Have you ever planned a super awesome and productive morning routine that you’re certain will fix your entire life? You planned to get up at 5am, work out for 30 minutes, cook a super healthy breakfast, journal, plan your to-do list, and meditate, all before you work day started.
Then, the 5am alarm comes, and the plan flies out the window.
Don’t worry, I’ve been there.
I’ve spent years trying to create a morning routine that will magically turn me into a morning person and solve all of my problems. I’ve always wanted to be the type of person who gets up and gets their working out, journaling, meditating, and planning finished before the sun even rises. But it’s not a big surprise that this just never worked out.
Because I am not a morning person.
You can ask my boyfriend. It is notoriously difficult to drag me out of bed in the morning, especially on the weekends. I only get up for something that I’m really excited about or look forward to.
Cue the lightbulb moment.
I’ve never been able to stick with my morning routines because none of the things I had planned were what I wanted to do. They were all things that social media influencers told me I should do.
So, here are 5 things you can do to tailor your morning routine to your preferences so that you might actually stick to it.
Make sure you're getting enough sleep
Are you surprised to find that the key to a good morning routine starts the night before?
Obviously, if you aren’t getting enough sleep, you are going to wake up tired and groggy, which increases the chances of you ditching the morning routine for more sleep.
Adults tend to need 7-9 hours of sleep on average. Make sure you’re setting yourself up for a successful night’s sleep by limiting blue light exposure for at least 1 hour before bed and creating a soothing wind down routine.
Still feeling tired despite getting enough sleep? Check out my post about how I’m improving my energy levels.
Reflect on what makes you excited to get up in the morning
What makes you excited to roll out of bed? Is it reading your new book, watching another episode of your current TV show obsession, or eating a yummy breakfast? The point of your morning routine is to bring you joy. I use my morning routines as a moment to myself before I have to talk to people, so I choose quiet activities that help me start my day off with a relaxing tone.
I recommend choosing multiple activities that you might want to get up for. Think of it as creating a “menu” for you to choose from. If you love to read, write, paint, knit, and crochet, you can choose any one of those activities to incorporate into your morning routine.
For my morning routine, I usually choose to either read, create content, or clean. These 3 things bring me joy, and I choose to do whatever I feel like doing that morning.
It also depends on my energy levels! If I wake up feeling groggy, I choose a lower energy activity like reading. If I’m more energized, I will create content or clean. It’s all about tailoring it to work for you!
Determine how much time you need
How much time do you need to really feel ready for the day? This will determine what time you need to get up (and subsequently, what time you need to go to sleep).
For me, I need approximately 1 hour. That’s how long it takes me to feel awake enough to get dressed and tackle the day. I start getting dressed at 6:30am, which means that I get up at 5:30am to complete my morning routine (which is sometimes just reading for an hour! I’m currently reading Bunny by Mona Awad.)
Do you only need 15-30 minutes to feel prepared for work and socializing? Just wake up 15-30 minutes before you need to start getting dressed.
Only need 5 minutes to do a quick guided breathing session? Great! Your morning routine can be as short or as long as you want it to be, as long as it leaves you feeling prepared to go out into the world and successfully transitions you from the state of sleep to the state of wakefulness.
Take it one step at a time
If you determine that you need an hour to get ready for the world like me, try to transition into that slowly. If you suddenly start waking up an hour earlier than usual every day, you’re very likely to burn out.
Start by shifting your wakeup time just 10-15 minutes earlier. Work on waking up at this time for one week, and then continue the process until you reach your desired wakeup time. You’ll be much more likely to stick with the routine if you take small steps like this.
You don’t even have to start implementing your entire routine right away. Say that you determine that meditation, journaling, and eating a yummy breakfast in the morning will bring you joy. Try starting off with just making breakfast, and then slowly implement your other activities from there.
Basically, you want to take it as slow as you need to make sure you will actually stick with it.
Be kind to yourself
While trying to create a routine, not everything is going to be perfect.
Sometimes, I wake up and just end up scrolling Instagram on my phone for an hour. It’s not ideally what I want to do, but I know that I can just continue with my usual routine the next morning, so I try not to be too hard on myself.
Also, listen to your body. You know your body best. Some days, you need a little extra rest. If you need the extra hour, take it.
And if you find that no matter how much sleep you get, you still wake up feeling exhausted, consider speaking with your doctor to investigate for any underlying issues.
The Takeaway
Morning routines are supposed to add value to your life, not stress you out. I highly suggest ditching the idea that your morning routine needs to be exactly like the ones you see on social media. Not everything you see on social media is real, so you don’t even know if those influencers are doing that every day.
Be kind to yourself and give yourself grace. This is a small step in the journey of self care and self improvement. If you mess up one day, just know that you can try again the next.
Take care of yourselves, and I’ll see you on the next post! ❤️
What does your morning routine look like? What brings you joy in the morning and makes you excited to wake up? Let me know in the comments!