We hear it a lot, but as cliché as it might sound your morning routine sets the tone of your entire day. Imagine the scenario where you suddenly wake up just 30 minutes before the time you need to show up to work after snoozing your alarm for the fifth time, and now you’ve only got a few minutes to get up, get ready, have your breakfast and show up to work. You couldn’t even fully have your breakfast properly or say goodbye to your loved ones before leaving and now because of the whole haste you’re feeling tired throughout the day that you cannot even fully focus or dedicate yourself to your work thus giving your boss reasons to not give you your dream promotion, and because of that you feel demotivated and lethargic and so the loop continues. How tiring does that sound? Who even wants this life? I’m sure, nobody.
On the contrary, if you’ve got a set and scheduled morning routine which you practice religiously every single day, your situation will be completely opposite as that of mentioned earlier.
“If you win the morning, you win the day”
-Tim Ferriss
Mornings are like the foundation of our day, and so are also responsible for dictating the rest of our workday. If we start our mornings strong it helps by keep us calm throughout the day, reducing the stress levels thus improving the quality of our day, and hence with each progressing day also the quality of our entire life.
While morning routines vary individuals to individuals, here are 4 easy habits you can develop as a part of your morning routine to get started for a successful morning:
1. Wake up at least 2 hours earlier than your original work time
Morning routines are all about that leisure time you have for yourself and so starting your morning as early as possible and giving yourself as much personal time needed for you to do all that you’ve planned for your morning is always beneficial than not.
2. Reflect and meditate
Once you’re up and had a glass full of water, now you can dedicate this first part of your morning routine towards either consuming mindful content or practicing journaling. Sitting with your morning coffee and a book to read along, practicing and maintaining a gratitude journal, reviewing your goals first thing in the morning, writing your to-do list for the day, doing a guided meditation, doing your morning pages, or even listening to your favorite podcast, whatever floats your boat; but taking time out to do these things and spend time on yourself will not only help you take control of your life but also add a lot of value to it as well.
Tip: Do not go on your phone first thing in the morning especially on social media as it will distract you, wasting your time, attention and energy and hinder your flow.
3. Move your body
What better timing to kick your workout off of your to do list than in the morning? As we all know the never ending benefits of working out and that it also reduces stress or fatigue and boosts your energy. But more importantly if you do it in the morning it will keep you active and energized throughout the day.
Any physical exercise be it walking, cycling, running, yoga, hitting the gym directly impacts both your physical and mental health for good.
4. Have a wholesome/healthy breakfast
Breakfast is considered to be the most important meal of the day. People who consume breakfast are considered to have a healthy lifestyle since it helps focus on work, kicking start the metabolism and providing that morning energy you need to get started for the day. Research shows that, working out helps you improve your eating choices and hence people who workout are more prone to have healthy breakfast like- eggs, oats, greens and fruit smoothies, etc. than having unhealthy or fried foods.
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So stop sleeping in and start taking control of your life by simply managing your morning and starting it off on a right foot.
