Creating a solid morning routine is the best way to keep your body running well. If you treat your body well, it will treat you well in return.
There’s only so much time in the day but at the end of the end day when you still have the energy to spare, it will seem like you had an extra hour or two that day. Be good to yourself.
Coffee or Tea
Caffiene, caffeine, caffeine! I need it in the morning, tea or coffee, I don’t care which (mostly coffee, though.) Studies have shown that caffeine will make you more productive, and isn’t that what we all want?
Make a Smoothie
I used to think that only people who loved fruit and vegetables drank smoothies. Now I know that if you want to get some vitamins without the trouble of eating five portions of fruit and veg, you can blend it up and down a smoothie instead.
Eat Fruit
I imagine our prehistoric ancestors often ate fruit first thing in the morning. If it was good enough for them, it’s good enough for me.
Go for a Walk
Morning strolls are fantastic! The weather is cooler, and you can get some early morning vitamin D, some gentle exercise to get the blood flowing, and some much-needed fresh air. What could be better?
Open the Windows
I’ve spent years of my life living in places with some of the worst pollution in the world, so I understand more than most the joy of being able to breathe fresh air. Bring some joy into your world in the morning by opening the windows.
Water Your Plants
It only takes a moment, but it’s so easy to forget! So make it part of your morning routine. Maybe you’ll manage to keep this one alive!
Hit the Gym
Even if you don’t have a gym nearby, you can still get in a great workout with no equipment,m at home. If you don’t know what you should do, check out a following-along workout like this one.
Go For a Run
If you struggle with motivation to run in the morning, try laying out your running shoes and running clothes the night before. After a couple of weeks, you won’t be able to start your day until you’ve run a few miles.
Yoga
Yoga gets the blood pumping and stretches the muscles and joints, shaking off the laziness from the night before. It’s the perfect start to your morning, and all you need is a mat (you don’t even need a mat.) Follow along on YouTube if you don’t know what to do!
Drink Water
After sleeping all night, you wake up dehydrated. Surprisingly, most moisture is lost during the night through breathing. All of that water needs to be replaced, which is why drinking a cup of water soon after waking is so beneficial.
Practice A Skill
It might be piano, juggling, or origami; whatever skill you try to perfect, why not add it to your morning routine. Not only will it help you progress, but we do these things because it’s fun, right?
Take A Before/Progress Photo
Studies have shown that the people who document their weight loss journey with photos lose more weight and keep more weight off. So start your journey today by taking your before photo.
Buy Something that would make your life better
If you wake craving an espresso every morning, get that espresso machine! It doesn’t have to be something expensive; it might be a better pen. Imagine how much better your life would be if you bought 30 things that made it better.
Prepare Your Lunch
By mid-morning I’m usually in a flow state, working productively. The last thing I want to do is be yanked from it because I have to start making lunch. If you have lunch ready in the morning, you can keep working right up until lunchtime.
Screen-Free Till xAM
For some people, their devices are a problem, and limiting their screen time, especially immediately after waking, can make them feel better physically, psychologically, and emotionally. If you think it’s become a problem, try going screen-free till 10 am.
Walk on grass barefoot
Right now, I’m in an apartment six floors up, and outside there is nothing but concrete as far as the eye can see. What I wouldn’t give to be able to walk barefoot on grass each morning after
waking up.
Take Multivitamins
If you’re anything like me, you buy multivitamins and then forget to take them. That’s because you haven’t given yourself a set time to take them daily. If you make it a habit that you do every morning, you won’t have a cupboard of expired vitamins anymore.
Swim
Not everyone has access to a pool they can swim in every morning, but if you do, this is a great way to wake yourself up and get a little exercise before you start your day.
Sauna
The benefits of using a sauna are well documented from clearing your pores to improving heart health. Saunas are also reasonably affordable.
Listen to Music
When I was a teenager, there wasn’t a moment I didn’t have my portable CD player on me. Now I find that a week may pass without me listening to anything. But whenever I put on some good tunes, I always have a better day!
Ideas to Create a Great Morning Routine for Your Mind
Maybe you’re the type that always has your nose in a book or just someone who loves to learn. Here are some routine ideas for the more intellectual among you.
On the other hand, you might have not read anything since school but always had a nagging feeling that you should one day read the classics, learn to play Sudoku, or finally learn that language. Find some great suggestions here to help add a little culture into your day.
Read a Classic
You can’t possibly read everything published, so how do you choose what to read? Choose something that’s proved itself over the years and start your morning reading some of the best authors who ever lived?
- Homer
- Jane Austin
- Dostoevsky
Sudoku
If you like a challenge in the morning, keep a book of sudoku problems on your side table and fill in those squares over your morning coffee!
Crossword
If you’re not into numbers, leave the sodoku to the math geeks and do a crossword puzzle instead. Just make sure you don’t ignore the one across from you.
Play Chess Online
In the past, you’d have to meet a friend in the park to play an early morning chess game, but now you can do it online. There are tons of online chess apps, try chess.com on Android and IOS.
Read Something in A Foreign Language
Why not read the news in French today? (or whatever language you’re learning) You’re always saying how you don’t get much opportunity to use your foreign language. Why not make it part of your morning?
Do Flashcards (Anki)
If you’re studying for an exam, learning your Latin conjugations, or just memorizing facts for fun, make using a flashcard app like Anki a habit you do every morning.
“Repetitio est mater memorial.”
(Repetition is the mother of memory.)
Write a Blog Post
I do this every morning. In fact, I’m doing it right now (this is the second post I’ve written this morning actually.) The hardest part for a new blogger is consistently producing new blog content; the only way to get over that is to make sure you write every day.
It doesn’t have to be in the morning, but I find that I don’t have the energy to write 2000 words at the end of the day.
Read the News
I used to read the news every morning with my coffee. I don’t read it anymore because I got sick of reading about the pandemic every day.
Now that it’s out of the news, I haven’t gone back to reading it. I think I’m happier not reading it, but that’s just me.
Read your RSS Feed
Rather than reading the news each morning which is just a bunch of articles that big media thinks you should read, why not cultivate your RSS feed and read the things you actually want to read each morning.
Just download an RSS reader and add your favorite blogs, websites, and news sources. Hint! Start with Kill the Dragon Get the Gold!
Listen to an Audio Book
Platforms like Audible have made listening to audiobooks so convenient that you’re losing out if you’re not listening to them. Combine this with a walk outside or a morning workout, and now you’re really getting efficient!
Listen to a Podcast
You don’t have to be a Joe Rogan fan to listen to morning podcasts. Whatever your interests, there are podcasts to suit you. Why not try out Still Processing?
Homework
You were supposed to do it the night before, but if things often catch up with you. creating time in the morning to do your homework might be even better than doing it after a long day.
The Perfect Morning Routine Ideas for the Soul
Strong body, strong mind, both are great but your need to cultivate the spirit too. You don’t have to be religious to be spiritual, in fact, meditation is growing faster among atheists than religious people now.
If you’re not into any of that spiritual stuff there are still some brilliant options on this list, baking bread and playing with your child feed the soul too!
Read The Bible
Start your morning by reading The Bible; you can carry the Word with you for the rest of the day.
Pray
If you believe in a higher power, the morning is the best time to connect with them. So before all the day’s worries start piling on, spend a few moments with your maker in prayer.
Meditate
Meditation has been shown to have all sorts of benefits, from reducing stress and blood pressure to mental clarity and better focus. You don’t need to do anything special either; close your eyes and focus on breathing.
Affirmations
Everyone from Jim Carrey to Oprah Winfrey uses positive affirmations to motivate themselves or to program behavior into themselves. Here’s how to do it.
Write a Journal
I wish I’d written a journal every morning of my life so I could reflect on it and remember what I was thinking as a child. Journaling has other benefits too.
Read to Your Child
Children love stories! My son is nine now and still loves nothing more than sitting back while I read him a book (we’re reading The Call of the Wild currently.) Not only do they love it, but it’s good for their brains, too, it increases their vocabulary, and it’s a great way to connect with your kid.
Play a Game with Your Children
There will come a time when your kids don’t want to play snakes and ladders anymore; make the most of it while you can.
Be Grateful
Practicing gratitude is in fashion now; all the gurus are talking about it. But I don’t think you should do it just because it’s popular, being grateful for things, people, things and experiences of your life will make you happier and a better person to be around.
Make Breakfast For Your partner
Every morning I wake up and make my wife a cup of coffee. She never needs to ask and knows it will always be on the table waiting for her. Little things like this build up a sense of well-being, show affection, and actually take minimal effort (I’m making coffee for myself too!)
Bake Bread (or Cookies!)
If you want that freshly baked bread smell, you have to bake the bread!
Talk to a Friend or Family Member
How many times have you spent the morning with your family and barely said two words to them? Make an effort to start a conversation with the people most important to you. Not sure what to say? Ask about their childhood!
Cold Shower
You’ve seen YouTube videos titled “I tried having cold showers for 30 days, and it changed my life.” I had cold showers every day for 18 months, which certainly didn’t change my life, so don’t expect too much. It is refreshing, though.
The Most Productive Morning Routine Ideas
At the end of the day, you know a day has been successful if you got everything you wanted to do, done. Using your morning routine to either get something important done or to set yourself up for a productive day is one of the best uses for it.
Your habits will dictate how much you get done, so make these productivity ideas a daily habit as part of your morning routine and watch the success start to pile up!
I love the productivity boost I can get from employing some of these ideas in my routine.
Write a To-do List
This is one of the habits that the most productive people have in common. Creating a daily to-do list will change your life; it only takes a few minutes!
Read Email
Anything taken to the extreme is bad for you. Though many people say you shouldn’t check email first thing, I think it depends on who you are and the effect it has on you. For example, I check email in the morning but not work email.
Write a List of Goals For the Year
Have you ever had a goal you didn’t complete or, worse yet, a list of goals you didn’t complete? Writing out your goals every morning will put them into the forefront of your mind each day, helping your continue to make progress and eventually check them off.
Watch a Motivating Video
If I’m not feeling it, I’ll go into YouTube and search ‘morning motivation’ and find a short motivational clip to pick me up. Listening to someone like David Goggins is bound to get your juices flowing!
Do Something you’ve been putting off
It might be fixing something or throwing something out, whatever that thing is for you. Decide you will spend 15 minutes this morning and get it done once and for all. If you do, you’ll feel like a weight has been lifted off you.
Declutter your room/desk
Trying to work in a messy area is possible, but you’re never going to do your best work there. Don’t believe me? Tidy up your desk this morning and see how you feel.
Charge Your Devices
Those little devices that practically run our lives now need constant juice to stay alive. Nothing is worse than leaving the house and realizing your phone’s dead. Plug them in in the morning to make sure that never happens.
Check your investments
When you first start investing, you probably check in on them every day (or multiple times a day) to see if you are rich yet. After a few years, however, it’s easy to forget about them completely, checking in in the mornings may only take you a moment.
Create a budget
If your finances aren’t where you’d like them to be, creating a budget can correct them. Know how much you have and want to save, then figure out how to live on what’s left.
Backup important Files
This is something that I struggle with. I put it on my to-do list but frequently avoid making the backups. I don’t know why. I think it’s all the waiting.
Keeping your files organized and backed up is so important though. Making this part of my morning routine helps, though.
Pack Your Bag
f you’re going out today, don’t wait till you need to leave to start packing your bag. Having all of that done ahead of time will make the whole journey go smoother; you’ll be less stressed and have a better day.
Do Your MIT (Most Important Task)
In the morning, you have the most energy (especially after coffee), and the stress of the day hasn’t gotten to you yet. So use this time to get that important task done so that whatever happens that day, you know you’ve done the important things.
Work Towards a Passive Income Stream Or Side Business
Building a passive income stream or a business on the side of your main job is hard; it takes consistent work. However, building it in as part of your morning routine will ensure you move your business forward daily.
Ask Yourself What Stupid Thing You’re Doing To Make Your Life Worse and Fix It
Jordan Peterson gave this advice to a student who didn’t know where to start to improve his life. Imagine how much better your life would be if you spent time doing this every day for a year.
Make Your Bed
Make sure you start your day productively by completing your first task – making your bed. Or pretend you’re a soldier.
Do Laundry
I don’t like doing it, you don’t like doing it, but it must be done. There’s nothing worse than realizing the shirt you wanted to wear is still in the laundry basket. Create the habit of washing your clothes each morning so that doesn’t happen to you!
Process Your Inbox
If you use a productivity system (and I highly recommend you do), you need to process all of the ideas and thoughts you have been capturing. Doing this in the morning is the best time so that you can be sure the decisions about how you spend your time will be optimal.
Manage Email
Reading email is one thing, but email inboxes also need to be managed. Email needs to be deleted, spam removed, and quick replies written. Rather than letting it all pile up for months and then avoiding it because of its mass, do a little each day and keep it manageable.
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ve found some great morning routine ideas in this post and that you can use them to create the best start to your day.
Look out for my next blog on different morning routines you can use.