How you start your day can have a big impact on your productivity and mindset. Over the years I have seen my focus and productivity improve when I do my morning routine. In this post, I will share tips to help you create a morning routine. I’ll share my 4 main categories to include and give you some ideas that you can use when you are creating your morning routine.
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Do you know that you already have a morning routine? We all have basic routines and rhythms to our day. You might get up, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, get dressed, and have breakfast. While this may not seem like anything too exciting it is a foundation that you can build upon.
How we start our mornings can have a powerful effect on the rest of our day. Don’t worry this post is not about creating some complicated morning routine. In this post, I’ll share tips to help you create a realistic morning routine.
What to include in your Morning Routine
- Self-care
- Movement
- Mindset
- Planning
These 4 morning routine categories will help you to create a basic plan that you can add to over time.
The goal of this post is to help you create your own personal morning routine. A short routine that helps you start your days off with self-care, a good mindset, and a plan for your day.
Morning Hygiene
There is one additional thing that I don’t usually include in my morning routine. that is what I like to call, “morning hygiene”. These are very specific to each person and most of us already have a good routine for these things.
Most of us have a basic morning hygiene routine already. Below are some things that I like to include in this section:
- Go to the bathroom
- Brush your teeth
- Wash your face
- Do your morning skin care routine
- Put on contacts
- Do your make up
As I continue this post I will not be including each hygiene item in the morning routine. I will add “morning hygiene” when I’m sharing sample routines.
What to include in your Morning Routine
Morning Self-Care
Your morning self-care might include some of these things:
- Drink a full glass of water
- Quiet Music
- Use an ice roller or eye patches for puffy eyes
- Light a candle
- Meditation or prayer
- Reading
- Journaling
Morning Movement
Starting your day with exercise can help you have more energy and focus throughout the day.
- Stretching
- Yoga
- Exercise
- Take a short walk outside
- Walk the dog
- Go for a run
Morning Mindset
Your morning mindset time can include a variety of things. Some mindset items you might want to consider are:
- Write a gratitude list.
- Write out or verbilize your affirmations, “I am… or I can…” statements.
- Put on some uplifting music.
- Writing in your “morning pages journal”
- Reading a non-fiction book.
- Completing a “brain dump” to help clear your mind – Read how I do my daily brain dump here.
Morning Planning
Taking a few minutes each morning to plan your day will help you be in control of your day instead of having your day control you.
- List 3 priorities for the day
- Review your calendar to see what commitments you might have
- Review your projects or task list for the day
- Look over your big goals and add an action item to your plan for the day.
- Plan other tasks for the day and consider time blocking to help with this.
↓ Scroll to the bottom of this post to get your free printables! ↓
Sample 30 minute Morning Routine
- Morning Hygiene (5 minutes )
- Quiet reflection, prayer, or meditation (2 minutes )
- Journaling (3 minutes )
- Yoga (5 minutes )
- Read (10 minutes)
- Planning your day (5 minutes )
Here is an example of my most recent Morning Routine in detail:
Please remember when you read over this example that my morning routine works for me, but I do not do it perfectly every day.
- Morning Hygiene:
- Go to the bathroom
- Brush my teeth
- Wash my face
- Skincare routine – (vitamin C, moisturizer, eye patches (for my puffy eyes!) sunblock)
- Do my make-up
- Get dressed
- Do my hair
[Head downstairs]
- Drink a full glass of water and take medications and vitamins
- Make breakfast and coffee:
- Usually oatmeal or eggs
- Coffee (of course!)
- Look at my phone while breakfast is cooking
- I usually check the weather and news quickly, and then I check my emails and Instagram for comments or questions.
- Eat Breakfast while reading
- Some mornings I will read or listen to a non-fiction book that align with my current goals. If you prefer to listen
- Quiet time.
- I’ve been practicing mixing meditation and prayer to add a time of contemplation and thankfulness into my mornings. You may find it helpful to sit in silence for a while, read a short devotional, or scripture, meditate, or pray.
- Writing
- Brain Dump – I write down all of the things going through my mind in a special notebook.
- Write my affirmations – this is a new practice to me but I’m seeing the benefits the more I do it.
- Planning –
- Review my weekly plan (Maksë Life Planner)
- Review my brain dump
- Review my calendar
- Plan out my day and tasks in my daily planner (from Plum Paper)
- Sometimes I take the dog for a quick walk
You’ll notice I don’t do any morning exercise, I have found that during the school year it is very hard for me to fit in a quick cycle ride or exercise before the kids get up. I sometimes do that when I get home from dropping them off at school or after they get home from school. There are days that I don’t do everything on this list, somedays I skip my brain dump or don’t need to review my calendar. The key is consistency, not perfection.
Creating a special space for your Morning Routine
Decide where you will perform your morning routine. I usually do mine at the dining table unless it is warm enough to go outside on our deck. You may find a cozy spot to do yours. A comfortable chair, couch, or desk is a great place to do this.
I prefer to eat right away so having breakfast and making coffee comes first. I allow myself 2-3 minutes to look at my phone right before I get out of bed (more on this below). I usually do some reading or journaling while having breakfast. I move on to my morning mindfulness practice (this is new to me!) right after.
During the school year, I finish up my morning routine with planning right around 6:45 when the kids are starting to wake up. I try to have my routine finished before the kids come downstairs but sometimes I’m still working on my planning while they eat breakfast.
Simplify your morning routine by preparing the night before
Set out your mug, prepare your coffee, set up your morning journal, bible, or book. Layout your clothes or workout clothes for the next day. Look at your calendar so you know what’s on the schedule tomorrow. Every night I like to get things out for my morning coffee. I also leave my planner out so I’m ready to jump in.
One mindset trick I’ve been using is to visually walk through your morning routine right before I fall asleep. I try to picture waking up getting ready for the day and doing each step of my morning routine. This has really helped me to look forward to the mornings instead of dreading them. This is especially helpful when I have appointments or a very busy day ahead.
Be flexible when creating your morning routine
Your Morning Routine is not written in stone
I try to keep my morning routine time a no-phone zone however, I do allow myself 2-3 minutes to look at my phone first thing in the morning. It’s one of those graces that I allow myself so I don’t feel the need to check my phone while I am in the middle of my morning routine. Allowing myself a little time to indulge has helped me to be more focused during the rest of my morning routine.
If I wake up 30 minutes late I use a shorter version of my morning routine but I try not to skip the most important parts. You may want to write out a shorter version of your routine for mornings like this. If you have little ones who are up early plan to give them an activity to do while you do your routine, or include them if possible (even little children like to go for a morning walk, or mimic mom doing yoga. Compromise is key to keeping up with this new habit.
Resources to help you form the perfect morning routine:
- Brain Dump Trigger List – Print this list to help you get everything out of your mind and on paper each day.
- Time Blocking 101 – If you are new to planning, using a time blocking calendar might be helpful as you plan your days.
- Deep Work – I mention Cal Newport’s book in my Time Blocking post. His book is a must-have and discusses morning routines, so you might find it helpful.
- Daniel Pink’s book, “When” – this book will help you to better understand when you do your best work. So all of you who say, “I’m not a morning person” you’re not wrong!
Some of my favorite tools:
- Multi-Vitamin
- Facial Ice Roller
- Under eye patches for puffy eyes
- One Line a Day Notebook
- My Printable Time Blocking Planner
- Dot making pens (for checklists)
- Sunrise Alarm Clock
- Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
- Happy Light – Light therapy
- Atomic Habits
- Caddy to hold all of my notebooks, pens etc.
Maybe you’re not a morning person
Don’t worry, morning routines don’t have to be done first thing in the morning. I often finish my morning routine after the kids head off to school before I start my workday. There are no rules. The important thing is to take time for YOU. Time for self-care and reflection, time to move your body, set your mind for the day ahead, and create a simple plan. You do not need to wake up at 5 am!
Having trouble starting your morning routine?
Start small. Add one new step to your routine each week. I recommend starting with some kind of quiet time. That might be a time of prayer or meditation. Next, I recommend adding in a time to write. I prefer to do a brain dump first, this allows me to really clear my mind before the day begins and I often use this page to plan my day. Once you are consistent with your newly added task consider adding another.
Get your Perfect Morning Routine List and Routine Tracker
You should receive your file(s) link via e-mail within the hour. Be sure to check your spam or promotions folder if you cannot find the e-mail. If, after an hour, you have not received anything, contact me and I’ll help you figure out what happened. For personal use only. Please do not reproduce or redistribute without written permission. Classroom use is permitted.
Instructions on how to print and resize your printable to fit your own planner can be found here.
Abra
Thank you so much for this. I’ve tried multiple times to come up with a morning routine but get overwhelmed. I tend to over estimate the time it takes to do most tasks. Then I wonder how I’m going to have time to do it all. You have put things in a realistic timeline. I really appreciate your tips and will put them in use tomorrow morning.
Donna
I am so glad this post was helpful. My morning routine changes all of the time. I think we can get overwhelmed when we think it has to be the same way every day. Thanks again for your kind comment.
kristy
I came across your page on google. I have yet to put pen to paper with your free easy-to-use templates and information. This is much appreciated. Thank you for the work you have done and for sharing these tips and tools with others.
Rachel
I love the idea of finding time in the morning for all these things, but what is the most important to include when you don’t have enough time? I’m up at 5:30, kids are up at 6, and we’re out the door at 6:35.
Current routine is for me to get up, shower, and start getting dressed before they wake up. Then get them ready, grab everything we need for the day, and rush out the door. I do coffee and breakfast at work.
Donna
Rachel, it sounds like you’re doing great considering your busy mornings! I think it’s a good idea to think about your priorities and goals before you try to add anything to your morning routine. You might be able to add in one or two small/short habits if you think they will help you have a better day or meet your goals. Here are a few ideas: 5-minutes of writing (look up “morning pages” on my site), a 10-minute stretching session or walk, or 5-minute meditation. You might be able to listen to an audiobook while getting ready for the day too. A lot of the morning routine ideas can work at lunchtime or before bed. I hope you can find a routine that really works for you!