Let me preface this by saying, no, you absolutely do not need to join the 5am club in order to have a successful and productive morning routine! In fact, if you aren’t a morning person, I’d recommend you don’t do that at first because you’ll likely just end up tired and run down. Mornings are supposed to be a fresh start, how you choose to define that fresh start is up to you. There are numerous ways to create a morning routine but here’s how I set up mine that I have been using for almost a year now!

Decide What You Want Your Mornings to Look Like

You do not need to be specific here! All you need to do is define what a morning routine is to you. Is this your personal time, a time to relax, a time to be productive, a time to exercise, all of the above? Figure that out first and all of the other pieces will follow suit!

Pick a Time

Pick a wake-up time that you genuinely believe you could commit to for 30 days. If you aren’t a morning person, I recommend a 7 or 8am time and if you’re goal is to ultimately get up even earlier, work towards that goal in half hour increments. Don’t throw yourself off the deep end or the routine likely will not stick

Determine the Activities You Want in Your Morning

The thing about a morning routine is that it is in fact a routine, to some its even a schedule. You have to know what you want to do in the mornings in order to reap the most reward from getting up earlier. If your goal is to use this extra time as your personal time, maybe take that extra long shower, take a bath, do some yoga, read a book, journal, etc. However, if you’re like me and your mornings are about getting a jumpstart on your day, maybe you schedule going to the gym, meditating, getting a head start on work, etc. It’s all up to you but schedule it!

What are the Essentials?

For beginners, I find this short bullet list of items to be beneficial in helping create your ideal morning routines:

·         Pick your wake-up time

·         Include breakfast and water intake!

·         Do something physically active even just for 20 minutes

·         Schedule an equal amount of time for yourself – meditate, journal, etc.

·         Do something that makes you feel productive – work, read, clean, etc.

·         Schedule this in time increments at first, it makes a huge difference!

·         Commit for 30 days to make it habit!

Morning routines make a significant difference in how your day goes overall, in my opinion. Where people faulter is not treating it like a skill that has to be practiced and maintained. You’ll have to rearrange your schedule, your morning routine may even be specific to certain days, that’s okay! The overall goal is just to ensure you feel that you are starting your day off on the right foot!