Why You Should Design a Productive Morning Routine

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Design a Morning Routine That Fits You

When I tell people I start my morning routine at 5:00am they look at me like I have five heads. It’s always a “what is wrong with you” or “your crazy” in return. To be frank, I’m not sure how people just get up, shower, eat breakfast and go to work. Who needs sleep anyways?! Just kidding. I do get my sleep! I would just rather go to bed early with the intention of starting my day off the right way.

For me it means working out during the week, coming home to do a chore of my choice, and then I’ll shower, get dressed, pack my lunch, do my hair and makeup, and head off to work. On the weekends I typically don’t workout, so instead i’ll clean the majority of the apartment, drink my coffee, attack my to-do list, work on a blog post, and then I’ll get ready for the boat or whatever we are doing that day. Maybe it’s just getting up, sitting at the kitchen table with your coffee and a book, or maybe it’s folding some laundry or meal prepping for the week. Whatever it is, do what will make you happy, calm you, but wake you, enough to allow your mind to wake up too.

I truly, wholeheartedly believe that a longer, productive, pre-work morning routine will get you a more organized, energetic, effective day. If you have better days, imagine the quality of life as a whole. Here’s why getting up earlier and having a morning routine will better your life.

Organize Your Thoughts

Now, you may ask, what exactly I do with the 3 plus hours prior to having to be at work. Well, I started this habit because I like to workout early. I like to workout on an empty stomach, in the dark, and while the world is much quieter and less stimulating. Even inside the walls of a gym, knowing that the majority of humans are fast asleep allows me concentrate more. I get into my BBG by Kayla Itsiness workout (Signup Here) without distractions, which allows for me to think while I work out.

For me, the days where I don’t get up early and workout I’m actually more groggy, less aware, and all jumbled in my head. Even if you just walk on the treadmill and let your mind go where it wants. Whether it’s about your job or your to-do list or even what you have to grab at the grocery store, automatically you’ll be organizing your day and coming up with a plan. It will make your workout go by faster, which is always a plus. You’ll find that you’re awake, ready to get the day going, and check all those things off your list.

Plan Ahead

So the gym isn’t your thing, but I don’t see that as an excuse not to rise with/before the sun. Coffee or tea is a great way to get the brain blood flowing too! If I forego the gym I’ll get a cup of coffee and sit down with my notebook. I’ll start going through my to-do list, adding or checking off. It gets me ready for the week, the weekend, even the month. At the same time, it calms the anxiety I’ll get about all the things I want to accomplish or attack in the coming days.

Get Things Out of the Way

Some days I’m not perfect and I won’t wake up quite as early as I previously mentioned. I’ll sleep through my alarm if I didn’t get to bed early enough or maybe had too much wine the night before (oops). However, I’m never up later than 6:30 am still giving me some extra time. These are the mornings where maybe I’ll fold some laundry, put away the dishwasher, clean the bathroom, one morning I was on Pinterest and the next thing I knew I was cleaning out my entire closet (as you may have seen in this post).

Get Ready to Conquer the Day

Finally, I mentioned this already but I promise you that you’ll be more alert, your brain won’t be lagging, and you won’t need that extra coffee around 3:30pm, hopefully. This is especially true if you start with exercise. Nevertheless, they weren’t kidding when they say “early bird gets the worm.”

A designed lifestyle doesn’t come without some effort, and if you’re typically not a morning person, effort it will be. But I promise it will be worth it. Just try it for a week, I dare you! Let me know how it goes and how you changed your routine in the comments below.