Take Back Your Mornings with a Routine

Are you wondering how to increase your productivity and set the tone for your day? The answer is to take back your mornings. Time and time again, when productive people are asked for their tips to increase efficiency and productivity, morning routines come up. 

There are several reasons for this. Setting the tone and intentions for your day allows you to minimize distractions and focus on your priorities. Getting started on your goals right away gives you the time to actually accomplish them. Willpower is linked to circadian rhythms as well and is at its peak just after waking. It declines throughout the day, so using your morning to tackle the things that really need to get done makes more sense than leaving them for the evening, when you’ve used up your willpower for the day. 

What if you’re not a morning person? Well, the good news is by setting a routine and developing a chain of morning habits, you can train yourself to be a morning person. With practice and preparation you can choose a routine that works for you and takes a lot of the pain out the process. 

Here are some tips for taking back your mornings and reclaiming the day’s potential to advance your goals. 

1. Prepare the night before.

   This starts with setting a bedtime that will get you the sleep you need to get up early. Lay out your workout clothes the night before. Have your book and journal ready. Have your water ready. Think through your plan, which brings us to number 2.

2. Have a plan.

   Decide what you’d like to include in your routine. Choose a way to reflect and focus on your life (this could be prayer, meditation, journaling, or affirmations and visualization).  Choose a way to move your body. Choose how you are going to fuel yourself. Notice all those choices? By making these decisions ahead of time, you minimize your decision making in the morning and save that energy for later. 

3. Don’t keep your phone in your bedroom.

   You can improve your quality of sleep by keeping your phone away from your bed. You’ll minimize EMFs and cut down on midnight clock gazing.

4. Snooze button is not allowed.

   Don’t even give yourself the option. Make that decision right now and don’t leave yourself any wiggle room. 

5. Don’t think or you’ll think yourself back into bed.

   This goes with number 4—no snooze button and no thinking. When your alarm goes off, it’s time to get up. 

6. Chug water immediately.

   You’ve gone all night without water and it’s important to hydrate right away. 

7. Splash cool water on your face (if you need a little pep-up).

   A little cool water can energize you and wake you all the way up, especially if you are tempted to get back into bed. 

8. Move your body!

   Choose something that works for you. That might be yoga, biking, weights, a walk outside, a HIIT routine, even just a quick Seven-Minute workout. Do something to get your heart pumping and your muscles warm.

9. Remember the pain only lasts a few minutes.

   Once you are up and launched into your routine, one thing will just lead to the next. The worst part is the first few moments and that’s all they are—moments. You can get through a few tough moments to grab hold of your day.

10. It takes 28 days, minimum, to form a new habit.

    Every day gets easier, but all days are not easy. The magic of a morning routine is that people tend to ritualize the things they do in the morning. You start with a cue (that’s your wake-up) and follow it with your routine, and end with your reward (this can be your nourishing breakfast). You can use each routine as the cue for your next routine, and because people tend to form habits around things they do in the morning, a little intention in this area will go a long way. 

If you put in the time and make the decision, your morning routine may become one of your favorite parts of the day!