A morning routine is a great place to start if you feel generally overwhelmed with life. It's one of the best things that you can do for YOU. The time that you get to yourself in the mornings may be the best chance of getting some 'Me Time' all day.
I used to hate getting up in the mornings and definitely wouldn't call myself a morning person, but I now love my morning routine. My routine is built of things that I know make me feel better about myself and prepare me for my day ahead. It gives me a sense of peace and purpose.
"How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your level of success in every single area of your life. Focused, productive, successful mornings generate focused, productive, successful days - which inevitably create a successful life. By simply changing the way you wake up in the morning you can transform any area of your life" - Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning.
Why have a morning routine?
Reduce Mental Fatigue
My morning routine gives me the first step of my day - one that I really look forward to - without having to think about it.
It's hard to start the day having to make decisions when our brain hasn't yet woken up. We only have a limited amount of energy and willpower resources when we wake up, and having to make decisions can reduce this even further.
Instead of creating each day from scratch, your morning routine will give you a step by step guide of your perfect morning start, with decisions already having been thought through and made.
Try and create a routine for the first hour of the day that varies very little from day to day - to reduce the number of decisions that you have to make. It doesn't have to be a rigid set of to-do's that you have to do at certain times. It's more about creating a calm flow of things to do for yourself.
Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Start your day off calmly and quietly, without feeling rushed. Knowing what the first hour of your day looks and feels like is a powerful feeling. It helps you to start off the day feeling in control, which reduces anxiety and helps you to have a less stressful and more productive day.
If you are feeling down, anxious, overwhelmed with life in general, being able to look forward to and having the first part of your day already planned can help you to get started.
Waking up as late as possible and losing precious time in the mornings put pressure on our mind and bodies.
Start off with a clear head, ready for whatever the day has to throw at you.
Save Time and Energy
As well as not wasting time and energy not having to think about how to get started in the mornings, creating routines, rituals and habits mean that you naturally start to use your time better and get more out of it.
Being in control also helps to reduce lateness.
Intention and Purpose
By starting your day off with more intention and purpose, you'll be pushing yourself to start doing the things that you know you really need to do for yourself and to advance other areas of your life. Increasing the chances of being happier, feeling better and being more productive and successful.
Look and Feel Better
By reducing stress, reconnecting with yourself, keeping calm and exercising, you will notice the difference in how you look and feel.
Increase Confidence and Motivation
In his book 'The Motivation Hacker' Nick Winter talks about Success Spirals. Where you consistently see yourself succeeding at something, it helps build your confidence and increases the likelihood that you will succeed at the next thing that you do.
Motivation increases with expectancy. Developing and sticking to a morning routine gives you several things that you can see yourself succeeding at every day. This, in turn, builds your confidence and you will see yourself succeeding at even bigger goals.
This post is taken from the 'Make Your Mornings Matter' mini eBook, which includes planner pages to help you to create your own morning routine. You can download it free from the resources page.
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