When I was a teenager, I used to have the worst mornings. Definitely not stress-free mornings!
Just ask my mom. I couldn’t decide what to wear. Every day was a bad hair day. I’d change my outfit three times and then right before I had to catch the bus make one final switch.
It felt awful. I can still remember that feeling of chaos and frenzy, my heart racing in panic. My morning routine, or lack of one, set the tone for the entire day. And it wasn’t a calm, peaceful tone. It was a negative, feel-bad-about-myself tone.
Yuck.
What I’ve learned as I’ve grown older is that it’s really important to have some sort of routine each morning. I’ve also learned that morning routines are not one-size-fits-all. Everyone has their own unique strengths and weaknesses in the early hours of the day and creating a morning routine that plays to your strengths and helps give you a little boost with your weaknesses is key.
My weakness in the morning is that I would much rather be sitting on my comfy couch with a blanket and a hot, steaming cup of coffee than working out or doing anything that requires any sort of brainpower.
It also takes me a while to wake up and although I would LOVE to work out early in the morning, my motivation right away in the morning is lacking!
It’s also important for me to allow myself plenty of time to ease into the day. So, I make an effort to get up a little earlier so I’m not having to rush around.
I am also someone who tends to resist new routines, and it’s fairly easy for me to fall out of them when sleep is the other option. So, it is important for me to give myself a little bit of grace and know that I’m not going to establish a new routine overnight. It’s a habit that needs to be built, and building a habit takes a lot of practice.
Why have a morning routine?
If your current routine consists of hitting the snooze button five times, frantically showering, getting dressed and grabbing a granola bar on your way out the door while checking your email on your phone at the same time, you’re setting yourself up for a day of rushing around and catching up, not to mention a lot of stress.
Having a morning routine is not about how much you can get done, but rather it’s about starting your day in a peaceful, confident and positive way – an intentional way. And starting the day this way can lead to a more productive day that is filled with less stress and can enable you to handle whatever comes your way more effectively.
What to include in a morning routine?
There is no one right answer for what your morning routine should look like. Everyone is different. But here are some helpful strategies that can get your day started right.
Don’t hit snooze!
Your body needs some time to wake up. When you hit the snooze button and drift back to sleep, your body thinks you’re going back to sleep for real and settles back in. When your alarm goes off the second (or third or fourth!) time, you’ll experience a groggy, fuzzy feeling related to what experts call sleep inertia. The more you hit the snooze button the more confused your body gets, and research has shown that this sleep inertia can last up to two to four hours!
Establish the same motions in the same order every day
This helps in a couple of ways. First, as your body is taking its time waking up, having less to think about is good. As well, it helps you develop the habit of a morning routine. It’s really habit stacking a bunch of habits, and one leads to next to build a stress-free morning. Again, the less you have to really think about, the more effortless things will be.
Get moving
Get some exercise in the morning, whether it’s a series of stretches, yoga, walking the dog, an invigorating run, or hitting the gym. Getting your blood flowing can do wonders for feeling awake and forging ahead with your day.
If you’re like me, working out early is not easy! I suggest giving it a try, pushing yourself to just do a little bit until the act of moving is a habit. Then, you can add time or different activities in.
Get things ready the night before
This seems like such a simple thing to do, yet most people I know don’t do it. I don’t even do it all the time, but when I do, it sets me up for a much better day.
Packing your lunch, or your kids’ lunches, planning out the next day and stuff like that helps in the less-to-think-about-in-the-morning. And, you guessed it – that sets you up for a morning with a lot less stress.
Revisit your plan for the day and set an intention
I like to do this over coffee in the morning. I look at my schedule and identify the top three things I’d like to accomplish that day. I also set an intention, such as today, I’d like to be more mindful when I eat my meals. Or, today I’m going to think positive, or something along those lines.
If you like to have a cup of coffee (or three) in the morning before you head out, you may find yourself distracted on social media or browsing your Pinterest feed. I don’t recommend this as it is way too easy to get sucked in and waste time. Before you know it, you’ll be crunched for time and you can say buh-bye to that stress-free morning!
Ditch the phone
Don’t pick up your phone and scroll through social media first thing in the morning. Just don’t. To my point ahead, you’ll waste time and the goal of your morning routine is to be intentional and low-stress.
Hitting Facebook and Instagram first thing is likely going to suck your precious time away, not to mention it’s just mindless stuff that doesn’t really help your brain or your body get moving efficiently. Same with emails.
Don’t resist it
I am someone who naturally kind of resists this kind of stuff. I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gal. But, flying by the seat of one’s pants is not always the best method. My morning routine is always evolving a little bit, but in general, I’ve learned to stop hitting the snooze button and getting my butt out of bed to start my day.
It’s important to remember that your morning routine will take a little bit of time to get in the habit of doing. But lean into it – know that if you keep at it, soon enough you will have built a string of habits that add up to a solid morning routine that equals a stress-free morning!
