The Ultimate Morning Routine Guide

To follow a morning routine, you first need to stop telling yourself that you’re not a morning person. Because if you keep telling yourself that you’re not a morning person, then you’re going to believe it. Think about all the times when you were able to wake up and the times when you didn’t snooze your alarm. They are all evidence that you can be a morning person and you can wake up early. And if you still struggle, then keep reading as I’m sharing plenty of tips to help get you out of bed.

Go to bed at a reasonable hour

If you want to be a morning person, then you need to stop being a night owl. Unless you can function on little sleep, which I don’t recommend. If you’re used to going to bed late, then you will slowly need to adjust your habits, as you will struggle to fall asleep at 10pm if you’re used to going to sleep at 2am.

When setting your bedtime try working backwards, so first think about what time you want to wake up in the morning. Next, think about how much sleep you need (7-9 hours). From here you can work out your ideal bedtime.

Start off simple

Avoid feeling overwhelmed by keeping your morning routine simple. When we overcomplicate our routines, we fall into the all-or-nothing mindset which causes us to give up and go back-to-back habits. Especially when starting a new habit and a new routine, it’s best to start off simple and create a routine which we can stick to and not one which just sounds good to other people. Because if you overcomplicate it and then abandon your routine, the only person you’re letting down is yourself.

Have a reason to get up earlier

To wake up earlier you need to give yourself a good reason why, because without one you will struggle to get out of your warm and cosy bed when your alarm sounds. So, what is the reason why you want to get out of bed? Is it to work on a goal, to exercise, to have a relaxing morning or to have a productive morning?

Visualise your morning

I recommend visualising your perfect morning to get a better understanding of how you want to spend your extra time in the morning. To do this you need to grab a pen and paper, I’ve always found putting pen to paper works best for this type of exercise, rather than doing it digitally. Imagine your ideal morning and think about how you feel, what time you wake up, what you do and what your purpose and goals are.

To help you with this exercise, I have listed below many activities which you could include in your morning routine. There are many to choose from, so just pick out the ones which appeal the most to you.

You might prefer to create a themed morning routine by choosing activities from the same category or you might prefer to choose activities from each category to have a more balanced routine. If you’re new to having a morning routine, try to keep your routine simple.

Self-care morning routine

• Have a healthy breakfast
• Hydrate, have a glass of water and or a herbal tea
• Workout (run, gym, workout class, home workout)
• Meditate/sit in silence

Productive morning routine

• Prepare your meals for the day
• Plan your time
• Write your to-do list
• Make your bed / tidy your space

Self-development morning routine

• Write morning pages
• Write affirmations
• Listen to a podcast
• Watch an inspiring video
• Read a book
• Set or review your goals

Plan your morning

Now it’s time to plan your morning routine. Do you know which room in your home you will be doing your routine in? Make sure it’s clean and remove all unnecessary distractions. Do you know how long your morning routine will be? How long you will spend on each activity? This can be an estimated time.

Remember, your morning routine is likely to change as you put it into practice, so don’t worry about trying to make your first routine perfect!

How to stick to your routine

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The night before

There are some things which you can do the night before to improve your morning routine. By having a routine before you go to sleep, you will set yourself up for a productive and relaxing morning. My typical bedtime routine goes like this:

My bedtime routine:

• Switch off all electronics by 9 PM
• Give the kitchen a quick tidy
• Pamper
• Prepare my bag and clothes for work the next day
• Read in bed

Set a bedtime

Our bodies have a natural rhythm and when we don’t give ourselves enough sleep or when our bedtime is erratic our rhythm is messed up. Our bodies function better when they’re on a regular routine and the more regular sleep that you get the more balanced you’re going to feel. Having a bedtime will also set up a better routine for your day.

Plan your morning the night before

Planning your morning the night before can help you get out of bed and into your routine, without any time wasted snoozing. By planning your routine for the next day or week, you can simply get up and go rather than wasting time figuring out what to have for breakfast or what to do with your morning before you need to head to work.

Helpful tips

How to avoid the snooze button

To avoid the snooze button I highly recommend you download an app called “Alarmy”.  I guarantee that you will wake up earlier and stop snoozing if you use this app.

There are a few different ways you can turn your alarm off, all of which involve you being wide awake. I’ve opted for answering difficult maths questions and the alarm will not turn off until you’ve answered all the questions correctly. Another option is to take a picture of a particular image in your house, your best chance with this option is to choose an image in another room, such as your fridge.

Avoid your phone

Unless you’re using your phone to be productive or as your alarm clock, I suggest you limit time spent on your phone during your morning routine. Unless you have some serious willpower, most of us will become distracted if our phone is nearby. As we “quickly” check social media but before we know it, we have wasted 15 minutes scrolling through our phones. Which is not what you want to do when you’ve woken up early.

If you need to avoid your phone, then I suggest you purchase the “Forest” app for a couple of pounds. With the app, you set a timer and during this time a seed is planted which eventually grows into a tree, if you look at your phone during the set time, then the tree dies! It’s a good way to stay focused and keep you away from your phone.

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Don’t be so hard on yourself

Finally, don’t be so hard on yourself. Waking up early and creating a morning routine takes time. Know that even morning people struggle to get up early sometimes.

If you snooze your alarm one morning, don’t let that be evidence that you’re not a morning person – let that be evidence that you’re human. Be kind to yourself and know that there will be some mornings when it’s a huge struggle and that’s ok, you can try again the next day.

Do you have any advice to become a morning person? Let me know in the comments below!