How To: Have a Healthy Morning Routine

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While in lockdown, routines became a part of everyday life. A morning routine helped get you ready for the day, physically and mentally.  Working parents especially, relied on routines to help keep themselves and their children on schedule throughout the day. 

Definition of Routine 

Dicitonary.com’s defines routine as: a customary or regular course of procedure. Ask any one of your colleagues, friends, or family members and I’d bet that almost all of them will tell you that they have some type of routine or even multiple throughout their days. 

Morning routines are key as it sets you up for the day. I’ve noticed that if I don’t give myself enough time to do my morning routine completely, my entire day just feels off.  

Key Elements of a Routine

Morning routines can include anything and everything that works for you. What may work for me might not work for you and vice versa. When just starting out though keep it simple. If you try and do too much right away, that’s a sure-fire way to feel overwhelmed not keep up with it.

Your routine can include any of the following: 

1. Early Wake Up – depending on what time you need to be at work or get your day started, waking up earlier is a great way to get that quiet time in when no one else is awake. 
2. Work Out – this is a personal preference; some people work out first thing in the morning and others find doing so after work is a great way to destress from their day. If you’re not up for a full-on workout, then try doing some yoga stretches to just get your body moving. 
3. Get Ready for the Day
4. Gratitude Journal/Journaling – Having a gratitude journal or a regular journal is a perfect way to be able to get whatever is on your mind out on paper…it could be brain dumping, gratitude, or even a recap of the day before. 
5. Meditating
6. Reading
7. Plan your Day – I love this To-Do List pad that has easy to rip off sheets, that are perfect for daily use. It also has spots for your TOP 3, Affirmations (check out my post on how to find your word of the year here.) 
8. Work on your Side Hustle – if you have a side hustle that is. Use this quiet time to do research, answer e-mails, create content, etc.
9. Eat a Healthy Breakfast
10. Drink a Glass of Water – drinking a cold glass (8 oz.) of water when first waking up jump-starts your body.

Tips and Tricks to Help

If you’re not typically a morning person, try out some of the below tips to help you transition into a morning person. I’ll be doing a full on post on How to Become a Morning Person soon.

Wake up 15 minutes earlier each day for a week (and conversely going to bed 15 minutes earlier as well). This will slowly get your body accustomed to waking earlier. The slow and steady approach will help you stick with the routine. This Hatch Restore Alarm Clock is perfect. The alarm sound/light will start low & then gradually get louder/brighter to wake you up slowly. It’s also pretty cool because it’ll let you pick different light settings; you can program it to have the light mimic a mountain, beach, or city sunrise.

Write out your planned morning routine, put it on a post-it, and leave it somewhere you can see it every day. These sticky notes have checkboxes already printed on them that are a great help. Stick it on your bathroom mirror, by your dresser, etc. any place that is easily seen by you.

When writing out your planned routine, give each ‘task’ a time limit, 5-10 minutes for each one should do it (depending on the task).  This will also help you figure out what time you ‘need’ to wake up each day in order to accomplish all you want. 

Try using an app to help you build that routine and good habits….I am currently using the Daily Planner app on iOs and I love it. This is a great tool to help build your habits but has also been great in helping me build more manageable morning and evening (more on that later) routines. Check it out in the app store and let time know what you think!

Why Having a Morning Routine Helps

Having a morning routine with some quiet time is an amazing way to start the day. Even if it just means that you get that 10 minutes to drink your coffee hot! Every mama knows the importance of that  H O T  cup of coffee. 

Use your morning routine to be able to get in the right headspace for the day. Whether that’s wrangling kids and a home business or kids and a corporate job. No one is their best when they feel scatterbrained and overwhelmed. 

Routines should evolve and grow as you do, start out small and add more things or take away ones that aren’t working. Your goal should always be to better yourself, only do it for you and no one else. 

?? Drop a comment below and let me know all about your own morning routine and how it’s helped you! ??