9 Ways to Create a Good Morning Routine

What does your morning routine look like? Do you go through it in a rush so you can head out the door to avoid traffic? Or maybe the first thing you do is look at your phone and check for messages and scroll through social media. Whatever your morning looks like, it’s important to start it with the right frame of mind. A good morning routine can help set the tone for the day so you can better control your schedule instead of your schedule controlling you. When you start your morning right, it can help you stay focused on what’s important not just for work, but for yourself and the people you care for. Here are some tips from Verywell Mind on how to do that.

1. Give Yourself Time

Don't hit snooze! It can be so hard, especially in the beginning, to not go back to old ways and hit that snooze button so you can lay in bed just a little longer. A good morning routine allows you enough time to actually enjoy—and benefit from—your routine!

The amount of time can vary from person to person but could range anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. There is sometimes the assumption that you have to wake up at 4 a.m. in order to have a good morning routine. Productivity professionals suggest that you listen to yourself and know what would be realistic for you to do and keep up with. 

2. Move Your Body

Your previous morning routine might have been to wake up and immediately grab your phone, laying in bed for 45 minutes, scrolling through Instagram, or even checking emails for work. Productivity coach Jim Collins suggests that in developing our morning routine we should consider some things we could "stop doing" rather than focusing all of our attention on what to add to our day.

If we allow ourselves time away from the screen, we can use those moments for standing up, stretching, yoga, or even going for a brief walk. Any body movement in the morning will be better than lying in bed on social media! We are actively waking up our muscles as well as our minds. 

3. Practice Stillness

As much as body movement is important in the morning, so is practicing stillness. Michael Hyatt, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and best-selling author, entrepreneur, and professional coach suggests that stillness can be key in helping us begin the day on the right foot.

Activities like meditation, breathing, and prayer are all great examples of what this might look like as part of your morning routine. Practicing stillness can help us feel grounded, focused, and ready to effectively prioritize tasks. Skipping this step can lead us to continue feeling rushed and less effective in our day, which defeats the point of developing a good morning routine!

Practicing stillness also allows us to reset and be fully present in the moment. We aren't fully present when we are looking at emails, scrolling through Instagram, and multitasking—and this can cause increased stress and anxiety. Practicing stillness, or even doing meditation and breathing exercises, helps set the tone of the day to help you feel calm, relaxed, and in control. 

4. Fuel Properly

Since we were kids, we've likely heard the message that a good day starts with a good breakfast. It is true that the way we fuel our body in the morning can have a powerful influence on our physical health, our energy levels, and our mental attitude throughout the day.

If we feed ourselves food with little to no nutritional value, we don't feel our best, can find our energy levels peaking and crashing through the day, and feel unregulated. A healthy breakfast allows us to fuel our bodies properly and can lead to more consistent energy levels, as well as feeling more alert and focused. 

5. Review Your Day

As you wrap up your morning routine, it can be helpful to then take an intentional look at your day. Reviewing your day with intent allows you to maintain control over your schedule rather than your schedule controlling you.

Be honest with yourself as to the importance of certain tasks and remember that not everything can be a top priority. As much as it may feel that way emotionally, the reality is we can't function that way without getting overwhelmed.

As productivity coach and entrepreneur Tor Refsland suggests, it can be helpful to focus on one thing at a time. Be intentional in deciding where your energy and efforts need to go, complete that, and then move on to the next. Trying to juggle multiple tasks can lead to ineffective time management, low productivity, and burnout.

6. Be Flexible

Let go of any expectations to develop the perfect routine and perform it perfectly every morning. You are not looking for perfection at all in this new habit, just intentional energy being put toward creating a morning routine that works best for you.

Being flexible means that you can allow yourself to adapt and adjust, finding what works well and being willing to let go of what doesn't work well. Remember that you are developing a morning routine to live more productively and peacefully, not so you can live with even more stress!

7. Be Consistent

The most helpful habits are the ones that we can keep up with consistently. If the idea of a morning routine is new to you, don't worry. Practicing consistency will help your routine feel more and more natural over time.

As you feel and see the positive impact a good morning routine has on your day, you will find it motivating to continue practicing that habit. It will feel less like something you "should" do and become something you look forward to doing. If you skip a day, jump right back to it the next. Again, this is not about performing perfectly but about your giving yourself the opportunity to live your best.

8. Take Charge of Technology

Despite some of our best efforts to not let technology take over, we often find it getting in the way or being unavoidable. In developing your morning routine, don't focus on giving up technology because—let's be honest—that will not work. You may likely use your phone as your alarm!

What you're looking to do instead is take back authority over your technology. As time management coach Craig Jarrow suggests, allow the technology to work for you and use it accordingly. You decide how your devices, or technology in general, will play a role in your morning routine.

If you find yourself letting aimless screen time invade the morning routine, allow yourself to put those boundaries back in place so that you can refocus on the purpose of developing a healthy morning routine.

9. Plan at Night

Although we are talking about developing a good morning routine, it can be helpful to start this process the night before. If there are things you can set in place to make your morning easier, go ahead and do that before bed. Simple ideas could include laying out your clothes for the next day, prepping the food you will have for breakfast, or packing your lunch ahead of time. Your morning self will thank you!

We hope these tips will help you get into the habit of starting with a good routine in the morning. In fact, one of the things we teach at our RISE Coaching programs is the RISE 7 Minute Method. It's such an effective way to set the mind, body and spirit as part of our morning rituals. 

Blessings of health and joy,

From all of us at RISE