Benefits of a Morning Routine

What you do with your morning effects your entire day. Energy begets energy. Order begets order. I don’t always enjoy getting out of bed, but I enjoy what the rest of my day is like when I get out of bed on time and make myself go through my routine.
One morning not long ago, after a week of great consistency on my early rising and morning routine, I decided to try just going with the flow... ignoring routine, just doing what I felt like doing, taking it easy, rolling from one thing to the next ‘as the spirit moved me.’
I decided that wasn’t the right spirit for me. It’s fine sometimes, for holidays and weekends, but the normal day of work requires order, energy, and a good dose of knowing who’s in charge. When I just wander around, it’s clear that I’m not in charge. I don’t know who is, whether it’s the kids, the phone, or the dirty dishes, but I found out that I like being in charge. Call me a control freak. I’d rather be up and doing, taking names and taking charge, than stumbling out into a world that’s already set a course for the day without consulting me.

Having a clear morning routine and following it faithfully tells the world (in my case, that consists of me, my house, and my children) this: “Hey, I’m in charge here. Don’t mess with me.” I wonder how many disastrous days have been turned ’round simply by the act of going through a morning routine?

• Following a morning routine sets a successful tone for your day.
• Following a morning routine gives you time to make a plan.
• Following a morning routine enables you to get the big rocks done by 11 a.m.
• Following a morning routine helps you meet your goals.
• Following a morning routine allows you to maintain an orderly home.
• Following a morning routine frees you up for fun stuff later in the day.
• Following a morning routine gives you time for guilt-free afternoon naps.
• Following a morning routine creates quiet time for yourself.

Elements of a Morning Routine

1. Consistent rise time: whenever you choose to get up, do it. Be in charge. Don’t fall prey to the snooze button. Think about how much time you need in the morning, decide when you want to get up, set your alarm, and get up at that time.
2. Earlier-than-the-family rise time: this is essential for the modern home makers, whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a work-at-home mom, or a work-out-of-the-home mom. You need enough time in the morning before the kids get up to get yourself dressed, minimum. It’s even better if you have time to get a few other things in order, too.
3. Specific goals: see below.
4. Specific tasks: my tasks include the basics of getting up and dressed, plus whatever I need to do to meet my goals. What tasks do you need to accomplish to meet your morning goal?
5. Specific order: start at a logical point and progress from there. Get yourself ready to go first, then take care of the most important tasks.
6. Consistent follow-through: your morning routine is no good if you don’t do it!

Goals of a Morning Routine for Modern Home Makers

The morning routine should accomplish five things:

1. getting you dressed and physically ready for the day
2. getting you inwardly ready for the day
3. getting breakfast and lunch taken care of
4. getting the right people, with the right stuff, out the door at the right time
5. setting the tone and establishing what’s next for the rest of the day.

Your goals may differ slightly. The idea is to get you ready and your day started in an orderly way, instead of last-minute rushing, and to prepare you for the rest of the day.

A Note on Getting Up Early

There are infinite articles on this topic. I don’t want to add to the clutter, but I do want to encourage early rising. It is the single most effective habit I have for building a better life. Certainly there are successful people who don’t rise early. But a trademark of a vast majority of energetic, productive, happy people is a consistent, early rise time. If you’re a night person, maybe early rising won’t work for you. I think you should try it, though, for at least a month. Give it a fair test run. If you find that staying up late and sleeping late helps you accomplish more and be happier doing it, then stick to that. Just don’t write off early rising until you’ve made it a consistent habit and seen its effects for more than a few days at a time.

More…

• Steve Pavlina’s article on How to Become an Early Riser
• Lifehack: How to Start Your Day at 5 a.m.
• ZenHabits: My Morning Routine
• eHow: How To Streamline Your Morning Routine
• Flylady’s Morning Routine
• 43things: Develop a Daily Morning Routine
• Blisstree: Tips for the Morning Routine with Kids
• Making Your Home a Haven: 5-Item Morning Routine
• Heart of Wisdom: Homeschool Organization – Morning Routine
• Jamie Morgan: Setting a Morning Routine

Image courtesy of Arc-light.

I will need to continue working on this habit, however, to make it solid. I allowed enough interruptions and “snoozes” to keep it from becoming an unquestioned part of my daily routine. I am convinced that it is worth it. I really enjoyed the time I had in the morning and felt better prepared to deal with the day. I started out feeling ahead of things rather than running behind.

The sleepiness was a problem, probably the most difficult part of the challenge for me to overcome. I could make myself get out of bed physically but staying awake and alert enough to think, read, or write sometimes seemed impossible. I think the best fix for that is getting enough sleep on a regular basis; for me, that doesn’t mean eight hours every night but it does mean being aware of when I am tired and going to bed accordingly.

Build It: 5am may be too early for you (or too late!) but the essence of the idea isn’t the exact time but that you have a specific time and stick to it, day in and day out, until it is a habit. Once the habit is established, you have a little elbow room for sick days and off days; frankly, though, I would rather get up at my 5am alarm, have that peaceful, calm time, and then get a nap later in the day if I am that tired. Not everybody can work naps in, I understand.

So set a time that works for you and stick to it, consistently, for at least 21 days. Plan your morning time so you aren’t left staring blankly at the coffee maker, wondering why you aren’t in bed anymore. If that happens, the pull of the pillow will work on you and you will end up buried under covers, zombie-fied, rolling out of bed at the last minute, running around, back to the old frustrations.

Try it. It’s worth it.

Or I need to start taking naps in the afternoon. I napped a lot while I was pregnant but I’ve since gotten out of the habit. Now I find it difficult to slow down and rest in the middle of the day, even when I’m tired. I’m working on not being in such a non-stop mode but it is still habit.

Build Your Better Life: Set up a date night with your husband. Now. Get your calendar, give him a call, find a babysitter, do whatever you need to do to make this happen within a week. I let it slide too long, sometimes, and though we see each other we don’t get that focused time to reconnect.

Connecting with your spouse is worth whatever sacrifice it takes to make it happen. Remember, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. You can eat sandwiches at home and go get a cup of coffee together. Or just go walk around the mall. Just make sure that you have time and space to talk to each other about more than the kids and the car and the stuff at work. Get a little deeper. Ask questions. Pretend it’s your first date.

For the singles sisters, here’s a suggestion: set a date for yourself or with a close girlfriend and make a list of the five essential qualities for your future husband. Don’t be trivial (great abs) and don’t be vague (good character). You need to know the things that are make-it-or-break-it in a relationship, and if you share them with a friend who can hold you accountable, all the better. If you’re feeling really ambitious, make a list of the five essential qualities you need to have to be a great wife. Do you have them all? What can you work on? Get started!

I haven’t been getting enough sleep and this is why: my habit is to go to bed when I get sleepy, say, when I can’t concentrate on the page I’m reading or the movie I’m watching. Lately, I’ve been busy moving around, talking to people, working physically on projects. We are remodeling our basement; every night Joe comes home and works for a couple of hours and I try to help. We’ve also had several C.O.P.S. meetings, formal and spontaneous. When I’m active with work (physical) or with people (conversation), I don’t get those “hey-I’m-sleepy-and-should-go-to-bed” cues.

I’ve been feeling depressed in the evenings, too. I hate being depressed, so when I start feeling it I immediately try to figure out what the cause is. Do I need some time with Joe? Am I worried about something that I haven’t shared with him? Did I get my feelings hurt and not talk about it? Am I upset with someone and stuffing it instead of dealing with it? Am I overwhelmed? Have I committed to too much? This time I haven’t been able to pinpoint it, though, and that bothered me. Lots.

Last night we finished dinner and Joe and I flopped down on our big cushy couch-chair to talk and play with Mara for a few minutes before starting on the basement. As I’m leaning back, watching Joe and Mara (in a rousing game of “Get the Pen Out of Daddy’s Pocket, Drop It Behind Your Head, and Pretend You Don’t Know Where It Is,” one of our favorites), I feel my eyes get heavy… and heavier… and I realize something…

1. I am very tired. Sleepy. Ready for bed. Past ready for bed. Desperate for sleep.
2. Depression (for me, low energy + self-pity + “hopeless” feeling + no motivation) is because I am physically weary.
3. It is barely 8pm.
4. For the first time, it occurred to me that maybe I’m trying to do too much. I got up at 5, read my Bible, wrote 2 articles, exercised, cooked, cleaned, did laundry, took care of babies, ran errands, ordered a birthday gift, picked out songs for church, did website work, read books to Mara, nursed Robbie (4 times), talked to my sister on the phone (3 times), and finished reading a book I started the day before. And I was disappointed because I didn’t get to planting my seeds for seedlings.

When I’m going nonstop from 5am and only feel bad because I didn’t do more, perhaps my perspective is off. I’m getting so low on energy by evening that it is translating to depression. I’m falling asleep if I sit down for five minutes. My standard response has been not to sit down for five minutes. Ignore the signals, keep pushing on. Last night I decided that was stupid. So I put the kids to bed, cleaned up the kitchen, and put myself to bed. Joe told me to get some sleep, and he worked on the basement (by himself, sweet man).

Eight beautiful hours later, I actually feel good. Awake. Hopeful. Energized. And a little humbled.

I like to believe that I am Superwoman. Some days I can pull it off, and those days make me think I should be able to pull it off all the time. I get so caught up in the energy and accomplishment of doing things that I neglect the basics. Sleep. Relaxation. Talking. Resting.

I put “Decide on Next Monthly Challenge” on my calendar this week. I know what it is now: a month with no to-do list. I need the freedom. I need the discipline of not focusing on accomplishments and check marks and productivity for productivity’s sake. March should be an interesting month.

Improve Your Life: Simplify your schedule. Write down your appointments, activities, and just two or three to-do items. Give yourself some breathing room. You might actually be more productive.

Be Open-Minded:
You must learn to say no when something is not right for you. Leontyne Price

…the eyes of man are never satisfied. Proverbs 27:20
God does not judge us by the multitude of works we perform, but how well we do the work that is ours to do. The happiness of too many days is often destroyed by trying to accomplish too much in one day. We would do well to follow a common rule for our daily lives–DO LESS, AND DO IT BETTER. Dale Turner
He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered. Proverbs 28:26

Improve Your Life: Bill Ford, in his book High Energy Habits, suggests making a list of all the little things that annoy you and then dedicating time to taking care of those things. Here’s what he says:

We pick up a lot of drag in our lives; little things that slow us down, which we hardly notice and come to think of as just part of life – inevitable friction, like barnacles on a ship’s hull. The good news is that we don’t have to put up with them and life is different when we do something about them.

Ford suggests making this list and then choosing three of the easy items on the list and tackling them immediately. He suggests making time every day to deal with these annoyances. And yes, for the inevitable protest of no time, he has an answer:

We are so busy that these little things do not seem to justify a high priority. But it takes energy to ignore them. And that is the cost – the energy spent on ignoring is wasted and it adds up.

So take his advice. I’m working on it. Yesterday I got rid of a dead plant that had been sitting in my living room, annoying me, for months. Then I tried to fix the loose screw on our table. I say tried because once I got the screwdriver and got under the table, the only screws I could locate were tight. So this is an annoyance I will have to pass on to my husband, the resident fixer-improver-constructor-man.

Be Open-Minded: Take a moment and think of a person you spend a lot of time with, like your spouse, your children, your cubicle mate, your best friend. Identify one thing you do, habitually, almost unconsciously, that has the potential to annoy that person. (Just pick one!) Work on eliminating that habit, or replacing it with something that will uplift and energize rather than annoy. You’ll find yourself more uplifted and energized as well.

By the way, you can buy Ford’s book online at Amazon for as little as $1.99. It’s a good framework for revamping some life habits that drain you and includes chapters and suggestions on using your strengths more often, clearing clutter, creating time to think, and more.

Improve Your Life: Take a few minutes each night to review your day and, in a planner or journal, make a simple plan for the next day. It doesn’t (and shouldn’t be) complicated or dictated by the half-hour, but it helps to have a short to-do list and an order in which to do things.

Be Open-Minded: Most people don’t schedule their off-time, such as evening and weekends, with priorities or to-do lists. Some of us don’t even really schedule social events; we just wait and see what comes up at the last minute. It’s important to relax, but why not plan for things you want to do rather than waiting to see if something you enjoy will spontaneously happen? Try it some night this week or next weekend: plan a specific time for something you want to do, whether it be personal or a family event or a social outing, or just something you want to do at home that keeps getting pushed aside by the more “important” things.

I’ve just started a Bible reading plan again. I had been wandering kind of aimlessly through parts of the Old and New Testament. My church had copies of this one-year plan, and it has you read four different passages each day, with about five catch-up days per month. I started in Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, and Acts. I like the structure. Sometimes I need to be told what to do or I get lost in the options. I also like putting a little check mark in the box beside each portion of the day’s reading. Genesis 9 – 11, check. Psalm 4, check. Matthew 2: 13-23, check. Acts 2:22-44, check.

One Year Bible Online has a similar plan available. You can download it (it is a .pdf document) and print it out. However, it has no little checkboxes and no catch up days in the schedule.

For the ultimate in check box accomplishment, check into the reading plan offered by Christianity.com. You become a member (it’s free), and record your progress online.

I don’t want to degrade the Scripture to a tick mark on my to-do list, but I do need help being consistent at reading the Bible and having a plan to follow helps me.

Improve Your Life: It could help you too. Find a Bible reading plan and get started. If you don’t want to tackle the Bible in one year, do a search on Bible reading plans. You can find one to fit your schedule.

Be Open-Minded: If you’re thinking, Why would I want to read the Bible every day? here is a chance to think outside your box. Oh-ho, my secular friend, are you tolerant enough to read something regarded as a holy book? Try it. I dare you. Even if you don’t believe the Bible is holy, it is full of stories and wisdom and principles that will challenge and help you. Are you open-minded enough to try it?