If You Are a Morning Person, You Should Have a Morning Routine.
I used to be a morning person who did NOT love mornings simply because waking up early signified something behind it that I never liked. For example, when I was in school, I had to wake up so early for class, and I was not too fond of it, then came work when we became adults, an early morning flight, or airport plans of picking up a friend or dropping someone off at the airport, and that was no fun. So waking up early or being a morning person was not cute, and it wasn’t something that I wanted or needed to explore on how to make it bearable since the things connected around it were not that fun or something to be excited about. So, in that case, what I did as a morning person was to wake up early, and the first thing to do was look at my phone and digest whatever it had that would be digestible, and my go-to was always social media as I waited for the rest of the world to make itself felt.
Having a morning routine is something morning people should have.
Before figuring out or knowing what a morning routine was, it’s so easy to have your mornings wasted on insignificant and non-productive things. Yet, there is so much you could do with that time that would have a graceful impact on your mental health, self-development, and overall self-care. I mean, who doesn’t want that?
What is a Morning Routine?
A morning routine is a set of actions you perform or carry out in the morning before officially starting your day’s main activities, such as work or school, etc.
These sets of actions do vary. It could be anything from reading, Journaling, taking a glass of water, making tea/coffee to going for a run, doing a meditation session, or learning something through a podcast or other resources.
Why morning routines? Why is this so important?
Personally, how I start my day shapes the rest of the day for me, and that’s why I find starting your day early necessary. It gives your day purpose as you reflect on how you’re going to spend the rest of it.
The most significant decision to make is starting/beginning your day with two-four things before checking your phone and checking in on what the rest of the world has been on to while you were asleep. Hold off on that. Get other things in such as;
- Making yourself tea/coffee
- grabbing a glass of water
- Journaling
- Listening to something inspirational
- Taking a shower
- Moving your body with some exercise
- Mediation
- Planning / Mapping out your day
- Listening to a podcast
- Reading
- Setting an intention for the day
Whatever it is you feel inclined to do that doesn’t involve you checking and being destructed with your phone, go for that, and then later you can go ahead and check on the rest of the world after giving some time to yourself first.
My morning routine.
To have a successful morning routine or wake up early, it all begins with the night before. I set my clothes for the following day, the evening back, and my workout clothes (I do indoor biking with Zwift), head to bed earliest at 9 pm, or the latest 10 pm. This has successfully helped me to achieve and win my mornings.
- I start my day from Monday to Friday, waking up at 5:15 or 5:30 am.
- Put my bike workout clothes on and go for a 10 minutes bike ride( I do this while listening or watching something to make this habit enjoyable or fun for me).
- Take a shower right after that.
- Followed by a skincare routine.
- Mediation (I use calm, the 10 minutes guided mediation with Tamara Levitt)
- Journaling (Guided journal, gratitude journal, and a task planner to plan or give an idea of things for my day)
- Read (This has become something I do every morning)
- And then start my day at 8 am — Check my phone and log in for work
In conclusion, this is mainly for morning people who do not have a morning routine or are curious about a morning routine and having one. Choose to center your day by starting with things that bring you joy or improve on your overall self before you get out to the world. You can always try out different things, see what works for you best, and then keep at it.
As always, thanks for reading, and let’s do this again soon.
Sema