This is how my morning routine goes right now. Wake. Coffee. Emails. Tell kids goodbye as husband takes them to school. Emails. Work. Oops need to shower. Wonder if I ate breakfast. Is it working for me? No. Not at all. I need a morning routine that will help set me up for a fabulous day, a successful day, a day I can look back on and say ‘well that felt good’.
Do you struggle with a morning routine like I do? If so, it’s time for us to take back our mornings. It’s time to wake up and say ‘I got this!’ It’s time for a little bit of discipline which will lead to one heck of a great year. Are you with me? Here are a few ways to win at your morning routine:
Write down everything you need to do in the mornings before you leave or before you start your work day.
Since I work from home, if my house isn’t picked up or my office area (which is also our master bedroom) is a total disaster, my thoughts and brain are also a total disaster. Plus, I’m in one heck of a bad mood. So that means there are a few things I need to do the night before to set myself up for a successful morning (but we’ll leave the nighttime routine topic for a later date).
Here’s my list of what I need to do in the mornings: eat breakfast, pack kids’ lunches, tidy up the house, go over to do list, shower, dress, makeup, take a few minutes to think/meditate/process my day.
Your list is going to look different and that’s OK. But write it down. Physically write it down and put next to each item how many minutes they take. Which leads us to the next step…
Wake up at an hour that leaves you plenty of time for success
Notice I didn’t say wake early. Why? Because we are all different. Early for me might mean 5:30 a.m. While early for you might mean 8:00 a.m. Wake when it works for you.
If you need to be out the door at 8:oo a.m and you have one hour worth of a list of things you have to do, that puts you at 7:00 a.m. Leave a bit of wiggle room, and back track to 6:30 a.m.
Two of my kids are up at 6:00 a.m. They are both self-sufficient, so there’s not a lot I need to do for them. I do want to have a few minutes with them before they leave for school, so I like to be downstairs at a certain time, eating my breakfast and chatting with them.
I don’t need to be up before they do, so I also wake at 6:00 a.m. It’s what works for me. On the other hand, my husband’s hour alone in the morning is crucial to him, so he wakes up at 5:00 a.m.
Eat a breakfast that fuels you
I struggle with eating breakfast and I always have. I’m not a natural morning person, so it takes me awhile to wake up and be ready for breakfast. But when I am ready, I need it to be something that is easy, filling, fuels me and can keep me going until my lunch break.
I was recently introduced to belvita Breakfast Biscuits, which I picked up at my local Walmart store.
These breakfast biscuits are not only very tasty, but they help me save time in the morning. I enjoy cooking, but not in the morning. Remember? I’m not a morning person. 😉 So for me, quick and easy is key. Plus, when I combine a package of belVita breakfast biscuits with fresh fruit and a glass of low fat milk, it gives me four hours of healthy energy to start my day. I usually eat breakfast around 7:30 a.m., so this breakfast will keep me going until lunch.
My favorite is their crunchy Cranberry Orange, but they also have quite a few more flavors including blueberry and soft banana (my youngest son’s favorite).
I also try to spend some of my breakfast time chatting with the kids, or at least being in the same room as them. If you have kids who are morning people, this is the best time to find out what’s happening in their lives. This is the best time for me to chat with my boys. I wait until the afternoon to chat with my daughter because, well, she is so like me.
Spend a few moments unplugged
You can call it meditating, thinking, processing…whatever you want. This is something I am no good at in any way, shape or form. The idea of spending a few minutes clearing my mind and not doing anything else but being present, terrifies me a little. I’m scared of my brain wandering, but more than anything I start to think ‘there are so many other things I could be doing right now instead of sitting here doing nothing!’
Can you relate?
I’ve read countless articles on how successful people start off their day like this. My own husband does this and now that he’s in the habit, he can’t imagine not doing it. That’s the key – making it a habit. I know that when I first start to do this, my mind will wander. That’s OK. But the more I do it, the better I’ll get.
Remember – this is different than going over your to-do list for the day. I would recommend looking up some resources on meditating and find what works for you.
Go over your to-do list and mark the top 3 items that are must do
When I started doing this (although I’ve gotten out of the habit and need to re-commit to it), it was literally life changing. Here’s a typical scenario for me when it comes to a to-do list: write down everything that comes to mind that I need to do and then get overwhelmed and frustrated with myself for not checking everything off. That’s a recipe for disaster and the key to never feeling good about what I’ve accomplished.
Now, I keep a running to do list and a must do today list. My running to-do list is filled with everything that comes to my mind…schedule appointments, order contacts, edit photos, write article, etc, etc. I have a running to-do list for work and one for home/personal. I carry over three, only three, items from that list on my must do today list.
I know that I can usually get those three things done, which helps me feel really good about my day. If I get all three things done and I have time leftover, I can look at my running to-do list and see what else I can mark off. You can read more in depth about my trick for getting things done here.
Leave your house how you would like to come home to it
I’ll admit, this is a hard one for me. The last thing I want to do in the morning is tidy up. Partly because I love what I do and can’t wait to get started on my work day, and partly because I just don’t want to! But, if I spend 10 minutes at night taking care of things around the house and then 10 minutes in the morning, it makes all the difference in the world.
Some things that are absolute musts for me and help set me up for a successful work day include: kitchen sink empty of dirty dishes, bed made, living room picked up, a tidy desk.
Do what you need to do so when you walk through the door at the end of a work day, you’re greeted with as much peace as possible.
Do you have any tricks or tips for winning at your morning routine? Please share!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of belVita. The opinions and text are all mine.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of belVita. The opinions and text are all mine.
I function so much better when I am organized. Wonderful, helpful ideas.
Comments are closed.