Do I REALLY Need Morning Routine?

Have you ever wondered if you need a morning routine? Wondered if this idea is all it’s cracked up to be. We’ve heard about the “5 am Club”, the high performers that swear by getting up before dawn, doing their meditation, cold plunge, workout, etc., etc. And we may wonder, “Do I really need a morning routine?”

Re-frame that question to be “Do I really need a NEW morning routine?”, because the truth is, you already have a morning routine. Think about that. Every morning, what do you do when the alarm goes off? Hit snooze consistently? That’s a routine. When you finally get out of bed, you head to the washroom? That’s a routine. Then head to the kitchen to put the coffee on? That’s a routine.

Here are the real questions I want you to ask yourself:

>> “Is what I am doing in the morning right now serving me?”

>> “How do I currently feel as I move through my morning?”

>> “How do I want to feel as I move through my morning?”

If you are not feeling the way you want, with your mornings setting you up for success, then YES, you need a new morning routine.

If your current mornings have you feeling frazzled and behind schedule, you need a new morning routine.

Here is a brainstorming activity to try:

1) Write down all the things you must do in the morning (brushing your teeth, feeding dogs, getting kids ready etc-whatever applies to you)

2) Write down all of the things you would like to do in the morning (drink a HOT cup of coffee-parents of littles, you feel me, right?!; take a walk; read 10 pages-whatever you would like to do)

3) Identify how much time you have in the morning. **This needs to be an accurate amount of time, not what think you have.

4) Look at #s 1-3 above and see how far apart these actually are. That is, how much time do you need to complete your “must-dos” and your “would-like-to-dos” AND how much time do you actually have?

5) There are now two options: a) find more time or b) lessen the to-do lists. Or of course, there is c) do a bit of both = find a little bit more time AND lessen the to-dos.

With me so far?

If you need to:

FIND MORE TIME: Stop hitting the snooze button-this is a habit that needs to be broken. Every time you hit the snooze button, you are training your brain to believe that the alarm means to keep sleeping. When the alarm goes off, count down “5-4-3-2-1” and get up! And consider going to bed earlier (that is when the morning routine actually starts…the night before)

LESSEN THE TO-DO LIST: Ask yourself, “What can I do the night before to better set up for success?” AND “Of my list of ‘would-like-to-dos"‘, what is the ONE that would have the most impact on all of the others?”

If you need a little help with this, don’t hesitate to reach out; deanna@deannalangfordcoaching.com

Cheering you on!

Deanna