If your morning routine isn’t working, it could hold you back from being as productive as possible. But, on the other hand, if it is, you won’t feel as tired or unmotivated. This blog post will provide you with some ideas that you can use to create your ideal morning routine that is tailored to your specific needs. Do you frequently wake up in the morning without a clear plan of what you should do next? It’s possible that you’re perplexed as to why you’re unable to get out of bed or if there’s something wrong with you. Do you need more sleep at night? Do you feel like life is getting harder and harder for you by the day, and do you need some assistance to get your life back on track? The solution may lie in the form of a morning ritual! How do you get your day going in the morning? Do you wake up to the ringing of an alarm clock, or are you the type of person who gets out of bed whenever you feel like it? Describe the steps you take to get ready in the morning. Many people’s mornings are filled with mayhem because of their packed work and school schedules. But, on the other hand, there is a method for making them more fun! A better morning routine can be created with the help of a few different things. Continue reading for some suggestions on how you can create the ideal morning routine for yourself! Do you find yourself filled with dread the moment you open your eyes? Do you wake up with the feeling that getting through the day will be a challenge even before it starts? I’ve been to that place. The rest of your day may turn out differently than it should for you if your morning routine could be more effective. In this article, we will guide you through developing an efficient and practical morning routine that works for YOU! That one-morning routine that we can’t seem to break is something that we all share. Others are more of the night owl variety and don’t feel fully awake until after a few hours of sleep, whereas some people look forwards to getting up early and having a cup of coffee before beginning their day. But imagine for a moment that you had complete control over your morning rituals. Do you frequently find that you need help getting your day started? Unfortunately, it’s common for the morning routine to feel like a 4insurmountable challenge on some days. However, if you put in a little effort and plan ahead, you won’t have to worry about it! This blog post will provide some useful suggestions that will help you design the ideal routine to follow first thing in the morning. How do you feel when you first open your eyes in the morning? Do you dread getting up in the morning, or are you excited to get the day started? If neither of those is the case, you should read this post. Then, I will show you how to craft the ideal schedule for your mornings, starting with getting ready. This post on the blog will include advice on what to eat when to get out of bed during the day, and how much sleep is required. Therefore, regardless of whether or not getting out of bed in the morning is a struggle for anyone reading this post, the following helpful hints can be useful to everyone! So let’s get started!
10 Steps To Building A Great Morning Routine To Improve Your Productivity And Happiness
You may have seen videos on YouTube with titles like “My insanely effective morning routine at 5 a.m.” or “Why I wake up at 4 a.m. every day and love it!” However, there are many advantages to developing a morning routine that you can stick to, although some of these suggestions might appear extreme. According to Erin Engle, PsyD, a licenced clinical psychologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, a morning routine consisting of a typical wake-up time, eating a healthy breakfast, and engaging in some form of physical activity is a great place to start. According to Engle, having a more intentional approach to the day early on can help instil self-confidence and lead to a more productive rest of the day. It can also lead to a more successful future.
1. Maintain a fixed bedtime and waking time
According to Engle, the most important aspect of any routine is consistency. She suggests establishing a regular time for going to bed and waking up, and adhering to those times as much as possible. It will not only set you up for a better day, but it may also help you sleep more soundly at night. So not only will it prepare you for a better day, but it will also improve your day. It is because your body’s internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm, is reset when you wake up and fall asleep simultaneously. This results in a higher quality of sleep.
2. Plan how much time you’ll need
Engle suggests waking up with plenty of time in the morning to complete all the tasks assigned to you. She recommends beginning your planning process with the time of your first commitment, such as a meeting or the beginning of the school day for your children, and waking up sufficiently early to accommodate all of your obligations. Depending on the number of responsibilities included in your morning routine, this could take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes of your time. According to Engle, “engaging in each part of the routine thought may reduce rushing and reactivity and increase the sense of calm and pleasure obtained from completing the routine.”
3. Don’t hit snooze
“A false start to the day is caused by hitting the snooze button. It’s possible that hitting the snooze button will feel like a victory at the moment, but in the long run, it won’t help you get any further towards your goal of getting enough sleep, “says Engle. If you frequently hit the snooze button, Engle suggests reworking your expectations of what can be accomplished by waking up early so that you have higher hopes for what you can get done. If your body tells you it needs more rest, adjust your schedule to reflect that. For illustration’s sake, the average adult requires between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. On the other hand, if you’re hitting snooze because you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything you have to do in the morning or you’re trying to avoid the day that lies ahead, Engle suggests that you get up and do one or two activities that bring you peace and enjoyment as soon as you can after you wake up. For instance, start your day by meditating for a few minutes, going for a walk around your neighbourhood, or preparing a nutritious breakfast that you like to eat.
4. Get out of bed
Instead of staying in bed and scrolling through your phone for a while longer before getting out of bed, as much as you may be tempted to do so, Engle recommends that you get out of bed. “The first thing you must do is drag yourself out of bed. Then, choose one activity to which you can devote your undivided attention, such as prayer, affirmation, a physical stretch, or brushing your teeth, “says Engle. She claims that with enough practice, sticking to a routine of your choosing can help you weather the pressures of the outside world, improve your ability to deal with obstacles, and better engage with the day ahead.
5. Avoid your phone
Your morning productivity may suffer if you start the day by engaging in a non-productive activity like mindlessly scrolling through your social media feeds or the news. “Engaging with this kind of content before one is fully awake or out of bed may make it tempting to read mindlessly, which may feel purposeful but is a passive activity,” says Engle. “Reading can feel purposeful, but it is a passive activity.”
6. Try self-affirmation
Affirmations of a positive nature, whether spoken aloud or written down, can assist in developing self-confidence, combat the effects of negative thinking, and even improve one’s interpersonal relationships.
You are free to choose your positive affirmations, or you can give some of these a try:
- For example, I am a capable, kind, and intelligent individual.
- I am deserving, thankful, and blessed in this life.
- It is going to be a wonderful day.
7. Drink some water
Instead of drinking tea or coffee in the morning, nutritionist Eleana Kaidanian, RD, CPT, who runs her practice, suggests drinking water first thing in the morning. She recommends keeping a glass of water next to your bed and consuming eight ounces as soon as you wake up. Because it assists in the digestion of the food you eat, the absorption of nutrients, and the elimination of waste products, water is an essential component.
8. Exercise or stretch
If you want to lose or maintain your current weight, getting some exercise first thing in the morning can help you achieve both goals. To prepare your muscles and joints for the day ahead when you don’t have time for a full workout, try doing a few stretches to warm up your muscles and joints.
9. Eat something within an hour of waking up
“It is ideal for breaking the fast from the night before and eating within the first hour of waking up to stimulate your metabolism,” says Kaidanian. “This can be accomplished by eating within the first hour of waking up.” According to her, prolonging the state, similar to fasting, can cause your metabolism to slow down, making the day difficult. A higher metabolic rate, on the other hand, indicates that your body burns more calories as you go about your day, and it may also cause you to experience greater vitality. If you are going to be working out, Kaidanian, a fitness trainer, recommends that you eat something before you work out so that your body will have the fuel it needs. She recommends supplementing the consumption of a single banana or apple with a handful of raw nuts or some natural nut butter.
10. Choose healthy breakfast options
According to Kaidanian, “the best options when it comes to breaking your fast are those that are based on whole foods,” which he defines as foods that are in their natural state and have not been processed. These foods should also contain protein and fibre to satiate you and provide your body with fuel for the day ahead. Kaidanian suggests eating oats, fruit with yoghurt, or veggie egg muffins as some of the healthiest options.
Benefits Of Having A Morning Routine
To begin, people are at their most productive right after they wake up; establishing a routine helps to ensure that they can keep up that level of productivity for longer periods. When you stick to a routine first thing in the morning, you allow yourself to be more organised for the rest of the day and give yourself more time to think and reflect in a setting with less noise and activity. More importantly, this daily routine helps you create energy and the right “mindset” to tackle the challenges of a busy day to be more productive. In a recent post on his blog about the routines of Fortune 500 leaders, Sujan Patel notes that one of the most successful habits that nearly all leaders follow is getting up early. Taking into consideration how early many influential people begin their workdays. What’s the upbeat report? The following list of things can be completed in as little as five minutes each. But, of course, no rule says you have to get up at four to have a morning routine. It merely indicates that you need to give yourself a little bit of additional time to wake up and concentrate on the activities that will assist you in maturing as a person. Because of these quick routines, you’ll be able to layer one habit on top of another and get many important things done in just a thirty-minute block.
Be Consistent With Your Morning Routine
Your daily routine in the morning is the most important factor in leading a mindful and happy life. How? It is the foundation upon which every day is built. A powerful and purposeful morning routine can help set the tone for a positive and purposeful day. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could live in such a way that every day was purposeful and full of happiness? Consistency is one of the most difficult challenges that people face when it comes to their morning routines. One week you’ll decide to start a morning routine and stick to it for a few days, but then you’ll revert to your old habit of pressing the snooze button four times and getting out of bed at the absolute last minute.
1. Be Realistic
If you have a job that goes from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, another job on the side, and a family, then it is highly unlikely that you can plan a morning routine that lasts for three hours. If you hold yourself to impossible standards, you are ensuring that you will be disappointed. Consider how many hours of sleep you require, and only after that will you be able to decide how early you can get up. Determine how much time you have available and how much time you require to complete your morning routine. But, of course, only some are destined to get up before the sun rises, and that is okay! Getting up is not a requirement for success in life.
2. Choose Things That You Will Actually Look Forward To And Enjoy Doing
You will not want to get up early to engage in activities that you do not find enjoyable in any way, shape, or form. Doing things you enjoy will make it easier for you to drag yourself out of bed in the morning. You want to exercise first thing in the morning but despise going to the gym. You could improve your health by walking first thing in the morning. You want to improve your mindfulness but find it difficult to remain still during meditation. Try your hand at yoga or journaling instead! You are the one who devises and follows your morning routine. You shouldn’t put pressure on yourself to adopt the same morning routine as someone else just because they do it. Only you can determine what approaches are most successful for you!
3. Try Habit Stacking
It is highly recommended that you add “Atomic Habits” by James Clear to your reading list, even if you are not currently familiar with his work. This book takes a deep dive into how we can successfully adopt positive habits, and one of the key concepts discussed is habit stacking. Look at the things you already do first thing in the morning. For instance, you get up every morning, walk the dog, make coffee, wash dishes, and then sit down and drink coffee while you watch the news. It could be your typical morning routine. The concept of habit stacking refers to the process of incorporating new habits (components of your new morning routine) into the activities that are already a part of your daily life. Do some yoga before you make the coffee, write out a list of things you are thankful for after you finish the dishes, and keep a journal while you drink the coffee. Making these new routines part of your already established routines will make it much simpler for you to maintain consistency.
4. Have An Accountability Buddy
Is there a colleague, a member of the family, or a close friend who can keep you accountable for your morning routine? If they cannot participate in your routine, a straightforward accountability message sent first thing in the morning may be sufficient to achieve the desired results. You are less likely to skip a day of your routine when you know that someone is keeping you accountable and counting on you to carry out your commitments to others. If you do not have anyone to assist you with this task, you can always use a calendar to mark the days you have completed your routine.
5. Start Small, Then Work Your Way Up
If your mornings are typically chaotic and unplanned, incorporating a more involved morning routine into your schedule will feel like a monumental task. Your routine should begin on a small scale, and as you get used to it, you should add more elements. It could be as simple as incorporating a five-minute meditation or a twenty-minute walk into your morning routine. As soon as that component feels like it can be handled, you can always add more to the mix. It is an effective method for establishing a consistent morning routine without feeling overly burdened by it in the beginning.
6. Get A Good Night’s Rest Each Night
There is no denying that getting out of bed in the wee hours of the morning can be difficult for anyone. On the other hand, make things simpler for yourself by doing everything in your power to get a good night’s sleep every night. Establish a specific time for yourself to go to bed (yes, even adults can have bedtimes!!). Be consistent with it. You are putting yourself in a position to succeed in the morning by being confident that you will feel rested and ready to take on the day’s challenges.
7. Set Your Phone Across The Room From Your Bed
What is the single most destructive factor to any healthy morning routine? The button to put the alarm off! You could hit the snooze button in your sleepy haze of a half-second without even realising it. Even worse, you risk hitting it twice, thrice, or even more! Could it be you? During the night, moving your phone to the other side of the room can be a huge help with this struggle. Not only will it stop you from scrolling through your feed late at night, but it will also force you to get out of bed in the morning so that you can turn off your alarm. When you get to that point, you are already awake, so you may as well remain awake.
8. Reward Yourself And Celebrate For Sticking With It
You can keep track of your progress and evaluate your level of success when you are held accountable by either yourself or another person. Celebrate any significant accomplishments, such as sticking to the same morning routine for a week, a month, or even a year! A night out at your favourite restaurant or a day spent doing nothing but pampering yourself can be a celebration. Once you have achieved a level of consistency with your morning routine, you will most assuredly have earned the right to celebrate your accomplishment.
Morning Routine Ideas to Successfully Start Your Day
1. Declutter Your Desktop
When there is disorganisation around you, maintaining focus is easier. Start each workday by decluttering your workspace by spending the first five minutes. You will find that it improves your mental condition and enables you to become more productive. The disorganisation and mess on your desk are a source of stress. It distracts you from the current task by bringing to mind other obligations you have to fulfil because of this. If you are constantly required to search through a pile of files to find what you need, this could be more efficient and a significant time waste.
Here are some tips for effective decluttering:
- Only the files containing the paperwork you need for the day should be kept on your desk at any given time.
- Place any paper documents you won’t use that day in physical folders, filing cabinets, or drawers.
- Delete any temporary files currently stored on your computer that you no longer require.
- Using a standardised method, place files in the appropriate folders. Label files using the system.
2. Schedule Your Day
It is frighteningly easy to reach the end of the day and realise that you have not accomplished anything significant if you do not keep to a schedule. You should write down the things you want to be done during the day and determine the order in which they should be completed in order of importance to you. Create a list of the activities you intend to finish by the time the day ends. Instead of compiling a long list of tasks that you know you won’t be able to finish, you should make an effort to be more practical about how you use your time.
To determine the relative importance of each task, you can use the Eisenhower Decision Matrix as follows:
- extremely important and urgent.
- important but not urgent.
- not important but urgent.
- not important at all (not important, not urgent).
3. Remove Distractions before Working
Many of us cannot avoid being distracted by notifications in our emails and on social media. It is especially important to remember if we are working. Our level of productivity will take a nosedive if we are constantly disrupted by the pings, text alerts, and push notifications that come from the various communication platforms. Put an end to your email and social media use at work so you can concentrate on the task at hand. In addition, it will help you get more done in the time you have available.
If you find it difficult to avoid distractions when you’re online, there are a few tools that can help block your access to them:
- Cold Turkey is a method in which you choose which websites you want to block to concentrate on work temporarily.
- Freedom is an application that enables users to block time-wasting websites. Therefore, you will not be able to visit that distracting website for eight hours at a time.
- If you are a writer and need help to meet your daily word-count quota due to the presence of distracting sites on the internet, then you should download the app known as FocusWriter. The only thing visible on the screen is the text you are currently typing when it is working properly.
- StayFocusd is an extension for Google Chrome that limits the time you can spend on sites that are time wasters. For example, you restrict the amount of time you spend on a specific website, such as Facebook or Twitter. Your access to that website will be denied for the remainder of the day once the allocated time has been used up.
4. Chunk Down a Project (or Task) into Manageable Steps
Sometimes, a project is so daunting that you do not know where to begin working on it. However, if you schedule some time during a stack to work on developing a step-by-step plan, you can increase your productivity because you will have a better idea of where to begin. Take some time to break down each of your major projects into manageable steps. It will help you stay organised and on track. You will better understand what needs to be done and how to schedule the work into your day if you first break a task down into its individual actions.
5. Identify One Task to Delegate or Outsource
Certain responsibilities are indispensable in any line of work, while others eat up valuable time that could be spent performing the indispensable duties. Therefore, you want to maximise the time you spend on the activities that provide the greatest return. At the same time, these activities with a lower than high value are still very important. Therefore, you need to determine which of the responsibilities you carry out daily are high-value ones and which prevent you from being more productive at your job. After that, you can delegate the parts of your work that take up less time but are less important. Create a running list of the items on your to-do list that you want to cross off shortly. Then, make it a routine to add one item to your daily list as you develop this habit. One efficient method for accomplishing this is to take a brief break before engaging in an activity and ask oneself, “Am I the only one capable of completing this task?” If you respond “no,” then the responsibility will be added to the list.
When you have finished going through everything on your list, it is time to start delegating. One strategy for relieving yourself of these laborious responsibilities is outsourcing the work. Here are some useful resources:
- Virtual Staff Finder can help you find a Filipino virtual assistant who is both experienced and committed to their work, enabling you to accomplish more in less time.
- Angi is here to assist you in locating a contractor who has been thoroughly screened to carry out the home improvement job you have been putting off for months.
- Care.com – You can find dependable carers for your child, fur babies, and elderly family members, in addition to house sitters, by creating an account on a website that connects users with service providers in their local area.
6. Research One “Side Hustle”
An activity that is done on the side but has the potential to become one’s primary source of income is referred to as a “side hustle.” However, far too many options are available, making it difficult to settle on just one and stick with it. When researching a side hustle, the best place to begin is with Nick Loper’s book Side Hustle Nation and his book Buy Buttons. Both give an excellent overview of the various opportunities to generate income and the steps needed to establish a similar business.
Put yourself to the test by pondering these important questions:
- Do I have enough time to work on this side gig?
- What kind of gear is essential before getting started?
- How much money do I need to put into it for it to be worthwhile?
- Does my personality align with the type of business I want to run?
- Can I make a living from this venture on a full-time basis?
7. Make One Business Connection
You are likely familiar with the proverb, “It’s not what you know. It all depends on who you know.” It is true in every aspect of life, but it is especially important to remember this when making decisions about your professional life.
Your professional network can be strengthened in a variety of ways. You can get started by using any of the following four resources:
- LinkedIn is the best social media site for making business connections and profiling your skills, knowledge, and areas of expertise. If you want to be successful in business, you need to use LinkedIn.
- Beyond is another social media site that caters to professionals and has more than 50 million registered members.
- Meetup is the best website to use if you want to locate specific groups in the local area and network with people who are interested in the same career field as you are.
- One of the most useful tools for connecting with individuals with similar interests is looking for groups on Facebook. There are millions of groups on this platform, so it will be easy to find a few focused on your particular industry.
8. Review Your Goals
Goals are important to everyone. Everyone has goals they have set for themselves, no matter how big or modest they may be. Nevertheless, the monotony of day-to-day life has a disturbing tendency to throw us off course.
You need to conduct a goal-checking exercise so that you can:
- Then, develop strategies to achieve those objectives.
- Put the events of the day into perspective.
- Learn to prioritise the tasks you need to complete.
You can have objectives for the day of the year, but you must do more than wander around aimlessly from day to day. You have to have some plan. Be sure to make the most of each minute and achieve the goals you set for yourself to avoid wasting time.
9. Eat the Frog
In earlier posts, we covered the concept of “eating the frog” which is a helpful practice to incorporate into your morning routine. It would help if you aimed to complete the most difficult task first thing in the day. According to Eat That Frog!, written by Brian Tracy, the most effective way to begin your day is to “eat that frog,” a phrase originally attributed to Mark Twain and popularised by Brian Tracy. “If the first thing you do every morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long,” the author writes. “If you do this, you can go through the day with the knowledge that that is probably the worst thing that will happen to you all day long.” The idea behind this strategy is that if you start by completing the activity that you fear or loathe the most, you will be able to move on to the tasks on your to-do list that present a lesser degree of anxiety, secure in the knowledge that you have already completed the task that would have caused you to spend the majority of your time later coming up with excuses to avoid doing it. Immediately devoting yourself to the most difficult responsibilities will make the rest of your commitments appear more manageable. It means getting back to people when they call me. At work, I frequently dread returning people’s calls because I frequently get the impression that communication could be accomplished much more effectively (and briefly) through email. On the other hand, most of my customers do not have email, so we are forced to conduct our business over the phone. Regarding some of my customers, I am aware that I will figuratively waste time by actively procrastinating while sitting at my desk with the phone in my hand. Not. Dialling. Because I take care of these calls first thing in the morning, I rarely have anything on my list of things to do for the day, preventing me from making progress. This guidance is particularly helpful for individuals tasked with completing some really challenging responsibilities that call for a significant amount of concentration and mental capacity; however, it is applicable even to disliked activities.
10. Review Your Vision Board
You’ve put a lot of time and energy into hosting the party, you’ve created your vision board, and you’ve hung it up in a place where you can easily see it; now it’s time to put it to use in the way that you intended to all along. Suppose you make it a habit to deliberately go over your vision board as part of your morning routine. In that case, you will activate the Law of Attraction, which will bring into your life the relationships, opportunities, and resources you require to make headway toward achieving your objectives. Participating in daily visualisation practises can also assist you in becoming more aware of resources that may have always been available to you but have yet to be noticed. You will find that simply gazing at your vision board first thing in the morning will motivate you to take steps that will bring you closer to living the life of your dreams. And before you know it, the fruits of your labour will come in the form of satisfying rewards.
Final Thoughts
Developing a morning routine suitable for you, your schedule and your life, in general, is important. There is nothing particularly complicated about morning rituals. However, what works for one person may not work for you, and the activities that make up your morning routine should bring you joy and enjoy doing. Feel the difference that a productive morning routine can make in your life by practising the following strategies for maintaining consistency in your morning routine.