Morning Routines
Morning routines. They are my lifeline. Sounds a bit dramatic but they keep me steady, allow me to process thoughts and give me energy and confidence.
But they’ve been particularly on my mind recently as I’ve had to change mine up a lot. Runners’ knee, studying and a change in work patterns has thrown mine out a bit. All of the lessons I’ve learned about building morning routines that work for me have been put to the test. Plus I’ve had a lot of clients wanting to make space for things that keep them energised as they battle with longer working hours. So here are my top 7 tips for creating morning routines that support you in your life.
Find your why - Why is creating space to do the thing important to you? What’s your answer to this? And if you’ve come up with ‘Because I want to [meditate]’ then ask yourself, ‘Why’s [meditating] important to me’?
My morning routine started many years ago because I worked full time in a job that left me unfulfilled but wasn’t in a position to leave. So I signed up for a psychology course and spent time each morning before work studying. It was really important for me to feel passionate about something that I was doing, that I was learning something meaningful and interesting. Making time for studying made me feel much happier about my job.
If it’s not important to you, building a routine of doing the thing will never be sustainable.
Curiosity - Being curious about how to create a routine that works for you and what to put in it opens up your world. You may start out thinking that 10 minutes of meditation just after you wake up is going to help you. But what if you keep sleeping through the alarm, you drift off, you don’t enjoy it?
Maybe what you need to detach from your thoughts is exercise. Maybe a better time for you is just before you start work? All or nothing thinking can really trip us up. We try something, it doesn’t work, then we give up thinking ‘I’m just not the type of person who…….’
Instead try things out, reflect, and make changes until you find your thing.
Start small and build – I started my morning routine with 15 minutes of studying, in a café, before I started work. Whilst 15 minutes of itself wasn’t going to get me a psychology degree if I did that 3 mornings a week for a year that amounted to 39 hours of study. Once I’d built up that habit I slowly upped my time.
Whenever I want to introduce something new I literally commit to a maximum of 5 minutes and do it just before or just after something I already do without fail (I have a coffee and read for 20 minutes each morning).
The trick is to commit to a length of time that’s easy for you to succeed and stack it next to an existing habit – something you do without fail each morning.
Consistency is key – Repetition is the mother of learning and is critical to building habits. So is showing up. Our ability to build habits isn’t to be judged on our best days but on our worst. In the beginning it’s important that you do what you commit to doing (which is why my last point is important – smallest amount possible). If you wake up and can’t be arsed promise yourself that you will just do one minute. You’ll find that you probably end up doing what you committed to anyway.
Once you’ve got into the habit you can afford to be more flexible with your approach because you will be able to discern between ‘I can’t be bothered’ and ‘This isn’t what I need for myself today.’
Make it easy – James Clear (the master of habit building) talks about making it frictionless. Plan what you’re going to do and have everything set out for you the night before. Have your book by the kettle, your gym kit by your bed, decide on your meditation.
Flexibility – Build up a basket full of things that you can choose from that help you at different times. I used to meditate a lot but at the moment am finding journaling and running help me more. What works for you once might irritate the hell out of you another time. That’s completely natural.
Keep it off your to do list – I mostly plan my morning routines based on what I have on and how I’m feeling however there are times when it just feels like I’m going through the motions and it’s just another thing I have to do. That’s a sign to me that my ‘why’ has changed and I either need to adjust it or strip back. Your morning routine should make you feel good about yourself, not guilt and shame.
One last thing, well two actually. All of this is equally relevant to night owls. And lastly. Find your own way. I’m sharing what I’ve learned. This isn’t a recipe for you to follow exactly. Take what’s useful and ignore the rest.