, but when I was younger I basically never ate as I was always late and the struggle to be awake for what I was supposed to do was REAL. After that, I never skipped breakfast again and it’s actually become my favourite meal of the day.
3. HAVE SOME QUIET TIME
I’m a Christian so my quiet time consists of prayer and time in the Bible, and when sometimes I didn’t have quiet time (when I accidentally woke up late), my day was a bit miserable. Spending time praying before my busy day starts gives me so much peace and clarity, and I generally always have a better day. You can take the time to meditate, journal, or just do breathing exercises enjoying some silence. Having quiet time before the daily rush will be a game-changer for you, trust me on that.
4. DO A WORKOUT OR A QUICK STRETCH
Everyone knows that I’m not the biggest fan of working out, because I genuinely don’t enjoy it. However, I do LOVE the feeling after a workout, so for almost a year now, I’ve been exercising every morning as part of my morning routine. Sometimes, if you don’t have the time to squeeze in a full workout, it’s totally fine to do a quick stretch and maybe plan a workout for another time of the day. Stretching has amazing benefits for your body but also your mind, and it helps to boost your energy levels and get you ready for the day, so I do recommend that you try this out.
5. FINALLY, PRACTICE AFFIRMATIONS
It was really awkward when I first tried it, but I eventually became used to it and 5 minutes of this is enough to boost your mood and confidence. You can write your own, they can be as simple as a few sentences, they have to be positive, short and concise, and easy to remember. Some people say you should do it in front of a mirror and if you want to do that you’re welcome to try. Start simple, try it out for a week and see if you’ll experience any changes.
Related articles:
Summary of the 5 steps to create the perfect morning routine
That’s it, my healthy and productive morning routine is here! You can personalise it as you wish, add some extra things, decide to wake up earlier to have a longer one, or maybe decide to have a shorter one. I do also have some tips to help you create a routine for your day here. Whatever you do, I really believe that planning a morning routine can really change things for you, so try it out and let me know how it goes.
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