Morning Routine has become the talk of the decade when it comes to the world of productivity and excellence. There’s a lot of variations and fusion going on with the different lifestyles of all the top industry performers, superstars and gurus. And they are popular for a good reason. A Morning routine can be a game-changer. It’s no news that walking up earlier in the morning will make your day more productive.
Starting your day right allows you to set the tone for the rest of the day. It sets you up to do the things you want to accomplish for the day to be a great one. If nothing, you will have more time at your disposal. Morning routines start with waking up earlier than most to give yourself a headstart (an obvious fair advantage). It inculcates various practices such as: meditation, exercise, a great breakfast, journaling, reflections, gratitute and the likes. These are all geared to set you up for the best day you can possibly create for yourself.
I have gone through the morning routine of the most productive and successful people the world is inspired by. And I’d tried out their rituals to also tap into some of their magic for myself. I have learned a lot through these experiences. I had learned that, morning routines are more like shoes, there is no one size fit all, we are all different and respond best to different optimizations.
Thus, after some time I have been able to come up with my own morning routine which is effective, efficient and easy to execute. It always sets me up to ace my day, be productive, and be intentional with my actions. That said, I don’t expect it to work idealy for you ( but if it does, great!). The goal, optimistically, is that you find a piece (or pieces) that you can inculcate into your own morning routine. With no further ado, here we go:
MG’s Mourning Routine.
1. I Wake up at 5am
This is pretty obvious, what morning routine doesn’t start by waking up early? The obvious hack is to start going to bed earlier; “early to bed, early to rise, right”? That said, what you might discover is that, it might not be as easy as you think. Especially for a night owl like my self (if left to my devices). There were times when I used to go to bed 3 or 4 in the morning. That was my life. And when I decided to start going to bed early, I was flabbergasted. I will lay in bed by midnight ( got to start somewhere) but I wouldn’t be able to snooze off. I will just be twirling in my bed and in my thoughts. My mind was everywhere. I couldn’t sleep until around 3am.
Then I understood that it had to do with my bad sleeping regiment that had messed up my circadian rhythm. Thus, my body is used to going to bed around 3am. Thus, at midnight my brain remains active because it thinks we are still on the move. You may also experience a similar thing. But don’t give up. Keep going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time. In no time, your brain will get the memo and adjust accordingly. That’s just something I want you to keep in mind.
2. Make my bed
Immediately I wake up, this is the first thing I do. It sounds trivial, but it has a great psychological impact on the brain. Once I wake up, I take control without letting my brain slip into distraction of going through my phone. I just immediately take a positive step of acomplishing this little task of making my bed. I will get a little dopomine hit (the good type) and that just sets the tone for the day. This way, the brain is more incentivised to continue the day with more positive productive activities because we humans like to stay consistent with our actions. More over, if you can’t handle this little task, how would you expect yourself to handle the big ones when they show up. So be concious in setting the tone of the day by making your bed. The first Win of the day ๐ฏ.
And after that…
3. I brush my teeth with my left hand (the less dominant hand)
Yes, every body brushes their teeth in the morning with their dominant hand, but who washes their’s with the other hand?
I intentionally do this because it’s something strange and novel to the brain. Something as trivial as eating icecream with a spoon might prove uncomfortable once you try to scoop with the less dominant hand. Similarly, when brushing your teeth with the less dorminant hand, it forces the brain to wake up on full alert to execute this seemingly trivial task with efficiency. Thereby in doing so you jult your brain fully into full power mode to concure the new day. This simple routine primes your brain cogntitively.
4. Have a quick Exercise
This is not my workout for the day. But I like to have a quick burst exercise to jolt my body and my heart up. I do about 100 skips on the rope and do 10-10-10 varied push-ups. You don’t necessarily have to do this exact exercises ( you can do cardio, burpees and other stuff).The main point is to make sure you sweat and for it to be short (preferably under 10 mins) and efficient.
5. Have a glass of water
Your body has been fasting for hours on end. And usually when you wake up, you are dehydrated. So I drink a full glass of water to hydrate.
6. Cold Shower
Then I hop into the shower and open the cold tap. This is going to be chilly and stimulating. Your body is going to be literally in a state of tension, but that’s the whole point. Besides the numerous studies done on cold showers improving your overall well-being, once you learn to stay calm when been gushed down with freezing water, you are going to learn to be calm when you find yourself in tensed situations. Because that’s the exact feeling you get when having a cold shower or a cold bath. And our brains can’t differentiate between the two; real life tense situations and deliberately self-inflicted ones. Our immune system react to both just the same.
7. Meditate
Even though this has become so popular into a cliche, meditation is still a very good component of living. It helps you to focus and just be in the now. Everyone has their own method of meditating and I’ve tried a couple. But currently, I just prefer to just sit there and do nothing. Just watch my thoughts as they come and go without casting any judgment, like an observer or a therapist listening to myself. Sometimes I reflect on the past, recognize my blessings & be grateful for them and gaze into the future where I want to be.
8. Journal
Then I write my journal entry i.e. any thoughts that I have that need dissecting, and then write my to-do list for the day, thereby setting my priorities straight for the day.
9. Breakfast
Then I have a big hot breakfast to fuel the engines.
10. A moment of Silence
This is where I just take a moment of silence. I decide to make the day an exciting one because I am the author of my life. So I make a conscious decision to make it a good episode. Then I take off ๐.
So there you have it; 10 elements of my morning routine. I hope you find some inspiration in these and find your own optimal day starter. Comment down below your thoughts, remarks, and your own morning routines. Don’t forget to subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next one. Cheers.