Morning Routine

Apr 30, 2020 | Building Emotional Muscle, Financial Management 101, Mindset, Self Development

Is There A Perfect Way To Start Our Day?

For a while now I’ve been fascinated with the mirage of advice and sharing on what the best morning routine is, whether you’re out working a job or working from home.

Today while I was getting ready for the start of my day, I was reflecting on how does a morning routine really affect whether we have a productive, happy day or not?

I wanted to do some research into this trend on talking about our morning routine and see if there is any truth to the benefits of having one.

You see the majority of us have a morning routine whether we like it or not. 

We all get up to start our day, shower (well some do), brush our teeth, hair and get dressed before heading to the kitchen to either eat breakfast or start our day off with our favourite beverage either coffee, tea, smoothy or whatever takes our fancy.   Most of this is done all before heading out the door or to our desk to start our working day.

But I want to find out more about the “morning routine” that I hear the high achievers do at the beginning of their day. 

First, let me share with you the common one that I’ve read time and time again and it goes something like this….

1. Plan out your morning the night before.
2. Set your alarm to wake up earlier.
3. Drink a glass of water upon waking
4. Move and exercise your body first thing when you get up.
5. Stay off tech and your devices for the first hour upon waking.
6. Before heading to work or your desk – spend time journalling and writing down your intentions for the day / week.

This is the usual take on what a morning routine looks like according to experts.

Continuing on with my research these are the top 5 searches on google that people are asking on this very subject:

1. What should my morning routine be?
2. What you should do every morning?
3. What should be your daily routine?
4. What is the first thing you do every morning?
5. What is the miracle morning routine?

Why are we so fascinated with ensuring we have ourselves a top notch morning routine?

Well, what I found out in reading loads of articles and researching the various books available on Amazon it’s really very simple.

It’s all about being organised to the point that you know what your major objective or project is that you want to achieve for the day and week ahead.

And it’s all about making the time without delay and interruptions to completing the designated tasks or projects.

Because at the end of the day we all want to feel like we’ve achieved and completed what we’ve set out to do.

This sounds great, but that’s easier said than done.

Something gets in the way of us achieving what we want to do and that is procrastination.

Procrastination is one of the biggest self sabotages in our life.  People often procrastinate because they’re afraid of failing at the tasks that they need to complete.  

This fear of failure can promote procrastination in various ways, such as by causing people to avoid finishing or even starting the task in the first place.

So one way to combat this is to plan the night before what you want to achieve for the next day.  

This already sets out the intention on what you are going to do once you’re ready to start your day and saves valuable time, when you get to your desk or work place.

I believe that this is one area that when I plan out exactly what I’m going to do the night before, I just get in without delay and waste no time at all getting on with what I’ve set out to do for the day.

I also find that at the beginning of the week I already know what I can expect to achieve for the rest of that week.

What I have noticed that the times I haven’t done this I’ve wasted many a good day and week achieving “bugger all”, which is super frustrating and annoying especially when you have an expectation of getting things done on your list.

Next what I find is that when I adopt a healthy attitude towards food and moving my body I achieve way more in my day.  

I’m not talking about heading to the gym for an hour long session here I’m talking about being aware that your body needs to stretch first thing in the morning to wake it up and I’m talking about being aware of what you put in your mouth all day long.

Because I don’t know about you, but what I’ve found is that when I eat healthier and make healthy food choices, I feel better mentally and physically.

Now as for writing down in a journal your intentions and gratitude for the day.

I have mixed feelings about this.

Firstly, sometimes I forget to write in my journal first thing in the morning because I have so many other things to get sorted being a working Mum.

So for me, what I find more valuable is writing in my journal at night.

I generally grab my journal and write down the kind of day I’ve had whether good or bad and I also write down how I’m feeling.

What I find by doing it a night I allow myself to get out of my head some of the things that may have been bothering me.  It also allows me to write down what I’ve thankful and grateful for.

So do I agree with what the experts say you should do upon waking – yep most of it but I feel we all need to adopt what works for us in the morning and whether that’s getting up early, stretching or writing in a journal that’s completely up to you.

I do feel that deciding what you want to do or achieve the following day is best to do that the night before as it not only saves time but gives you a clear direction on how to start your day.

At the end of the day just do what works for you and makes you feel good.

So whether you adopt some of the rituals that I’ve shared above or come up with your own morning routine and habits, either way it’s about just getting on with the job at hand and making sure you have a good day.

If you’d like more support and help to achieve more in your day then why not head over to my MONTHLY COACHING program where you will feel supported and loved during your financial and emotional journey.

Look forward to seeing you there.

In the meantime, here’s to your health, wealth and happiness.