Starting a morning routine is the first step towards a more organized and energized day. However, morning routines can be challenging to get started on since there are so many options for how to start your day.
Luckily, this post contains hints which can help you get started! If you are interested in starting a morning routine this post is for you!
Starting a morning routine is one of the best ways to improve your day. A successful morning routine will leave you feeling accomplished and energized for the rest of the day!
I was once in your shoes and it took time to create a morning routine that fits my lifestyle, but now I look forward to my mornings instead of dreading them. I am able to work out, cook, and spend time with my girlfriend all before heading to work.
These hints will help you with starting a morning routine that will improve your life. You will find everything you need to get started and immediately make your mornings more effective.
This post is all about starting a morning routine that will make you feel accomplished and energized!
Simple Steps for Starting a Morning Routine
1. Think about why you want a morning routine.
The first step to starting a morning routine is to figure out why you want to start a morning routine. Maybe you just want to get your day started earlier. Or maybe you are struggling to get off work early enough to get everything done.
Whatever your motivation may be, it is important that you have something to keep you going. Starting a morning routine can be challenging, but with the right motivation, you will stick with it. Here are a couple of questions to ask yourself to help you find that motivation:
- What activities are you missing out on in your day that you could be doing in the morning?
- What do you hope to achieve by starting a morning routine?
Answer these questions (and any more you think of!) to help you find your motivation. Every time you wake up and think about snoozing that alarm clock, think back to your “why”!
2. Audit your current morning.
The next step to starting your morning routine is to figure out what your current mornings look like. You might not have a real routine yet, but you still have a few things that happen every morning. As you go through your morning, write down what you are doing and how long each thing is taking. For example:
- wake up 7:15
- shower 7:20-7:40
- breakfast 7:45-8
This will help you to understand what your mornings currently look like and what is currently important to you. The list does not need to be very detailed, but it should give you a basic understanding of your current schedule.
Consider what is really important or essential to your mornings and what is not. This list will be important for starting your first structured morning routine.
3. Figure out your timing.
Timing is a very important part of starting a morning routine. Without good timing, you may find your morning routine tough to complete. The first step to figuring out your timing is to figure out your milestone times for each day. During the week, my milestone times look like this:
- Wake up
- Leave for work
- Arrive at work
- Leave work
- Get to sleep
It is important to know these times because they typically control your day. Knowing these times will allow you to pin point exactly how much time you have in the morning or evening. At this point in your morning routine journey, the distribution (more time in the morning vs evening) is not too important. All that matters is that you know what time you have available for yourself.
Whether you have 20 minutes or 3 hours between waking up and leaving for work, you can still have a morning routine. Personally, I like to have at least a couple of hours to get everything done, but everyone is different! If you want to have a truly effective morning routine, I would suggest getting up earlier rather than later.
This may be hard at first, but think about it this way, you are basically transferring your activities from the evening to the morning. Doing things this way will help you feel energized and proud of yourself all day long!
4. Start making your bed every morning.
One of the best ways you can get started with your morning routine is to think about it in terms of getting “wins” early in the morning. You are up getting things done while many people may not be using their time efficiently. My favorite “win” in the morning is making my bed.
Making your bed is a relatively easy task, but is one that many people overlook! Doing this will make you feel more organized and accomplished in the morning, I guarantee it. It is also an easy thing to start out your morning routine.
In addition to being a simple start to a morning routine, making your bed every morning has some other unexpected benefits. Click to learn more about the benefits of making your bed.
Making your bed will only take a couple of minutes each morning, but will benefit you by giving you a low-hanging fruit to pick off every day as you start your morning routine journey. Since morning routines can be very intimidating, use this task to start the habit and gradually continue to develop your morning routine.
5. Set a “wake-up window” instead of a “wake-up time.”
Another easy step towards starting your new morning routine is to get in the habit of waking up relatively early. At first, it is a challenge to get up early, so what I recommend for new morning routiners is to set a wake-up window” instead of a wake-up time.
Basically what this means is that you should not think to yourself “I NEED to get up at 5 AM this morning.” This line of thinking can quickly lead to you becoming overwhelmed and giving up.
Instead, I recommend picking a 15-30 minute window to wake up in. This will let you ease yourself into waking up earlier without making quick and drastic changes. You can even hit the snooze button a few times! Slowly lower the width of your window until it is set at the time you like to wake up. Give it a try!
6. Set yourself up for success the previous evening.
More often than not, successful morning routines are made by nightly ones. By using your evenings more effectively, you will create more time in your mornings.
Doing things like getting your lunch packed, setting up your pan and spatula for breakfast, and setting out your clothes for your morning workout are the types of things I am suggesting. These are not particularly difficult things to do in the morning, but doing them during the previous evening will help you maximize your time in the morning.
Setting yourself up in this way will make your milestone times seem further apart and will allow you to spend more time enjoying your morning routine!
{ Related Post: 4 Easy Ways Your Nightly Routine Can Drastically Improve Your Morning Routine }
7. Start with a simple morning routine.
Now that you have completed the previous steps, you have all the building blocks in place to create your first simple morning routine!
You now have your motivation, you know your timing, you are consistently making your bed, you can wake up earlier with more ease, and you are maximizing your mornings by using your evenings!
At this point, you should write down a routine you would like to follow. Start small with just a few activities. Something like this:
- Wake up – 5:30-5:45
- Make the bed – 5:50-5:55
- Shower – 6:00-6:15
- Make breakfast – 6:15-6:35
- Get ready to leave – 6:35-6:50
- Leave for work – 7:00
This routine is relatively simple, but still hits all the morning necessities and gives you a nice buffer for each activity. This is the level of morning routine that is perfect to start out with. Try to take this outline and adjust it to fit your morning.
Maybe you prefer to grab breakfast on the go or maybe you need more time get ready. Make sure it seems attainable to start with, remember not to start with too much too fast. Great job getting this far!
8. Execute your new morning routine. Add more to it as you go!
Now that you have your simple morning routine set up, get out there and conquer your morning! Start with something like this for a month or two and adjust as necessary.
Add or remove activities as you go and do not be afraid to adjust the times based on your personal milestone times. Eventually, your morning routine will become second nature to you, and you will feel yourself become more energized and, dare I say, a morning person! You’ve got this!
{ Related Post: 5 Insanely Simple Morning Routine Ideas that will make Your Life Easier }
9. Do not put too much pressure on yourself to complete your morning routine every day.
Starting a morning routine is an exciting step, and it can be tempting to dive in headfirst. While it is true that the sooner you get started on your morning routine, the sooner you will start to see the benefits, it can also be risky.
Trying to make a significant change in your life very quickly can sometimes lead to burnout and resentment. If you ever feel like you need a rest day or you should sleep in a little extra, go for it! I do it all the time.
Taking rest days makes the days you complete your morning routine feel even better. Never be afraid to take the pressure off and relax every once in a while.
{ Related Post: 7 Effective Tactics to Make Your Morning Routine Feel EASY}
Those are the steps to starting a morning routine that will feel easy and attainable! You can do this! Try our tips out and comment on how it goes!
Remember to check out the free downloadable morning routine checklist!
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