Have you ever noticed that your best days start with a great morning? The most successful and happiest people have solid morning routines. Having a great morning routine does not mean you have to get up at 5 a.m. (although it’s totally cool if you do that ), but it does mean that you are intentional about the activities that are part of your morning routine. Here are 12 of the best habits to incorporate into your morning routine. Start with one and add on when you’re ready.
1 – Wake up early (or earlier than you are waking up right now). Try to allow at least 1-½ hours for yourself in the morning before you have to leave for work or start with your day.
Why: this allows time for you to do important things that matter to you, without being interrupted and without anyone else needing something from you. Early morning is a good time for planning your day, journaling, exercising, meditating, creating something, or working toward some goal that you would like to achieve for yourself, outside of your work or family goals.
How: try waking up just 15 minutes earlier. This will also mean going to bed 15 minutes earlier at night. Once you have this routine down, try for 15 minutes more.
Bonus tip: if you have not read Mel Robbins’ The 5 Second Rule, check it out! In her book, Mel talks about changing her own morning routine and “launching” herself out of bed like a rocket, before she could talk herself out of it. Doing that – counting backward 5 – 4 -3 – 2- 1 – and physically moving out of bed changed her life. She then discovered the science behind it. So if you haven’t read her book or watched her TED talk, I highly recommend it!
2 – Write morning pages.
Why: morning pages will change your life. Seriously. They are therapy. The process is so simple — writing three pages of whatever comes into your head first thing in the morning in a journal or notebook (not in a digital format). Write whatever pops into your head and whatever is on your mind. Somehow this whole process brings clarity and helps you to overcome negative “voices” telling you that you aren’t good enough or that you cannot do something. Morning pages also help to clarify what really matters to you and what you want to do in order to live the life you want and be the kind of person you want to be.
How: get a pretty journal or just a plain spiral notebook. Use the kind of pen that makes you happy. (Flair pens work for me.) In your earlier morning wake-up time, get your journal and just write three pages. Put it away and forget about it until tomorrow. Then write again. You can read more about morning pages here and you can read Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way.
3 – Review your goals.
Why: keeping your goals uppermost in your mind, first thing in the morning, will keep your focus on what is most important to you and what you really want to achieve. I like using Rachel Hollis’ system of the Start Today journal. Rachel explains the process on her podcast here. You can read more about setting goals in my post HERE
4 – Schedule and time block your day.
Why: If it’s not scheduled, it’s not going to happen. Look at your to-do list and your calendar and actually write down when you are doing to do each task. Of course, sometimes when you do this, you may find that there truly is not enough time in the day for you to get to everything on your list. Don’t panic. List what is most important to do and shift less urgent tasks over to tomorrow’s list or to later in the week. Sometimes you might drop a task altogether if it’s not as important for you to do.
How: see my post on time blocking here.
If you’re interested in Jordan Page’s Productivity Boot Camp, check it out here.
5 – Express gratitude, meditate and pray.
Why: If you focus on the good (in a person, in a situation), you will find the good. And the opposite is true as well. Even though there may be many things that are “wrong” in your life, think of the good that is there. How: Keep a gratitude journal, add slips of paper to a Happy Jar, use the 5-Minute Journal, whatever works for you. But think of at least five things for which you can be grateful. Then spend some time meditating or praying or both!
“Prayer is when you talk to God. Meditation is when you listen to God.” ~unknown
6 – Work out or do some form of exercise.
Why: when you read the morning routines of successful people, many of them make time for a workout in the morning before their day begins. Plus, lots of research points to the benefits of morning exercise. Even if you don’t have time for a long workout, doing a short workout gets your body and brain motivated for the day. Research also says that morning exercisers are more consistent with their workouts. For me personally, I love knowing that I got my workout in, no matter how busy or crazy my day gets.
How: choose something you already enjoy doing or try something new! Do you like to run, practice yoga, do barre workouts, lift weights? If you need some structure for getting a great workout routine started, consider Amanda Tress’s program Faster Way to Fat Loss. Her program is the best I’ve found for staying motivated and on track with both fitness and healthy eating.
7 – Make your bed or at least tidy up your space.
Why: this makes you feel accomplished before the day has even begun! Somehow, having orderly surroundings calms you down and helps you to focus on the bigger, more important things you want to do with your day.
How: just take five minutes to make your bed, hang up any clothes, stack the books, clear the clutter, wipe the counters. Even just five minutes makes a big difference.
8 – Do the most important things first.
Why: whatever your biggest task for the day might be, try to get it done before breakfast. Of course, some important things might not be completed in that time frame (writing a book, for instance), but doing the most important thing first means to spend some amount of time working toward that goal before you move on to other parts of your day. For example, if you are polishing your resume for a job search, work on that in the morning. That feeling of accomplishing or at least working toward an important task gives you momentum for other tasks during the day.
How: just choose a chunk of time BEFORE you go to work or begin your day at home. Whatever time you choose, schedule that block of time. Then set a timer for the amount of time you can work on that task and, as Mel Robbins says, 5-4-3-2-1-GO.
9 – Think about your day in detail.
Why: thinking through your day and visualizing how you want it to go is a powerful tool for helping you feel empowered and ready to make positive and healthy choices. Visualizing your conversations with people, your work situations, your health habits creates neural patterns in your brain which helps direct your actions to actually make those positive choices happen! This is why successful athletes use visualization. It might sound crazy, but it works!
How: you can just sit, close your eyes and visualize if that works for you. I usually do this while I am showering and blow drying my hair. Other people like to do their visualization on their commute. Choose a time that works for you.
10 – Connect with someone you love.
Why: starting your day by sending love out into the world makes you feel good! Plus, being reminded of the important people in your life keeps you focused on what and who
How: Enjoy your coffee or breakfast with your partner or family, make a phone call, write a quick note, send a text — whatever helps you to reach out to someone you love and remind them of your love.
11 – Develop a quick get-ready routine.
Why: getting ready for work or for your day can be stressful and take way more time than it should. But when you can quickly shower, do your hair and makeup and get dressed, it makes your day start on a better note.
How: develop systems for all of your get-ready routine segments. Organize your bathroom supplies so that everything can be grabbed and used quickly. Throw away (or give away) anything that does not work for you any more (dried out mascara, a hair dryer that doesn’t work,
12 – Try intermittent fasting!
Why: there are lots of resources and explanations of what intermittent fasting is and how it benefits your body. You can read my post about it HERE. I started fasting as a health habit to balance my hormones about a year ago. A side effect was that I lost ten pounds! Plus, it makes your mornings so much quicker and easier when you’re not having to prepare and eat breakfast or pack up breakfast and snacks for the day.
How: note the time when you finish eating or drinking any beverage besides water in the evening. That is the official start of your fast. You are naturally fasting overnight. Try fasting for 12 or 13 hours to get started. For example: if you stopped eating or drinking at 7 p.m. the night before, you would postpone breakfast until 7 or 8 am the following day. If you want the most benefits from fasting, try to extend your fast to 16 – 18 hours. So in our example above, you would postpone eating your next meal until 11 am to 1 pm.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, try ONE habit. Then add on another habit when you feel ready. I would love to hear how these habits work for you!