Today I want to talk to you about the morning routine I implemented years ago that helps me get the most out of my days.

Before I created my morning routine my mornings were very haphazard. A snooze here and there, a quick breakfast – actually, there was usually no breakfast – and a rush to get out of the house was usually the scene in my morning chaos. After reading an article detailing how the vast majority of successful people follow some type of set morning routine every day, I decided to follow suit.

I won’t lie, the pandemic and subsequent quarantine have thrown me completely off my groove. Lately, I’ve been on the snoozing, no eating, and rushing routine and I am tired of it. I’ve decided to go back to what works for me and I want to share it with you.

My hope is that you will look at my morning routine and find ideas to use in your own. If you want to put an end to the days of rushing (or dragging yourself) through your mornings, I wrote this just for you. Keep reading to find out how you can start each day with focus, intention, and purpose and as a result get more done in a more excellent and efficient way.

How to Create a Morning Routine

Create a night routine

The key to a good morning routine is to set yourself up for success the night before. I won’t go into extreme detail about the night routine (that will come in a later post), but a good night routine should consist of the following:

1. Picking out your clothes for the next day
2. Tidying up your space (so you’re not doing it in the morning)
3. Writing out your goals/to-do list for the next day
4. Going to bed early (so you can wake up and have enough time to actually do your morning routine)

Avoid hitting the snooze button

I know it’s tempting but do yourself a favor and stop hitting snooze!

I am so guilty of doing this (usually because I don’t go to bed early like I should) but I’ve noticed it really doesn’t help. When you hit the snooze button, you may get an extra 10 minutes or so, but 10 minutes is not enough time to go through a full sleep cycle. This means, when the alarm rings again, your sleep cycle is being interrupted which usually leads to a feeling of lethargy and grogginess.

Outside of being physically counterproductive, hitting the snooze button is also mentally counterproductive. When you delay starting your day you are telling yourself “avoid everything that is on the other side of this blanket at all costs”. However, the mindset you need to slay your day requires you to wake up with excitement, anticipation, and focused expectation. The snooze button communicates just the opposite.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!

Water is so important. It makes up 60% of our bodies and 75% of our brains. Drinking water when you first wake up – yes, even before your coffee, fellow caffeine addicts – helps refresh your body which has been dehydrated for the past 8 hours or so. Even slight dehydration has been shown to cause decreased mental performance and fatigue which are things we absolutely do not want when trying to be productive. Drink up!

Spend time with God

Connecting with God first thing in the morning ensures that He doesn’t get forgotten in the hustle once we get into the think of the day with emails, working, taking care of children, and everything else we juggle in 24 hours. Even Jesus woke up early to spend time with our Heavenly Father in prayer (see Mark 1:35).

I like to go to God and praise Him, pray, and then study the Bible. In addition to praying for specific people, events, etc, I also ask God to give me insight and wisdom on how to govern my day. I ask Him which item(s) on my to-do list should be my focus for the day and what on the list can be eliminated. I also ask Him for a strategy for challenges I know I’ll face during the day.

Listen y’all, if you’re not going to God and asking Him for insight and wisdom for your endeavors you are missing out on valuable information! The Bible says that when we come to Him He will tell us great and awesome things that we don’t know. The Bible also says that God tells us things that will happen before they happen. I’m not saying God is your personal fortune cookie or genie, but if you have a heart for Him and are living your life for His purposes, He will absolutely lead and guide you.

Review Goals and To-Do Lists

Those goals and to-do lists you wrote down during your evening routine get to shine here.  Review your goals for both the week and the day to remind you of what you’re working towards.

I have found that unless I constantly have my goals and vision in front of me, I tend to coast through my days aimlessly. Proverbs 29:18 says that when there is no vision, the people “cast off restraint”. A simpler way to say this is where there are no specific goals people run wild. We all know this is true. Think about it in terms of money. If you have no goals or vision for your money, you’re more likely to spend recklessly, ignore your budget – if you even created one – and spend on impulse.

Vision restrains us and keeps us on track. Reviewing your goals and to-do list helps you manage your day and get the most out of it. Great productivity and excellence in your work don’t happen by accident. Greatness requires intentional planning and purposeful effort.

Eat breakfast and get dressed for success

Before I even start I’m going to admit this is one of the hardest steps for me. I’m not really a breakfast kind of girl. Pancakes, eggs, grits, and the like are cool, but they just don’t excite me. I’m more of a lunch and dinner enthusiast so it’s easy for me to skip eating breakfast. That being said, it is still super important to fuel our bodies so those bodies can then in turn help fuel our minds and productivity.

I have found a few small breakfast staples that I can rock with daily (hello smoothies, avocado toast, fruit, and coffee!). Eating even just a small breakfast is better than nothing at all and goes a long way in keeping you alert and energized to be the boss of your day.

Getting dressed is a bit trickier now. Like many people, since the pandemic started I have been fully working from home. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sitting in my living room in a full pencil skirt and peplum blouse. If you are going into the office, by all means, show up and show out honey! Put on something that makes you feel fierce, competent, and confident and that also communicates to your peers and superiors that you should be taken seriously as a professional.

 If you’re home you don’t have to go all out, but you most certainly can if you want to. I myself am also caring for my toddler while I’m working so going full business attire – or even business casual – is not the best idea. If you’re in the same boat, chin up! This doesn’t mean you can’t look great. I have found some of the best loungewear that allows me to be comfortable but also makes me feel super cute and polished at the same time. My go-to outfits have been matching two piece loungewear sets or high waisted leggings paired with graphic tees that usually have some reference to coffee on them. And for the days when I know I’ll be on camera for Zoom meetings, a little concealer to cover these dark circles under my eyes goes a long way too!

Whatever you’re wearing, just make sure it communicates that you are competent, comfortable, and ready to tackle your day!

This usually concludes my morning routine. About an hour before I have to be at work, my daughter, Toni, usually wakes up, and then I do her routine, which is technically an extension of mine. Once she’s all settled I get to work and start producing!

Here is my routine broken down:

5:30 A.M. – 5:40 A.M. Wake up, wash face and brush teeth, drink 12 OZ of water

5:40 A.M. – 5:45 A.M. Get a cup of coffee, my Bible, a journal, and something to write with

5:45 A.M.– 6:45 A.M. Prayer and Bible study

6:50 A.M. – 7:00 A.M. Review Goals and to-do list. On my whiteboard, write top 3 most important tasks to complete for the day

7:00 A.M. – 7:20 A.M. Toni wakes up. Change her out of her pajamas and make breakfast for us both

7:20 A.M. – 8:00 A.M. Eat breakfast then get both Toni and me dressed

***This is the ideal scenario. Sometimes life happens and the schedule looks different but this is what I strive to follow every morning.

I hope you were able to extract some keys from my example to help you handcraft your own routine. There may be things in yours that I didn’t mention here (like exercise) and there may be some things in my routine that you will eliminate. That is totally OK. No two people will have the exact same routine. The goal of establishing a morning routine is to equip you to start your day rested, prepared, focused, and motivated to produce at your best. So go ahead and create, or modify, your routine and get ready to tackle your day!