Do you have a morning routine? I had instituted a morning routine in my life long before I knew I had a morning routine. Maybe you call it something else like a power hour or your morning ritual.
Morning routines have been around for a long time, but lately, they have become quite the buzz.
Why is a morning routine important?
When I was growing up, my mom used to tell me that whatever I was doing on New Year’s Day is what I would be doing the whole year. There were no chores or work done on January 1st because who wants to be doing that every day for the rest of the year. Though I believe my mom said that just to get an extra day of doing nothing, I do think there is a correlation between her “wisdom” and how we start our days.
However our days begin, whether that’s a chaotic rush or with perfection, that start imprints on and guides the rest of our day. For instance, if you wake up on the proverbial “wrong side of the bed,” it can negatively affect your whole day. Having a morning routine allows you to craft how your days begin and thereby how your days go.
What is a morning routine exactly?
No matter how fancy a morning routine may sound, there’s no magic formula to it. A morning routine is what the term says; it is simply a set of things you can do in the morning to best prepare you for the day. A morning routine brings order to the chaos.
One of the best parts of a morning routine is you have full creative control. You decide when it happens, how long it is, and what it consists of. For me, it allows me to start the day by filling a couple of my most necessary needs: time with God and physical movement. With these two things done, I can then focus on serving others and my work. I have included my full morning routine at the bottom of this post.
While everyone’s morning routine will vary, here are some suggestions of what you could include in yours:
- time with God (reading the Bible, doing a Bible study, prayer)
- meditation
- exercise
- journaling
- taking a walk
- review your calendar/planner
- make a to-do list for the day/brain dump
- read
How long is a morning routine?
There is no set time for how long a morning routine should be. It is only as short or as long as you need it to be. One author suggests starting with a three-minute morning routine consisting of drinking a glass of water, moving/stretching, and praying, each for one minute.
Your morning routine can even vary in time from day-to-day or based on the season of life you’re in. It isn’t focused on a specific amount of time – it’s about focusing on the time you have.
Tell me about your morning routine. Are you like me and you had one without realizing you had one? How long is it? Does it change? What does it consist of?
If you don’t have a morning routine, I challenge you to try it out for one week. Start with the three-minute routine I mentioned above and then try increasing it by a minute or two every day. See how different your whole day can be when you begin it with intention and purpose.
Morning Routine Resources
Want more resources on how to build a morning routine? The books and people below have greatly shaped my personal routine and are excellent resources for how to create and improve your own routine.
- Good Morning, Good Life by Amy Landino (she also has excellent videos on morning routine on her YouTube channel)
- The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
- Hello Mornings – Kat Lee
- F.I.T. Power Hour – Kim Dolan Leto
My Current Morning Routine
- Time with God, aka my quiet time. I spend 30ish minutes reading my Bible, doing a Bible study, and prayer.
- Exercise – varies day-to-day, based on my schedule and how much time I have. At least 30 minutes, although sometimes it’s 20 and sometimes it 45.
- Check my planner – right now I’m trying out the Full Focus Planner (more to come on that); go over my schedule for the day, maybe jot down some to-dos
- Quick financial check-in: check my accounts to see what bills have been paid and what other expenses have come out. I’m always hoping there will be a surprise deposit, alas that hasn’t happened yet. I’ll keep hoping.
- Get ready for the day: some days that’s a shower right away, some days that doesn’t happen until later in the day; I don’t really count my getting ready as part of the routine because by then I’m checking and responding to email, messaging on Slack, etc. So without the getting ready part, the whole thing is usually done in 1 1/2 to 2 hours.