5 steps to build a morning routine before work that is best for you
Morning routines before work are very powerful and bring direction to your day but for most of us, we don’t have a lot of time in the morning to follow elaborate morning routines. So, If you are a working professional, working mom, or working woman, and looking for steps to make a perfect morning routine before work that is just for your needs. I have got you covered.
I am a believer in morning routines and over the past years have followed different morning routines based on different roles and situations in my life. And in this post, I am sharing all I know about building morning routines.
By the time you’re done reading this post you will know :
- Why do you need a morning routine
- How to create your own morning routine based on your needs
- Find your morning routine duration and optimize it.
Let’s look at how it’s done …
What is the morning routine?
A morning routine is a series of things that you do after waking up in the morning to start your day. A morning routine has a profound effect on your productivity, emotional well-being, and health. It has the potential to set your day the right way for progress.
Why you should build a morning routine before work?
Having a good morning routine is beneficial to everyone but having a morning routine before work is essential for working professionals since working professionals spend more time at work and have less time to be intentional with their time and life. Here are some benefits of a morning routine:
1) Reduce chaos from life
If you do not have a morning routine you tend to just rush in the morning for work. Your day starts with unpredictability and adds to your stress. The effect carries over at work too and you land in chaos for the whole day.
Instead, if you have a morning routine you know what to expect from the day, plan things well and take charge of the day better.
2) Let you be intentional
As a working professional, you are always in a rush and running by the clock. A good morning routine lets you do things with ease and allow you to do things in your personal life that you actually love to do and be more intentional and aware of the way you spend your time.
3) Allow you to build good habits
Habits are repeated actions. To build a good habit you need to do them repeatedly over several days. Including good practices in your morning routine lets, you build them as habits, and before you realize you would have built the habit.
4) Let you make the healthy choice
Most of the time we make an unhealthy choice because we are in such a rush in the morning and grabbing a coffee seems the easiest option.
But if you make a morning routine you can include healthy choices like drinking water, exercising, meditation, eating breakfast to it, and assign some time to do these.
5) Increase your productivity
With a good morning routine, your day is set for the right way, you feel more control over your day, your energy level is good and you have an overall positive attitude for the day, helping you get work done and making you productive.
What time you should get up to have a good morning routine before work?
This is a common doubt when it comes to building a good morning routine. Well, there is no definite answer to it, it depends upon the number of things that you wish to do in the morning. The more you wish to do, the more time you will need.
Getting up at 5:00 am is very popular to be successful and productive. But really not essential. If you are not able to complete 7-8 hours of sleep by getting up at 5 am it is not going to serve the purpose according to me (assuming you are not someone who sleeps late wasting time over the phone).
So, you should find the time that let you get a good amount of sleep and also let you do the things that you intend to have in your morning routine. Considering a basic routine including personal hygiene, breakfast, and some exercise; 90 minutes should be sufficient, so getting up 90 minutes before you leave for work is a good time to wake up in the morning.
How to build a morning routine before going to work?
Now that you know about the morning routine and the benefits it has, let’s start with the steps to build a good morning routine, that suits you and is sustainable.
Steps to build a morning routine before work that is best for you
Step 1: Don’t copy other’s routine
First and foremost do not copy others’ morning routines, just because it works for them does not mean it will work for you. Your life and your morning are unique to you.
It is good to get some ideas and inspiration from others’ morning routines and try to include some things in yours but just simply copying it will not help you.
I find many morning routines on YouTube that are so not for me it includes 30-minute skincare and 1 hour-long exercise regime, they set unrealistic expectations and may not necessarily serve your need.
Find what you need from the morning and things that will work for you, and that is exactly what is post is about. So you can build a routine that is best for you.
Step 2: Find what you need in the morning routine
You need to find what are the things that you would like to accomplish in the morning before you start with your work for the day. So that you have the clarity to build the routine.
I like to break the things that should be part of the morning routine into four essentials.
These are explained below. I have 50 Good morning routine ideas that suit everyone for you to get inspired.
Morning routine essential
I like to keep the morning routine essential in 4 categories.
1) Awakening
Awakening includes all the things that you would need to transition from sleep to the day.
This includes things like personal hygiene, a few minutes of relaxation, or quiet time to get you out of the sleepyhead mood and help you get energized and awakened.
It can take around 15 to 20 minutes.
2) Self-time
Once the busy day starts it is almost impossible to find some self-time so make sure you get it in the morning.
When I don’t have a self-time it mostly makes me grumpy and feels frustrated.
Having some self-time in the morning routine gives you the satisfaction of living a life of choice and intention rather than running by the task list.
There are a variety of things that you can include as self-care in your morning routine.
Some self-time ideas for morning routine are:
- Reading
- Gratitude journaling
- Listing to podcast
- Listing to music
- A quick walk in nature
- A quiet time looking at the sky
- A skincare routine
You can add anything that interests you and you would like to spend time doing it.
If you like to do many things and have a crunch of time., you can split up the things that you like to do among different days of the week.
3) Wellness
Mornings are the best time to ensure you are taking care of your health and wellness and what better way to do it than by including things to do for health and wellness in your morning routine?
These can be simple things that will contribute to your well-being such as drinking a glass of water at the start of your day or taking your nutritional supplements. These should be things that you feel are required for you or your family’s being.
Some wellness ideas for morning routine are:
- Exercising for a few minutes
- Having a healthy breakfast
- Substituting coffee with smoothies
- Doing Meditation
- Practicing yoga
- Listening to a motivational podcast
4) Chores
The next thing to consider while making a morning routine are various chores for the day. Apart from work, we have many chores at home and in life. Getting a few done before work makes the evening after work less overwhelming and gives a good start to the day.
You should find chores that can be done in the morning before starting work or the things that are must-do in the morning for the day to go smoothly for you and your family.
Some chores that can be included in your morning routine are:
- Doing laundry for the day
- Preparing lunch and packing tiffins
- Quick cleaning of the house
- Preparation for dinner if required
- Watering plants
- Getting your kids ready
Step 3: List things you want to do in the morning
The next step to building a morning routine is to list out each item from the categories mentioned in the above steps that you would like to include in your morning routine.
You may land up with a long list but don’t worry, you will be able to make it.
Don’t restrict yourself to only the categories discussed here if you think there is something that is not covered in the above categories go ahead and add it to your list. You can share it in the comment below, I would love to know something new.
Step 4: Sketch your routine
Based on the list you prepared just write numbers next to each item in the list in the order you would like to do it.
Next, write next to each task the amount of time that you will need to do the things in the morning.
Add them up to find how much time you will need to follow your morning routine.
If you find the time you need is too much. Try to rotate the items throughout your days.
For example, if you want to read books, listen to podcasts, and take care of your plants too. Try reading books and listening to podcasts on alternate days and water your plants while listening to podcasts.
Another thing that you can do is to see if you can move something to your evening routine, I don’t prefer this option as in the evenings the energy level is low and there are chances that you may get back late from work and miss doing them.
While sketching your routine mostly your personal hygiene like brushing your teeth, cleaning yourself would come first. You can add others in the order that suits you.
Don’t limit yourself to following all the items of one category before moving to the next thing.
You should follow them at your convenience and what brings joy to you.
Finally, just write it down as per the order you would do it, and voila! you have your own morning routine.
Step 5: Set the tone for the day
Lastly to end the morning routine just add something that sets you up for the day and lets you transition to your workday.
It can be glancing at your schedule for the day or a warm goodbye to the people at home or planning a fun thing to do in the evening or saying a positive affirmation to have a great day. To have a productive day at work you can read How to have a productive day
You can prioritize your work task and timebox task at work to be productive at work. If you need more details about it, you can read my post on How to prioritize work tasks and Timeboxing at work.
In case you work from home, you should read 21 Tips for work-life balance while working from home
This will bring a positive attitude for the day and not make you dread work.
Building a good morning routine and doing things to set the right tone for the day will bring confidence and build a positive mindset for the day.
Conclusion
So this is how you can build a good morning routine before work, that is not copied from someone unrelatable but a morning routine that is just custom to you and your needs.
I am sure that by the steps listed in this post, you will not only be able to make a morning routine for yourself but it will be sustainable for a long. You will not feel the guilt of abandoning the practice of your morning routine because this routine is made by you to suit your needs and you are free to tweak it.
Hope you find this article of help, get going to make your powerful morning routine.
Here are some related posts that you may find useful
10 productive things to do on the weekend to manage a busy week
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