How to Create and Stick to a Productive Morning Routine

A confession – before this year, I never had a morning routine. By that I mean, my mornings were never intentional. I would always wake up and jump straight into my day in a frenzy. I was like a human tornado – spinning nonstop from the moment I woke up. Looking back, it was so exhausting. I don’t know how I did it – and I don’t want to do that anymore. I’m not sure if it’s the pandemic or getting older, I’ve come to appreciate calmer mornings. Like, a full on morning routine that’s drawn out and downright lazy. Nothing starts the day better, I swear.

Starting my days with intention has done wonders for my anxiety and type-A personality. Even if you’re not a “morning person,” there are so many benefits to gain from creating and sticking to a routine. You don’t have to wake up at 5am and cross everything off your to-do list by noon. But finding the time – even if it’s just 30 minutes – to start your day with intention will kickstart an entire day of good habits and mindset.

How to Create a Morning Routine

Your morning routine is for you only! It’s not a competition and there’s no such thing as an ideal routine – you do you! Don’t add or do anything that doesn’t speak to your needs. The first couple hours of your day are some of the most precious – don’t waste them on things that do not serve you.

The first thing is to set good habits.

This means going to bed and waking up at as close to the same time as possible everyday – even weekends. I told you, this gets easier as you get older. These days, I rarely stay up past 10am and am always awake by 7am at the latest. This came after years of neglecting sleep, averaging less than 6 hours of sleep a night, and consuming more caffeine than what is considered clinically healthy.

If you’re looking for some books to kick start good habits and start your morning off right, I recommend Tiny Habits and The Power of Habit.

Once you have a target time to wake up, you can estimate approximately how much time you will have before you need to officially “start your day.” If you’re concerned about not having enough time to do everything in your ideal routine, you can either *try* to wake up earlier, or narrow down your morning routine to only focus on what’s most important.

That brings me to my last point on creating your morning routine – it’s all about prioritization.

At the end of the day, there are only 24 hours in the day and only so much you can get done at once. Where having a morning routine has been incredibly beneficial for me is honing in on only what matters. Asking myself, what activities have the most positive impact on the rest of my day? Knowing that I have the most energy in the morning, what are tasks I can get done right away when I wake up to set the day up for success? What are the 3 (yes, only 3!!) most important items to cross off my to-do list today?

My Morning Routine

On a perfect day, I would have time to do all of the below in order before starting my day. Of course, it’s not always possible, as life does get in the way. But I aim to do as many of the items in my ideal morning routine as possible every day, even if it means saying no to other plans or invites. I’ve noticed a remarkable difference in my overall mood and energy levels on the days I follow my routine vs. the days I just go, go, go.

At the very least, I try to meditate and plan out my day, which takes about 20 minutes.

Meditate

Literally every self help book tells you how important meditation is. I chose to ignore this advice for years because I decided meditation just wasn’t for me. It was boring. A waste of time. I’ve changed my mind completely. After sitting through a guided meditation given by a friend recently and feeling all of my anxiety melt away, I decided to give meditation another try.

I love the Calm App, it’s well worth the $79.99 per year (which amounts to less than a quarter for every daily meditation, not to mention all of the other great content you get as well – the bedtime stories are great for helping you fall asleep). I’m not a meditation expert by ANY MEANS – my mind races most days, and sometimes all I want to do is sleep. But I have to constantly remind myself that the benefits are real, and it’s not about having a “perfect” practice, but rather showing myself compassion and self-love.

Journal

Writing out my thoughts with a pen and paper has been a very calming and grounding practice to start my day. It helps me take stock of my emotions and thoughts in a tangible way. Especially when I am feeling a particular negative emotion, I find that a few minutes of journaling typically brings clarity and perspective in a way that sitting with my thoughts alone does not.

Plan out my day

I recently bought the Day Designer Planner thanks to a recommendation from my friend Camille, which was truthfully way more than I wanted to spend on a planner, but honestly it was money well spent. I can plan out what my entire looks by, hour by hour if I’m feeling really crazy. But most importantly, it allows me to write down my entire to-do list and then prioritize the top 3 most important tasks for the day. I try to do these first and focus on them. It’s really a great planner and well worth the price if you use it everyday.

Drink warm lemon water

I try to do this first, even before coffee. Supposedly it’s good for your digestion. I love that it’s a soothing ritual to do while listening to a podcast or audiobook.

Make coffee

We try to make coffee at home most days, either pour over coffee or our own cold brew at home. The process is a bit time consuming and methodical, but a part of my morning I’ve come to really love. I usually multitask while making coffee – straightening the kitchen/living areas and then feeding our dog. By the way – these are our favorite beans EVER.

Breakfast

I’m not the biggest breakfast eater, but I am making a concerted effort to eat breakfast and fuel my body for the day. It’s definitely a habit I have to instill over time. I usually do eggs, oatmeal, or a smoothie, depending on my hunger levels and if I had time to workout.

Bonus points if I get 8 hours of sleep, do an at home workout, manage to squeeze in some reading, do my full skincare routine, make the bed, and avoid checking emails/texts/social media this entire time.

What’s your ideal morning routine?