Are you ready to stop having crappy days where you’re tired all the time and unmotivated?
Then you need to make sure you’re starting your day on the right foot.
And in order to do that, you need to create a morning routine.
But hold on, before you go searching on youtube for the “perfect morning routine”, you need to know that everyone’s morning routine is different.
And it has to be, otherwise, it wouldn’t be created with your unique circumstances and likes and dislikes in mind.
Obviously, you wouldn’t have the same morning routine as an Olympic swimmer or a mother with 2 toddlers. That just doesn’t make sense.
You have to create a morning route that’s curated to your unique lifestyle.
And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do today.
This blog post contains my five-step process to create a morning routine that you love and that works for you and your lifestyle.
Let’s get started.
Step 1: Review Your Current Morning Routine
Before you can start creating your “perfect” morning routine you need to review your current one.
Believe it or not, you already have a morning routine. If you pay attention, you’ll notice you do almost the same exact thing every morning.
Hitting snooze every morning may be part of your routine. Not eating breakfast or running out the door could also be a part of your routine.
Let’s take some time to examine your current routine.
Ask yourself these questions:
- How early do you get up?
- Do you have enough time to get ready before work/school?
- Are you getting enough sleep?
- Do you feel refreshed and ready to tackle the day?
- Do you eat breakfast every morning?
Step 2: Discover Your Why
If you want to stick to a new routine, you need to define your why. Why do you want to create a morning routine?
When you’re struggling to get out of bed, remembering why it’s important to you will be super helpful.
Maybe it’s because you don’t want to feel rushed out the door every morning. Or you want more time with your kids before they run to catch the bus. Or you want to start your day with some personal development time.
Whatever it is, write it down.
Why do you want to create a morning routine and what do you want to get out of it?
Step 3: Brainstorm the Possibilities
Alright, here’s where we have fun.
Now that you know your current routine and why you want to make it better, let’s decide what you want your new routine to look like.
Brainstorm what you want to include in your morning routine.
What do you want to achieve in your first hour of the day?
Write down all your ideas and how much time you would spend on them.
If you’re having troubles coming up with some ideas, check out this blog post for 20 Morning Routine Ideas that will Make You Want to Get Up
Step 4: Plan Out Your Morning Routine
Now that you have a list of things you want to include in your morning routine, write down what you want it to look like.
Try to build off your current routine if you can. That will make it easier to implement.
If you normally go straight to the shower when you get up, keep that the same but then add one of your new activities right after, like reading or journaling.
If you’re having a hard time deciding on your routine, make a couple of different possible routines.
You could try the first one for one week and then another one the week after.
And at the end of each week reflect on how you felt they went and if you need to change something.
Pro Tip: Most people don’t want to get up in the morning because they don’t have something to look forward to in their day. Include an activity in your morning routine that you love but don’t normally have time for during the day. This will motivate you to get up earlier so you have time for something you love.
Step 5: Create an Evening Routine
Congrats – you have a morning routine, but you’re not done yet.
Getting up feeling motivated and refreshed starts the night before so you need to create an evening routine too.
It doesn’t have to be as detailed as your morning routine, but pick a few activities that will wind you down before bed so you can fall asleep faster. And do a few things that will make your morning easier like setting out your outfit, or packing your lunch.
My evening routine includes a quick 15-minute clean-up, setting out my workout clothes, filling up my water bottle for the morning, and reading for 30-60 minutes.
Decide on the activities you will include in your evening routine that will help you carry out your morning routine.
Two Tips To Help You Get Up
Place your alarm clock across the room!
Yep, it’s as simple as that.
Many people have built a habit of grabbing their phone, pressing snooze, and rolling back over.
So put your alarm on the other side of the room so you have to get up to shut it off.
Stop using your phone as your alarm!
Another habit people have is shutting their alarm off on their phone and then scrolling through social media for the first half-hour they’re awake.
This not only wastes time but can also affect your mood and mindset for the rest of the day.
Instead, try this alarm clock.
This sunrise alarm clock is my favorite. I got it a couple of years ago and now refuse to use another alarm clock.
The alarm simulates the sunrise in your room. Using it has been life-changing because I get up way before the sunrises (yes even in the summer).
When you set the time for the alarm to go off you also decide what time to start the “sunrise effect”. You can choose to have it start 10-30 minutes before the alarm is set to go off. It will slowly get brighter and brighter throughout that time.
You also have the choice of alarm sounds that aren’t blaring and annoying first thing in the morning. I set mine to have birds chirping as my alarm.
With this sunrise alarm clock across the room, it lights up my whole room gradually to gently wake me up.
Try it for yourself. I will never go back to a regular alarm clock.
Final Thoughts
Now that you have a morning routine and an evening routine, set your alarm to do your first new morning routine tomorrow.
Start with your evening routine tonight and you should be all set to have an awesome and productive day tomorrow.
Don’t procrastinate until next Monday or next week. There will never be a “better” day than right now.
Set your alarm and start each morning on the right foot with your own personal morning routine.
For more inspiration on morning routines, check out these books:
The Miracle Morning – Hal Elrod
The 5 am Club – Robin Sharma
College Students: I made a morning routine blog post specifically for you. Go check it out!
More Blog Posts on Morning Routines:
The Incredible Magic of Having a Morning Routine
10 Amazing Benefits of Waking Up Early and Having a Morning Routine
How to Stop Hitting Snooze | 5 Smart Tips for Breaking the Habit
20 Morning Routine Ideas that will Make You Want to Get Up
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23 thoughts on “How to Create a Morning Routine and Stick To It”
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Great ideas! I like adding morning AND evening affirmations to my day! Those help a lot too!
I find this helpful I need to rework my routine now that some things have changed in my life. Thanks for the reminder and great tips.
I love routines. It makes personal growth a breeze as all the things I want to work on become second nature. Painless. Thank you for this post!
Tiphany,
I totally agree! Ever since I starting my morning routine personal development activities have become second nature.
ugh! My morning routine needs a total overhaul! My “me” time is late at night (it’s 11:47pm right now), I have been desperately trying to flip that to the mornings, and waking up before anyone else in the house….thanks for the tips! Baby steps!
Emily,
Yes, baby steps are important! Try to move your wake-up time back just 15 minutes at a time every week. This will not only slowly give you actual time for a morning routine but it starts building the habit of waking up earlier which will, in turn, help you fall asleep earlier too. Good luck on your morning routine overhaul! If you need any help don’t be afraid to reach out!
What a helpful post! So simple and easy to follow steps for creating a morning routine. I will definitely be using some of your ideas to add to my morning routine. Very well done! I enjoyed reading this.
Yay! I’m so happy you enjoyed this post and gained some more ideas to add to your morning routine.
I love that alarm clock! I wake up to the sounds of birds chirping and the gentle warm glow of the light. It’s so peaceful! I also set my FitBit to vibrate when I’m naturally in a lighter state of sleep. It’s a really cool function but it makes waking up more peaceful too. I had a solid morning routine, then COVID hit and it’s been nuts with all the kids home. So hoping to get my morning routine back soon.
Chelsea,
Yes! the alarm clock is my favorite. I’ve thought about adding the vibration on my Fitbit too, will have to give that a try tomorrow. My morning routine fell apart when covid hit too. I finally got it going again in December and it feels great.
This is so great! I was just thinking the other day how I need a good morning routine and this has helped me to really focus on creating one and sticking to it. I love the idea of having an evening routine to accommodate the morning routine!
Adrianne,
I always say that you can’t have a productive morning routine without a productive AND relaxing evening routine. They are complementary of each other.
Morning routines are so important. I am still struggling to implement it every morning but I can definitely see a difference in my day when I wake up and have the routine in place.
Tara,
Morning routines are awesome! There are a few days that I still hit the snooze button and don’t do my morning routine and I feel off the entire day. A morning routine really does help set me up for a productive day.
I am completely independent and no longer work for anyone but myself, so I have the luxury of waking up when I want to wake up! But my morning routine looks like this: wake when my body says wake, brush my teeth, take the dog out and meditate for 15 minutes while she takes care of business! Then it’s time for yoga, coffee, and whatever spiritual reading and journaling I’m doing! At night I use guided sleep meditations which has greatly improved my quality of sleep.
Hannah,
I love that luxury too! Thanks for sharing your routine. And I love the idea of doing sleep meditations. I should give that a try.
Love your breakdown of all the ways to create your perfect morning (and evening) routine! Definitely motivating to put into practice.
Kristin,
I’m happy you enjoyed the breakdown and that it was motivating for you!
Oh my goodness! I love morning routines. In fact, the morning hours are the best time of day for me, so the first thing I do is have my morning coffee. Afterward, I pray, but while I’m praying I can get my walking in for exercise. After that, I can get my bath, dress and begin my other duties. Thanks for these great ideas, however. They are sure to help others and I appreciate the post.
Yes! I love mornings. They are so quiet and peaceful. Thanks for sharing your routine too. Never thought of a morning bath, sounds relaxing!
Thank you for this post! I am currently struggling with setting a proper routine both in the morning and evening. I like the idea of picking an activity that I can look forward to doing and moving my alarm clock. So simple and yet didn’t even occur to me. I can’t wait to try some of these tips this week!
Yay! I so happy I could help. Once you establish a morning routine you love it’ll be so much easier to get up and not hit snooze.