Find your best morning routine for a more productive day

By Tori Taylor, September 7 2019 —

Sticking to a healthy morning schedule will set you up for productive day. A morning routine is a way to organize your mind and body before taking on whatever tasks you have planned. Some days — even entire weeks — can seem overwhelming and frantic. It’s not easy to get through the days when you wake up agitated and feeling behind from the very start. You can set yourself up for success and a better mood by putting a steady morning routine in place.  

Everybody has slightly different variations of what they prefer to do in the early morning. Some people enjoy breakfast and some people do not. Some people are quite active and others are not. Some people work or have school early and some people don’t need to be up and at it until much later in the day. Regardless of your daily schedule, there are certain things that you should always include.

Pick the right wake-up time:

There is no need to stress out about a 5 a.m. alarm. Not everyone is able to wake up that early and have a good day.  It has long been said that early morning people are more productive. There is good evidence to suggest that early-risers do accomplish more than those who sleeping. However, this is not necessarily true. These studies focus on the majority of people who work 9–5 day jobs.There are actually many people who work best in the afternoon and evening.  There is nothing wrong with be a night-owl as long as you are able to sleep appropriately. Picking a wake-up time that fits your body and your daily needs is important. You don’t want to sacrifice sleep or sanity to fit yourself into a box that doesn’t work for you.

Make the big daily decisions the night before:

It can be stressful to wake up and feel like you need to immediately put together your day while frantically making coffee and trying to find your keys. Instead of thinking you’ll make your schedule on the fly, try writing out your daily to-dos the night before. If you wake-up to an already-planned day then it is easy to move from one item to the next without forgetting anything. Waking up to an alarm and having a schedule to follow without having to stress over what to do first in the morning haze before your coffee kicks in will give your brain an easier morning start. You can focus energy on completing the things you already know you have to do instead of focusing on cramming your tasks in last minute or forgetting something important.

Focus your mind and body in a positive way:

There are a lot of different routines that work well. It’s a unique process for you to experiment with and find out what fits your needs. For some people it is important to spend a few minutes with their significant other. For people it is important to have positive affirmations be the first thing they say or hear. The best way to focus your mind and body when you wake up is to know what fuels you. Positive energy is so important and establishing an attitude of confidence before you leave your house will help you succeed. You might want to try journaling for five minutes about something up-lifting. You might enjoy a form of mediation to ground your mind and be present in the new day. Sometimes spending a few minutes stretching can be a great way to get your body moving.

Exercise and hydration:

A big glass of lemon water goes a very long way. Lemon water will wake you up and hydrate your organs. It quenches your thirst and can balance your body’s PH levels. If lemon water isn’t something you are willing to try then you just try a big glass of regular water. Starting your morning with hydration has got to be the best feeling. Sometimes we go all day without realizing we’ve barely hydrated our bodies. Dehydration is a huge reason for headaches and feeling sick or lethargic. it’s also important to get your blood flowing and warm up your body before sitting down in a desk or at in office. If you can implement a way to be physically active for even a short amount of time every morning you will reap benefits.  Being able to exercise before you start your day can ground your mind and fire up your body. 

With this open blue print in mind, it’s up to you to decide what your morning routine should look like. The main idea is that you wake up feeling happy and prepared for your day. Don’t sit on social media scrolling while your confidence drops as fast as your will to get out of bed. Find things that lift you up and fuel you. What you choose to do when you wake up sets the tone for your whole day. It only makes sense to have a set routine that feeds your potential and prepares you to tackle whatever you’ve got going on.