Starting Your Day Right: Building a Successful Morning Routine

Are you still struggling to create a morning routine that works for you?

How to create a successful morning routine — Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

Aren’t Routines Boring?

If you’ve been thinking you might need a successful morning routine, let me help you out.

For so many years, I struggled with that very thing. In fact, for most of my life, I actually rebelled against creating a routine at all. I thought routine meant, boring, or rote, or mechanical. I wanted to be available to act in the moment so I could do whatever I needed to do… at least, that’s what I told myself.

Really, I was just making excuses for my lack of discipline. Do I have any sisters out there? Thought so.

But now I know better. I have learned that there are tons of benefits to developing a routine. For starters, a routine will help reduce stress. And isn’t that what we’re all about right now? Stress literally ages our bodies prematurely so let’s not do that, shall we?

But it can also help you feel and be more productive. It’s amazing what your day looks like when some of the mundane activities we do each day pass into an automatic process called “routine.” Allowing your mind and body to develop a predictable set of thoughts and behaviors creates a kind of automation – this is how habits are formed. With the mental clarity and energy to focus on other things, the sky is the limit!

Plus, it can make you a better manager of your time. Grouping activities into blocks of time opens up your day so you can see your availability in a more organized way. The best part is that you should find plenty of downtime to purposefully relax. It’s all about the stress level, am I right?

And if you think about it, you probably already have a morning routine. If you’re anything like me, you already have certain things that you do every morning at a certain time so that you can get to work or school or whatever your daily life looks like. So it’s not about creating something brand new, it’s really about being more deliberate about what those activities are and what will help you become your best.

Why Past Attempts Have Failed

If you’ve tried to create a morning routine in the past and it hasn’t been so successful, there could be a lot of reasons for that. I learned plenty of them myself.

It’s someone else’s routine

When I began this journey, I decided that I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. So, I got with my friend Google and I started to learn what other people were doing to develop a successful morning routine.

I learned about the Miracle Morning with Hal Elrod, I learned about Morning Pages, I signed up for bunches of Bible studies and prayer reminders to get my rear in gear. I set my phone up with so many reminders for the various activities that I had read about that it chimed nonstop from 5:30 until I left for work 2 hours later.

Micromanaging your schedule

All of the activities that I had chosen to do meant that I was micromanaging my schedule. I was creating tasks and reminders for everything. I finally took a moment to realize that I was so stressed out and anxious about what I needed to do and when, that it just wasn’t working for me.

By the way, this is the OPPOSITE of what a routine is supposed to do. If you have noticed this about your own efforts, it’s a pretty good sign that you might be doing it wrong.

Downward focus

Eventually I discovered that over-planning my routine only led to feelings of guilt and discouragement. I was trying to do too much, too soon and all I saw were the many things that I was NOT getting done. I felt like a failure.

In my own pursuit of the perfect routine, I quickly learned that, well, it doesn’t exist. Morning routines that work are highly specific and personal. There is no one-size-fits all. That is why following a prescribed routine that someone else creates often ends in failure. But I’m going to show you how to create a morning routine that works for you, based on your life and your goals. Let’s dive in!

Key Strategies for Creating a Successful Morning Routine

There are certain characteristics of many of the routines that I’ve studied and tried. These are great ideas to incorporate into any morning routine, that’s just it. They are elements, principles. Starting with a basic framework and learning how to build on that to fit your own life is the key to creating a routine that works for you.

Strategy #1: Analyze

Whether you meant to or not, you already have a morning routine. You have a set of behaviors or activities that you do every morning. Your mind craves that predictability.

So take some time to notice what it is that you do when you get up. Make a decision on whether this is something you need or want to continue. Ask yourself if it helps you achieve your life goals, does it promote your health, and – this is a good one – can it be delegated to another family member?

Strategy #2: Be Realistic

This is probably the most important thing to consider when creating a successful morning routine. It is so easy to get caught in the trap of “doing all the things” which will only lead to discouragement and eventually, giving up.

Maybe you have read articles or even books written by gurus and experts that outline numerous activities that must all be done in your first waking hours. Or perhaps you are familiar with the clever acronyms designed to help you remember the various steps.

But did you notice how very often, those routines limit the length of your sleep time? This is not only unrealistic, it’s unhealthy. Please don’t sacrifice your sleep time. You’ll be more productive throughout the whole day when you prioritize getting enough restorative sleep every night.

In addition to cutting back on sleep, it’s also unrealistic to cram 30 tasks in each morning with the expectation that you’ll get them all done. I’ve tried that. It really doesn’t work. This is a recipe for feeling guilty AND unproductive. Set your intentions on maybe two or three activities each morning. As you get this routine going, you can add more as it becomes necessary and you are able. Start small.

Strategy #3: Prioritize Your Activities

Creating a successful morning routine requires that you identify what must be done and what is optional. I always found this to be the hardest part of developing a routine. So, here are some things to think about to help you prioritize:

Make a list of all the things you are currently doing in the morning.
Put a number next to each item indicating its level of importance.
Consider any goals you have set for yourself.

Many people are more productive in the mornings than at any other time of day so it may be a good opportunity to pray, meditate, be silent, breathe, do some writing, or reading, or cleaning, or exercising… whatever you’re trying to achieve, your morning routine may be a good opportunity to start working on it.

Strategy #4: Start the Night Before

Many times, a successful morning routine depends on a good evening routine. For example, if you want to take a healthy lunch to work, you might be better off preparing that meal the evening before. Or consider a real time-saver and try meal prepping or batch cooking. I know that I’m always looking for a way to save time and effort in the kitchen. Batch cooking creates fewer dishes, less work, reduced stress and healthier food! That’s a win-win-win-win!

Or maybe it takes you a while to pick out your clothes in the mornings. Or you pick them very hastily and want to put more effort into styling yourself and choosing things more carefully. Instead of trying to fit this activity into your hectic morning routine, you can spend a few minutes the night before selecting your outfit.

This particular strategy saves me a lot of time in the mornings! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve discovered that the item I thought about wearing is wrinkled, or dirty, or just won’t look as great as it did in my mind. Not only will this strategy result in little stress in the morning, but you’ll look like you spent an hour getting ready for work! If you REALLY want to supercharge your routines, I highly recommend the capsule wardrobe (link to previous post).

Strategy #5: Watch the Time

Now that you’ve set some realistic goals, identified your priorities, prepped the night before, it’s time to put it all together. To do this, you can start by reverse engineering your morning. For example, if you have to be out the door by 7:30, and you want to complete a 30 minute workout in the mornings, you definitely don’t want to wait until 7:00 to wake up.

Also, make sure to give yourself adequate time to get through the activities you choose. And don’t forget to leave yourself a little margin. If you want to grab some coffee before you sit down with your Bible, make room for that. If you need to feed your pets so you can have a moment of peace and quiet while you write in your journal, leave some time for that.

Remember to keep in mind step number 1 when you’re creating your schedule. I recommend choosing no more than 3 tasks each morning to focus on in the beginning. Once you’re established with a few, you may wish to add others if you have the time for it. But the goal is to start your day feeling accomplished and ready.

Strategy #6: Try it Out

You have put it all together, now put it to work. Don’t be afraid to start somewhere. Like any first draft, your first attempt may need to be tweaked a bit before it fits perfectly. And if it doesn’t work for you, you’ll know it and you’ll know how to fix it. You can make adjustments along the way as you need. But be sure to give it a good try before making any serious adjustments. I can tell you from experience that constantly changing your routine is the best way to make sure you fail at creating that morning routine.

And be patient with yourself. It can be discouraging to go through the trial and error process. But I promise you, it’s worth it. Creating a successful morning routine will help you feel more relaxed throughout the day. It will motivate you to tackle whatever else you have on your agenda. And trust me, you won’t get bored. Before you know it, these activities will be habitual and automatic. They will free your mind and your attention to focus on and do other things.

Create Your Morning Routine!

I can’t wait for you to get going on these 5 strategies to creating a successful morning routine. I think you’re going to find that when you personalize this process to your own goals, needs and desires, you’ll be more motivated, less stressed and on your way to achieving your dreams.

Just remember these six strategies: