I am SO not a morning person, never have been, never will be. I've always been a night owl. But after putting ideas to the test and doing loads of personal development to help me become more productive, happy and healthy I've realized that MASTERING a morning routine is the absolute best thing you can do for your health, your mindset, your family and life in general! Two books I'd recommend reading to help you master this are, Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins.
Research shows that we are the MOST productive within the first 2-3 hours of waking. This is our peak point of energy and efficiency so we need to make the absolute most of our time here! If you're a mom like me you know this is not easy to do with a baby. After having both my babies I got completely out of a routine for months. I think that's pretty normal but even while I knew it would help me to FEEL better to get back into one it seemed to be incredibly challenging when my baby wasn't on a consistent sleep schedule.
Here's the thing I've realized. As mom's we have to be flexible in some areas. With our babies constant changing and mental development they can throw us for a loop at any moment but they do also LOVE routine just as much as we do. The predictability in schedule is not only beneficial for us but for them as well.
Okay, so now you know a morning routine is important but HOW do you master it?
1. Start the night before.
Creating and implementing a quality morning routine all starts the night before. The first thing I recommend it doing your nightly brain dump. Sit down before you go to bed at night and make a list of everything you need to do the next day and create a schedule based off that. If your kids are in school this will be easier to do because you probably have more of a "set" schedule. If you have a baby you'll want to think of this more as a "loose" schedule because we can't predict everything. I recommend block schedule "morning", "afternoon" and "evening" tasks. If you want help with what it might look like you can download my FREE Bonus Productivity Planner that is included in my 5 Day Meal Plan by clicking here. The idea behind the brain dump and schedule is that you'll have gotten A LOT off of your mind and on to paper. This leaves your brain feeling free and instead of lying in bed thinking of all the things you have to do the next day you'll be able to rest easy knowing that its all right there on paper for you to remember the next day. Trust me, it works!
Starting the night before also means you need to go to bed at a decent hour. If you're not getting optimal rest you're going to find difficulties in many areas of you life. Not only is it going to be hard to wake up in the morning and be productive but you may suffer health consequences as well. By not sleeping at least 7-8 hours at night you're probably not going to get results in your health + fitness goals because you're not allowing your body any time to repair and recover. You're also putting extra stress on your body that could not only be physically affecting you, but mentally as well (ever feel brain fog or lethargic)? It probably means you need more sleep!
2. Decide when you're going to wake up and set your alarm in a different room
If you struggle with waking up in the morning I highly suggest putting your alarm clock/phone in the bathroom and NOT hitting the snooze button! When you hear that alarm in the morning after a restful night you'll be forced to get up and out of bed on time. Do not hit snooze and do not get back in bed! Hitting the snooze button is the WORST way to start your day. Have you ever felt totally exhausted and lethargic all day even when you know you got an extra hour of sleep after hitting the snooze? Its actually medically researched that when you hit the snooze button you're really messing with your body. Our bodies go through several 90-110 minute sleep cycles at night. When that alarm goes off and you wake up from that sleep cycle your bodies response is to become awake and alert BUT if you hit the snooze button your body immediately goes back into a 90-110 minute sleep cycle. That's why when that snooze button goes off 10 minutes later you find it THAT much harder to wake up...because you're interrupting your bodies' natural sleep cycle. Its not meant to help you wake up for at least 80 more minutes and so you go into a state of your body fighting to get BACK to its natural cycle. Its a fact, not my opinion.
3. Wake up earlier.
Moms I know this is hard to hear but you HAVE to wake up earlier if you want to be productive. Like I mentioned previously I have always been a night owl, but when I made the decision to start waking up early my productivity, health and happiness increased DRAMATICALLY! Now, I like to wake up by 6 am to start my day off strong. It all simply starts with a decision. Do I like waking up early? No, not at all. But I know its what I need to do to keep my life in balance. Start with setting your alarm 30 minutes earlier each day and go from there!
Okay now that you've mastered getting UP in the morning, lets talk about WHAT you should be doing to have a solid routine.
4. Hydrate and/or eat
If you're a coffee drinker pour yourself a cup of coffee (preferably black) and some water... or if you're not a coffee drinker pour yourself a cup of hot tea or a glass of water. First thing in the morning your body needs to be replenished and hydrated. Some people prefer to eat early others like to fast for a few hours. Do what suites you and your body best! I prefer to have a light meal at least 30 minutes before I exercise so normally I'll pour myself a cup of tea and have a bowl of oatmeal + berries alongside it or a shake!
5. Spiritual Health
In my opinion this is the most important part of my day. When I make time to connect with God and just pray or worship my WHOLE day is changed. I got way out of this routine after having my 2nd baby and I felt a major shift in my entire mood overall that was quite negative. Now, I don't ever miss a day to sit and read a devotional, Bible Study or just simply sit in silence for 10 minutes in prayer. Even if you're not a spiritual person you should be doing something to just calm your mind each day - meditate, visualize, say positive affirmations, read 5 pages of an inspiring book and there's one major thing you SHOULD NOT DO... which brings me to my next point.
6. DO NOT check your phone
The absolute worst thing you can do in the morning is to look at your phone! This is the ultimate distraction. This is what can throw your day completely off. Even just a quick glance at updated messages, the news, Facebook, texts, emails can distract and DRAIN you! Line up your life in order of priorities. Is checking the newsfeed really your FIRST priority of the day? You need to get yourself in the right mindset before you start worrying about OTHER people's lives and problems. Plus, have you ever woken up in the morning to a negative status or unwanted message or frustrating email? Just one bad egg in the bunch can set you on a negative spiral for the rest of the day. Take care of YOURSELF first before you worry about what everyone else is doing.
7. Write
This could go along with your spiritual health that you do each day but taking time to write or journal (even if its just two minutes) is an amazing part of a morning routine. This allows you to get thoughts out of you head. My journaling is done early morning during my Bible Study time where I just sit and journal to God. Its only a few minutes a day but it truly helps me to feel centered and go through my day with strength and ease.
8. Exercise
Making time to exercise early in the morning is a great option especially for those of us with kids. It gives us time free of distraction to work out. Even if you don't have kids at home and you workout at the gym doing SOME sort of exercise in the morning is a great way to get your energy flowing. Do some stretching, yoga, walking, just to get your body in motion.
9. Get to work
Choose 1-2 tasks in your work life that you don't usually like to do and knock them out early! This is your most productive time of day and if you leave those menial tasks til the afternoon you're more likely to put them off all together! Do something in the morning that is going to move you toward your goals!
10. Stop hustling
The biggest tip I can give you to save you stress and give you clarity is to STOP hustling early in the morning. Your day is going to be filled with busyness and chaos and the best way to guard yourself against stress is to start your day without the hustle. To dictate your own day, not just start it right before you HAVE to be somewhere or right when your kids wake you up. Be intentional because I can guarantee you're going to feel a difference in ALL areas of your life when you are! Your kids are going to see a happier more fulfilled, less stressed mom!
Quick disclaimer: There are going to be seasons of your life where you DO NOT implement a morning routine and that's okay. Simply knowing how to create a routine and implement it when its needed is key. And also knowing when you need to just GO WITH THE FLOW is important to eliminating stress as well. For example, in the first couple months after having a baby... a morning routine is probably highly unlikely to happen. Give yourself grace and when you make the decision to do it - GO FOR IT!
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