“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to live.”
— Marcus Aurelius
We start fresh every morning, like a computer rebooting — clearing its cache, refreshing all the system memory registers — making it ready to start over again. A good night’s rest clears our minds and rests our bodies. When the day begins, we all have a morning routine… whether we realize it or not.
The life hack to having a great day, more often, is establishing a morning routine with purpose and intention. By contrast, if you’re one of millions of others whose first instinct is to reach for your phone, you’re starting your day based on someone else’s’ priorities.
1. Choose Wisely
Whiles there’s tons of science behind it, trust me when I say you’re better off establishing a routine that begins with an activity that doesn’t involve checking email, social media or doom-scrolling the news. According to Forbes, “Why You Should Stop Checking Your Phone In The Morning (And What To Do Instead), “When you first wake up in the morning, your creative brain is most attuned, so it’s important to use this time to create the conditions you want for your life.”
I’m a firm believer that each of us is the architect of our own lives. We build its foundation and choose its contents. However, that requires both intention and discipline. The world conspires against us. Companies vying for our attention know how our brains are wired and are designing apps to be addictive. They exploit our nature to respond to pings and dings and lure us in with the infinite scroll.
The good news is we have a choice… choose wisely!
2. Be Kind to Yourself
To begin, be kind to yourself and start your morning routine the night before, going to bed around the same time each night. When you get a good night’s rest, you’ll wake up the next morning naturally or as your alarm is going off.
Consider using an alarm that doesn’t blare, but nudges you awake. Personally, I use Sleep Cycle, a free app that tracks and analyzes your sleep, waking you up a an optimal time, feeling rested!
3. Start with Quiet Time
There are several benefits to waking up early. Our busy lives leave little time for us to be alone with our own thoughts. Mornings, before our families and the rest of world wakes up, are precious gifts.
Consider starting your day in quiet reflection. There are many ways to mediate, and what’s cool is that there’s no one right way to do it. Do what works. You set the time. You decide whether it’s guided or not.
YouTube and the blogosphere have tons of advice, and there are many apps available. Insight Timer is my go-to app. It offers tracks with unguided meditations filled with the sound of ocean waves, other natural sounds or light music. You can choose the duration, which for me varies from five to thirty minutes. Headspace and Calm are other good alternatives.
4. My First Conversations of the Day
During this quiet time, I strive to empty my mind and be like water. This helps prepare me for my first conversation of the day… with God. When I’m ready, I turn to my morning prayers. While I have my favorite morning prayer, the Baha’i Writings have prayers on many subjects.
My second conversation of the day is with myself. I have a series of personal positive affirmations. Positive affirmations are phrases you can say, either aloud or in your head, to affirm yourself and build yourself up. These phrases help you concentrate on achieving your goals in life and give you the power to replace any negative thinking patterns with positive ones. For example…
“I wake today with strength in my heart and clarity in my mind.”
“My body is healthy, fit and strong; my mind is sharp and creative; my soul is tranquil.”
5. Savor a Warm Cup of Joe… Yes, but First Water
After sleeping, you’re dehydrated whether you realize it or not. So, I suggest drinking a glass of water — warm or cold, whatever is your preference — first. I’ve read that adding a squeeze of lemon aids digestion. Then, for me, it’s c-o-f-f-e-e!
The iconic nickname, a “cup of Joe,” has several origin stories. While I’m not a coffee snob, I do love a nice dark roast with a dash of cream. Coffee kickstarts my metabolism, and its warmth helps me transition to the next activity in my morning routine.
6. Review Goals, Determine Priorities and Book the Time
Goal setting is a subject unto itself, but once you have them, it’s important to review them… daily! If you don’t, you’ll wake up at the end of the year without making the progress you deserve.
While you’re reviewing your goals, set your priorities for the day. This is as straightforward as determining the next action you can take on any one of your goals, deciding that you’re going to do it… and here’s the important step: schedule it on your calendar.
You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.
— John C. Maxwell
Life Hack: It’s not about prioritizing what’s on your schedule; it’s about scheduling your priorities. What gets scheduled gets done!
Let’s face it, many of the things on our lists are driven by our roles in our families, our work, our community. The urgent and time-sensitive tasks usually get done. It’s the important and not urgent things that require special care and feeding.
I don’t know about you, but my To Do list is a beast! It’s not uncommon to be overly ambitious. However, being so sets yourself up for frustration at best and usually failure. I recommend that you select no more than three important — but not urgent — actions that inch you closer toward what you want to achieve. And among those three tasks, identify the one thing that must get done for you to consider it a good day. With your priorities set, schedule time on your calendar to do the work.
Before you know it, your To Do list will become your Ta Da list!
7. Stretch, Move, Shower and Win the Day
While it’s different for everyone, we all must get moving eventually. A little light stretching and exercise gets the blood flowing. If you’re not a gym rat who loves working out in the morning, consider adopting the “better than nothing” workout. It’s quite simple really. Whatever you do, one push up or 10, a few squats, whatever… it’s better than nothing.
While I didn’t touch on breakfast, brushing your teeth or getting dressed, these are all good things for sure. I believe those activities are already hardwired into your morning routine already. Kindness, quiet time to reflect, meditate, pray and focus on how you’ll spend the next several hours to pursue what you want out of life… maybe not so much.
Related Links: There’s no shortage of insights and information about morning routines. Below are some resources that you may find helpful.
- My Productive Morning Routine: 7 Things I Do Every Day
- 21 Things to Do in the Morning Before Reaching for Your Phone
- Best morning routine: 21 steps for a more productive day
- 5 best morning routine ideas of productive people – Trello Blog
- 9 Morning Routine Habits to Try for a Happier Start to Your Day
- The Ultimate Morning Routine to Make You Happy … – Lifehack
- Ultimate Morning Routine – Asian Efficiency
- How To Craft The Perfect Morning Ritual To Put Your Productivity on Autopilot
- What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings–and Life
- Deep Habits: The Importance of Planning Every Minute of Your Work Day
- The 5 AM Miracle – Jeff Sanders
If you win the morning, you win the day.
— Tim Ferriss