What Happened When I Started A Morning Routine

Laura Chouette

When I talk about the topic of morning routines, the most common response I get from people is “yea I should really have one of those.”

We have enough “shoulds” in our life so no need to feel like you should have a morning routine.

BUT there is something powerful about them.

When I started getting up 20 minutes earlier than I usually would to do my morning routine of journaling, I felt more centered and calm to start the day.

You could also feel calm or centered from taking a walk or sitting with a cup of coffee.

The important thing I noticed here was choosing to have a morning routine was me choosing to start my day on my own terms.

No one else’s, mine.

I was choosing to wake up at the time I wanted to wake up, and not solely because it was the time I needed to wake up for work.

I was choosing to do something for myself before I answered all the pings, dings, and requests of other people throughout the day.

I was choosing how I was going to start the day and set the precedent for it.

And slowly starting my day, my morning, on my own terms became me living my life on my own terms.

What is Helping Me Grieve

Aejaz Memon

I was reminded recently of the power of a morning routine, especially during a time of loss, a breakup, or when life hits us hardest.

Like when I lost my grandfather in February 2022.

The morning after his passing, I woke up and I had to remind myself that it happened.

This continued on for the next couple mornings. The alarm went off, I woke up, and I have to remember all over again.

I thought how am I possibly supposed to get out of bed when I’m dealing with this heartache?

Something that did get me out of bed was my morning routine.

Making some coffee and sitting down with my journal is my usual go-to.

So that is what I did.

Having a morning routine setup helped me in 2 ways:

Gave me the scheduled time to grieve & check in with myself

I’ve noticed that depending on the day, it can either feel like there is a lot of time in the day to grieve or none at all.

Utilizing my morning routine as a check in on how I was doing was powerful. It gave me space and created a boundary at the same time.

My morning routine became a place to land softly.

Gave me the 1st step to take for the day

We don’t need to know what the whole day is going to look like, just what is the first thing to do.

Having the 1st thing in my back pocket made me feel like there was purpose in the day when I felt a little lost.

Usually after I do the 1st thing, it becomes apparent what the next thing is and the next thing is after that.

My morning routine became the springboard for the rest of the day.

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This isn’t to say a morning routine is going to fix all my sadness I’m feeling.

But having one setup already made me feel empowered when the hard times did hit.

I can keep it simple too. Sitting with a cup of coffee, journaling, a meditation, a prayer, or a walk.

A morning routine helped me feel equipped to go from “this really sucks right now” to “I’m capable of moving forward.”

How to Create Soft Landings for Yourself

Antoine Martin

Whenever I’ve told someone about a big change I’ve made in my life, my favorite response I’ve gotten is “wishing you soft landings.”

I love that phrase. Soft landings.

It is like being applauded for jumping off the cliff, but wishing you the best that you don’t fall hard.

When we make a big jump, we don’t really know if it is going to be a hard or soft landing.

I think back to my gymnastics days when I would do a tumbling pass and wasn’t always sure how I was going to land.

I think about when I was interviewing for new jobs and you really don’t know how the job is going to be until you get into it.

There are things out of our control that make us not know how things are going to end up or how we are going to land.

But I think there is a way to make the landings softer.

For gymnastics, you can bring some extra mats out and train yourself to bend your knees when you land so that the impact isn’t so hard.

In job interviews, you can talk to as many people as you can and do your research to get more information if the company culture is right for you.

Doing these things doesn’t guarantee we are going to land softly, but how do we make it more likely?

It comes down to having habits and people set up for yourself before you even jump.

Doesn’t mean you have to wait for your life to be perfect to jump, but having some things already set in place can make the landings a little softer and less scary.

Here are a few things that have helped me land softer and have made me more likely to jump.

Journaling

This is the first soft landing I ever put in place for myself.

When I started journaling over 4 years ago, it was to have a place for my thoughts, feelings, hopes, and fears to land. Journaling still serves that purpose for me today.

It is a place to challenge myself to write out whatever I’m thinking without judgment. Some of my biggest decisions, ideas, and realizations have come from sitting down to write in my journal for just 5 minutes.

Morning Routine

Morning Routines have been a soft landing for me because even when things are tough or uncertain, I still know how I’m going to start the day.

You just have to start, and everything else will come after.

Having a few simple tasks that I do every morning helps me at least get out of bed and puts some control back in my life when it can feel like there isn’t any.

Support System

This comes down to what I talked about in this blog post about letting people know what is going on in your life so that they know how to support you when you do jump.

As I reflect on some of the big changes I’ve made, I picture myself jumping off a cliff, my family catching me, and then lightly setting me on my feet. I question, and am slightly convinced, that I would have hit the ground without their support.

Therapy

I’ve found it helpful to not only talk to people in your life about what is going on, but talk to an outside person that does not have as much stake in your life.

My therapist is that person for me.

She can ask the hard questions without me wondering if she is guiding me to an answer that fits her agenda or caters to her opinion. Her agenda is to have an open conversation and give me tools that make me feel capable of taking on whatever it is in my life.

I almost think of therapists as “professional cliff catchers.”

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As you can maybe tell, it isn’t about what the jump is or how you make it.

It is about what habits and support systems you can set up for yourself so that no matter what or how or when you jump, you know you will be capable of landing softly.

How I’m Using My Morning Muscle

Ellieelien

I moved into a new apartment recently.

That first morning waking up, I felt lost for a moment on what to do first in my new space and overwhelmed by how many boxes I needed to still unpack around me.

The stacks of boxes in my bedroom kind of looked like my life at the moment.

Problems I needed to address and things I needed to do piled up on each other. Then I went into the living room and there were boxes there too. There wasn’t any escaping it.

But waking up with this feeling of being lost or overwhelmed was familiar to me.

I’ve trained myself for these types of mornings because they happen more often than one would like and life is hard.

So I picked myself out of bed, tried to not trip over boxes as I made my way to the living room, sat down at the window and journaled.

I was going to choose how this day was going to start.

Despite all the boxes around me, I knew it was going to take doing just 1 good thing in the morning to set me up for other good things in the day.

My favorite Youtube trainer Sydney Cummings calls this the ripple effect. She says that a workout can be the drop in the water that makes the ripple effect of good choices for the rest of the day.

For me, that drop in the water is journaling and maybe for you it is something else.

I think it is about choosing to do something for yourself first thing in the morning that makes life feel manageable and reminds you that you’re capable of taking on this day.

It could be a walk, meditation, yoga, writing, or sitting with your coffee in silence for 10 minutes as you look at the window.

It all starts in the morning. Some would argue it starts the night before by making the choice as to how you’re going to start the next day.

You choose just 1 thing to do in the morning that is going to uplift you, and a lot of other things will fall into place.

I like to think about journaling as my “morning muscle” to get me through the day. I can train it, flex it, it can make me stronger, and give me energy.

The most important choice I make every day is what is going to be my morning muscle and how it is going to set the precedent for the rest of my day.

Trust me I’m going to need to flex that morning muscle so I can feel capable of getting all these boxes unpacked.

What is your morning muscle?

4 Strategies For Creating A Consistent Journaling Practice

Unsplash | Jess Bailey

Starting a daily journaling practice is one thing, but creating a consistent journaling practice is another challenge.

Some days we don't feel like it. Some days we forget. Some days life gets in the way.

How can we ensure we show up to our journal for even 5 minutes?

I journaled for 2 years before I would say my practice became truly a consistent one, so I know it isn't easy.

Here are 4 strategies I used to create a daily journaling practice that stuck.

Plan a time you're going to journal.

If you don't put it in the plan, your journaling practice is likely to get lost in the day.

Plan out the night before when you're going to get in your journaling practice the next day.

Everyone is different on the time of day they like journaling, but if you've never journaled before, I recommend adding it to your morning routine. Journaling in the morning makes it less likely for it to get overshadowed by other things that pop up throughout the day.

Do it before or after something you already do.

Adding a new habit or practice to your day can seem challenging. If you link journaling to something you already do, it can make adding a new thing to your day seem a little more manageable.

Place it before or after making your morning coffee. Maybe you do it before you kick off your work day. Maybe it is before you go to bed every night.

Put it somewhere in your day where it feels good and you can see yourself making it happen.

Use daily journal prompts.

Journal prompts can be a question or statement that you answer in your journal.

Having a daily question or statement to answer can make you more likely to show up to your journal. It can make journaling not feel like such an open-ended task, but a rewarding task that can be accomplished. It can also be a great way to kick off your journal entry if you don't know what to write.

You can think of answering a daily journal prompt as an accountability partner to showing up to your journal.

I have created some daily journal prompts you can use here if you want a place to start.

Look at is as a "get to do" instead of a "have to do."

There are probably a lot of things that you have to do in your day. It is a long list, and yes, planning out your journaling session may feel like it is adding to the list.

How long is your "get to do" list? Do you have a "get to do" list? Adding your journaling practice may be a good place to start.

It may not feel like a "get to do" when you first start journaling as it can still feel challenging, but viewing your journaling practice as something that you get to do for you will make you more likely to show up to it each day.

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How To Create A Morning Routine

Unsplash | Jeremy Yap

You may have heard from many successful business leaders, motivational speakers, or other impactful people how a morning routine can make a difference.

After 2 years of having a morning routine and adjusting it in a way that serves me, I have come to agree. It is a way to accomplish a lot early on in my day and start it on my own terms.

So how do you create a morning routine? Here are 7 steps:

Pick an activity you want to add to your morning.

If you want to start creating a morning routine, I recommend starting with why you want to. Is it to start the day feeling productive? Make sure certain things don't get lost in your day? Get some exercise in? Bring a moment of quiet? Pick an activity that contributes to what you want to get out of your morning.

Place it before or after something you already do in the morning.

It can be hard to start a new habit or routine right out of the blue. By attaching it to something you already do, it makes the new activity feel a little more manageable. Placing it before or after, say brushing your teeth, can make the new activity feel like it fits more naturally into your morning.

Figure out what time you need to wake-up.

You are adding things to your morning, so it usually warrants an earlier wake-up time. Give yourself more time than you think you need the first couple of days you try your routine, and then adjust based on what you learn. Also, consider if your wake-up time is now significantly earlier, therefore, you may consider going to bed earlier the night before.

Do the morning routine

You did all the planning, now make it happen. Try to do the morning routine without any judgement and just see how you feel.

Evaluate if the new activity made your morning better.

Whether it succeeded the previously intended purpose of making you feel productive or creating a moment of quiet or not, ask yourself if the activity made your morning better. Plain and simple. If you're in-between as to whether it made it better or not, give it a try for a couple days and you'll likely get some more clarity.

Adjust your morning routine accordingly.

Based on what you learn, adjust your morning routine accordingly. Do you need to give yourself a little more time and wake-up earlier? Do you need to leave that activity out all together? Do you need to do the activity in a different room where there are less distractions? Do what you need.

Add more activities over time.

If you find yourself getting a good grip of the first activity and it is motivating you to add more, go for it. Morning routines can really be a game changer for your day if they're done in a way that serves you. Give yourself permission to evolve your routine over time as you learn more about what you like in different seasons.

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What Makes Mornings So Great Anyway?

Danielle MacInnes | Unsplash

A non-morning person asked me: "What is so great about mornings? If you have time to do things later in the day, what makes you feel better about getting up in the early morning to do them?"

Fair question. Not sure the answer.

There is something about mornings though. Something magical about them.

Or maybe us morning people make them that way.

I started getting up early and doing a morning routine because a lot of entrepreneurs and thought-leaders I admired attributed their morning routine to their success.

However, after getting up early and doing a morning routine for many months, I realized why mornings were now so magical to me:

Prioritizes things you want to do.

You've been there where you leave something you want to do until the end of the day, and then 5 things come up and it doesn't happen or you're tired. Putting the things you want to do like reading or working out at the beginning of the day ensures that you will get to do it.

1 moment of control for the day.

There are some things that will happen in our day that are completely out of our control. So before we read any news, check email, or have a conversation with anyone that creates some form of stress, we get to have this 1 moment that we have complete control of what happens and how we feel.

Can start the day, week, month, life off on the right foot.

Mornings can set the tone for the rest of the day. If we can start it out the way we want to, there is a good chance it will set us up to be in a positive mindset the rest of the day. Then if we start each day off the way we want, days become weeks, weeks become months, and many months becomes your life. Why not start off life on the right foot?

Can feel fulfilled early on in the day.

We are all looking to be fulfilled in our day. We look for that just that ounce of happiness or accomplishment to get us through. So if we can do something that is fulfilling early on in our day, than we feel like we've already won even before our second cup of coffee.

Something that makes us feel better than average.

Ok yes the other things are reasons morning people love mornings, but deep down I think we get up to do things in the morning because it makes us feel better than average. This is because getting up in the morning isn't easy. If it was, everyone would be doing it and I would never be writing any of these things about mornings. We feel like its automatically more impressive to do something in the morning because it is just that much harder. No, we are not hating on you night owls, we just take doing things in the morning as a win.

The Morning Routine You Wish You Started Earlier

As an avid podcast listener, I listened to successful person after successful person talk about how they had a morning routine.

Some went for a run, did an ice bath, and meditated. Others journaled, did yoga, or skimmed the news.

These high-achievers and people I admired explained that having a routine they do each morning starts their day off right and prepares them mentally and physically for what is to come.

So I wanted to try out this morning routine thing for myself.

However, I didn't really know where to start and choosing what to do felt a little overwhelming.

One thing I did learn from others who had tried morning routines was the goal wasn't to wake up earlier and do more things before work. It was about starting the day in a way that felt good while also doing the things you wanted to do.

To help me brainstorm what to include in my morning routine, I found a few questions helpful:

What would you do if you were on vacation?

One of the things I love about going on vacation is getting to spend my morning however I want and not feeling like I have to rush off anywhere.

So why can't I create that morning for myself at home?

Unfortunately for most of us, we can't go sit on the beach like we would on vacation, but we can create a morning like we are on vacation.

Reading on the porch, slowly drinking a cup of coffee, going on a morning walk, or making a nice breakfast. We can do some of these things (or all of them) even on a regular day.

You can make the morning special everyday.

What do you not always get to do in your busy day, but want to?

Our biggest reason for not doing things we want to do is lack of time.

We have so many responsibilities that need our attention that things we want to do get lost in the mix.

So why not make time for the things we want to do?

I specifically think of hobbies or interests when reading this question.

Start writing the book you always wanted to. Research apartments in the area of town you want to move to. Fit that yoga session in that you're always too tired to do after work.

Not only will you have time for these things, but your freshest energy will be put towards them.

What do you want to feel in the morning?

This is an open-ended question, and there isn't a right or wrong answer.

Some would say they want to feel productive. Some would say energetic. Some would say tranquil. Maybe you want your brain or body to be more stimulated or suppressed.

Whatever it may be, create that for yourself in the morning.

This is your first feeling that kicks off the day so kick it off the right way.

What is nice about these questions is that the answers can change and will change in different seasons of life. This will lead to new morning routines that serve you as you grow.

You may not find the routine that feels good right away, but it is important to be patient with yourself and willing to experiment as you explore and find the routine that serves you right now.

You can create the dream morning for yourself you never knew you needed.

3 Things That Helped Me Become A Morning Person

Yes, I am one of those annoying morning people. But I wasn't always. And I also decided that I wanted to be.

You see, I HATED mornings. Drag myself out of bed, sometimes before the sun was up, to be somewhere at some time. I was just hopeful that I didn't hit snooze 1 too many times that I was going to be late or that I didn't spill coffee on myself as I rushed there.

During a rushed 30-minute commute I had to work each day, I would listen to podcasts with successful people talking about how much they loved their mornings and how they were so integral to their overall well-being.

Since I was at the point of despising mornings, I felt like I was doing something wrong.

So I tried to see what it was like to become a morning person.

Now, at first I thought that being a morning person meant you woke up at 5am and fought all the fires before the rest of the world woke up.

And it can mean that if you want it to, but it doesn't have to.

The key I found to becoming a morning person is making it a positive part of your day instead of a negative one that a lot of us are making it out to be.

So here is how I became morning person.

I put my alarm clock across the room.

You know how it goes. Alarm goes off, you roll over to your phone on the nightstand, and do your routine of how many times you hit snooze (mine was 3).

But why did I keep hitting snooze when I never fully went back into a deep sleep, felt more tired by the time I actually got out of bed, and made myself rush to where I needed to be?

So when I heard the trick to put my phone/alarm across the room, it worked like a charm. Now did I get up to hit snooze and hop back in bed the first couple of times I did this? Yes, but that got old after awhile and it didn't take long to train my body and brain that once the alarm goes off, its up and at 'em.

I get up on my own terms.

One of the reasons I didn't want to get out of bed was because someone else was telling me I had to. I was getting up at the time I was because work told me I needed to be there at a certain time. It was like I was starting my day on someone else's terms.

So now I start my day on my terms. Yes, I still need to be at work at a certain time, but I start my day how I want to. Whether that is reading on the porch or sit with a warm cup of coffee for a few moments, I pick 1 thing that allows me to start my day how I want and gets me excited to get up in the morning.

I have found that starting my day on my terms has brought me more purpose and empowerment in my life than almost anything else in my day.

I developed a morning routine.

The early morning mad dash. You probably heard of it. You rush around trying to get ready and you have already reached the level of stress in the first hour of the day. Not exactly ideal.

As I listened to these podcasts with success people, they talked about how they were creating a morning routine for themselves that allowed them to have a morning that made them both feel good and get things done.

So I have been experimenting with morning routines ever since.

I plan out the night before what all I would like to do in the morning and give myself plenty of time to do it. I have experimented with getting up at different times and doing things in different orders, and finding the flow that feels right in this season of life.

Journaling, make coffee, do hair and makeup. Workout, meditate, make coffee. Make coffee, yoga, write. Whatever I was feeling, but trust me coffee was always involved, and it was just a lot more enjoyable not spilling it down myself during the early morning mad dash.

Having a routine down that made me feel good and get things was such a fulfilling way to start my day.

Now does this require getting up earlier? Yes. But does it put me in a better mental state for the rest of my day? Absolutely!  Even just waking up 10 minutes earlier can make a difference.

Like I said before, being a morning person isn't about waking up before the sun to fight the fires. It is about starting your day in a way that positively impacts your overall well-being.