Have you ever set out with great intention to create a morning routine, only to realise it became another item on your to-do list? Then what? You beat yourself up that you didn’t do it ‘right’, that you failed.
Here’s the thing, you haven’t failed. It just doesn’t work for you. What works for a friend or an expert will not necessarily work for you.
This is why, rather than give you a specific, one-size-fits-all morning routine; I’m encouraging you to create a morning routine that works for you.
1. The benefits of the morning routine
You wake up, and before your feet hit the floor, your mind is already spinning with a to-do list. You brew your coffee, wake up children, get ready for work. Then, while drinking coffee in a hurry, you quickly check your work emails.
That way, you are on autopilot. You stress yourself out first thing in the morning.
Sigh!
Here’s how you solve this …
First, create a self-care morning routine.
Second, read The No B.S. Guide to Mind Detox here.
The benefits of self-care morning routine are: (priceless)
- Calm and joyful start of the day
- Increases productivity and creativity
- Increases happiness
- Decreases level of stress hormones in your body
- Nurtures you
- Connects you with your heart and soul
For me, that’s a hell of a lot of benefits.
Many successful people are devoted to the morning routine because it increases productivity and happiness.
Leadership coach and personal development expert Robin Sharma shares here how morning routine increases productivity and creativity.
Ariana Huffington created her morning routine after she burnout so severely that she fainted and broke her cheekbone. Read it here.
Remember, I wrote at the beginning; I’ll not give you a one-size-fits-all morning routine? So instead, here are some of my best ideas you can steal.
2. 12 Productive morning routine ideas
One thing to remember …
Ditch other people’s rules and create your own.
Deal?
Your self-care morning routine can be 15 min or 2 hours long. The duration and activities can change every day if you feel so. You don’t need to get up at 5 am because Robin Sharma swears on it.
Create it in a way that nurtures you. What you don’t want is that it becomes another item on your already breathlessly long, to-do list.
Here are 12-morning routine habits of successful people:
- Listen to motivational or inspirational videos
- Read a book
- Workout/yoga
- Go on an early morning peaceful walk with your dog or alone
- Meditate
- Visualise
- Journal
- Prepare celery juice and a healthy breakfast
- Listen to inspiring podcasts
- Plan your day
- Create your future life vision
- Self-Compassion exercises – here’s the Self-Compassion Guide for Beginners
Honestly, a morning routine can be anything that makes you feel joyful and inspired. But unfortunately, we forgot about the importance of playfulness and joy in our lives.
Gosh, we’ve made our lives busy and complicated. So, therefore, my success metric is how happy and calm I am despite what’s going on in my life.
See, I’ve made my own success definition!
3. Behind the scenes – my 5 am productive morning routine.
How I start mornings changes, over time, according to my needs. It’s not set in stone.
This is important …
…. I sleep for 8 hours! This is non-negotiable for me. I wake up naturally a few minutes before 5 am.
Right now, my morning routine is 1.5 hours long, and it looks like this:
- Get up at 5 am & brush my teeth
- Prepare 0.5 l (16 oz.) fresh celery juice and drink it.
- Cleaning the juicer
- Breathing exercises by Wim Hof. It helps me to increase energy, get focused and reduce stress.
- Cold shower. Right now, I’m at 1 min of a cold shower.
- Breakfast. Usually fruit and herbal tea.
I bet you think I’m crazy! Hahaha!
Conclusion
As an A-type person, sometimes I am crazy with organising things, doing everything by the book and following the rules.
Well, I’ve learned that following the rules is not always the best way for the morning routine.
The whole point about the morning routine is to start your day calm, energised and inspired. It reduces stress and prepares you for the day.
So experiment with what works for you and what doesn’t. And create a morning routine your way!
What is your favourite morning routine? Leave a comment below, as I would love to hear your ideas.
Want to Banish Overwhelm, Frustration and Exhaustion From Your Vocabulary? Click here and learn how to live a calm and tranquil life.
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