I have a strange snoozing habit. When my alarm goes off on my iPhone, I allow myself a glorious 9-minute snooze. When it goes off again and I still feel like I can’t move out of my cozy bed, I give myself a certain number of Mississippi’s. “You can have ten,” I tell myself. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. ZZZZZZ. Needless to say, this is not the best way to start my day. I’m disoriented, rushed, stressed, and dreading the moment when I look at the baby monitor and realize that both of my kids are awake and waiting for me to come get them.
I realized that my snoozing problem was setting the tone for how I interacted with my kids in the morning. When I’m disoriented, I’m less present. When I’m rushed, I push them through their mornings and am met with resistance. When I’m stressed, my impatience to get them dressed and fed and out the door is palpable. Instead of pausing for an extra nursery rhyme or saying good morning to each car and truck, I’m running around, calling, “Just a minute!” over my shoulder.
I needed to change. So I did the thing that no one wants to do when they have to make a change in their life. I stopped making excuses and I started to make room.
I went to bed earlier to get a full night’s rest so I didn’t oversleep. Revolutionary, I know. But it has changed everything.
I have been testing out a morning routine, and it’s been working well so I want to share. To help me remember, I created an acronym: HELLO EMILY.
Hydrate. The alarm goes off at 5 AM now and I do allow myself ONE snooze. After that, I go to the bathroom, put on my workout clothes, and drink as much from my water bottle as I can handle first thing in the morning. Then I go down into the basement to…
Exercise. I know. GROAN. If you don’t like the word exercise, try thinking about it as moving your body in a joyful way. These days I’m alternating between dance and Pilates workouts on YouTube. Need some ideas? I have public playlists of the workouts I like to do here. I aim to get down in the basement to start by 5:30, and work out for 30 minutes.
Listen to music as I get ready. I go upstairs, shower, and then do my bathroom routine and get dressed while I listen to music. I love podcasts but realized that they weren’t always putting me in the right headspace first thing in the morning. Listening to worship music energizes me and helps me focus on gratitude. Which is perfect because my next step is…
List three things I’m grateful for and my three Most Important Tasks (MIT’s) for the day. You can do this in a journal, notebook, or on your phone, but I would recommend staying away from a screen so you aren’t tempted to check e-mail or social media. I’ve been using the Five-Minute Journal, which includes a gratitude list, “what would make today great” (I substitute my MIT’s there) and affirmations. Not sure how to create your MIT’s with a million things on your to-do list? I find this article helpful.
Open my Bible app and read a chapter. One of my priorities is reading the Bible every day. I use the First5 app. If reading the Bible isn’t your thing, try a book you’re reading for inspiration or pleasure. If you can’t get a full chapter in, just read a few pages. I like to remember that cultivating the habit is more important than the amount of time you spend on the activity.
Enjoy five deep breaths. Throughout the day, I forget to breathe deeply. My Apple watch always seems to remind me to breathe just when I’m in a stressful moment. “Really?? You want me to breathe NOW?” But there is so much science backing up why deep breathing is important. So I take the time before the kids wake up to breathe fully, even if it’s just for a minute.
Make my green smoothie and prep meals and snacks. I have a green smoothie for breakfast almost every day. It helps me stay full throughout the morning and is the easiest thing to consume while I am feeding my kids. I also prepare their breakfasts in advance and prepare snack and lunch options. Finally, if I am making something in the Crock Pot for dinner, I prepare that as well. This is often the most time-consuming step of my morning routine but it saves me a LOT of stress later in the day.
Inbox and text message scan. I see if I’ve received any new text messages or e-mails since the night before. If anything requires immediate action I will reply; otherwise I will wait until later in the day, preferably nap time or evening.
Load of laundry. As a family of four, we usually have enough laundry to do a load every other day. I love having a load washed by the time the kids wake up, and they are still at the age where they are enthusiastic about helping me unload the washing machine and start the dryer.
You’re ready for the day! This routine definitely increases my energy, focus, and gratitude while reducing stress. At 7:30 AM when I greet my kids, I am genuinely excited to start the day.
Now that I’ve been doing the routine for a while, I have three tips on how to make the most of yours:
A great morning routine starts the evening before. I already mentioned going to bed early to get a full night’s sleep is the key to a successful morning. I am lucky that my husband leaves the house by 6:15 AM, so we try to have lights out at 9 or 9:15 PM and wake up at 5 AM. Having similar schedules is very helpful because we keep each other accountable.
Even though I am usually exhausted by the time my kids go to bed at 7 PM, I try to prepare for the next day as much as possible. I put the folded laundry away, put my workout clothes out, and pick out my clothes for the next day. I also take a look at the next day’s schedule to see if there’s anything else I can do to make life a little easier.
I’m not sure about you, but I live with two different selves: morning Emily and evening Emily. Evening Emily always thinks that Morning Emily can handle everything and doesn’t usually want to spend the time or energy preparing for the next day. Since I’ve started sticking to my morning routine, however, Evening Emily knows exactly what Morning Emily has going on and begrudgingly does the tasks necessary to make the next day run smoothly.
Start with the most important things and be flexible when things don’t go as planned. I start with the most important things for me to get the day started off right: water, exercise, gratitude, setting intentions for the day, and healthy food. If I don’t get to checking my inbox or doing the laundry, it’s OK. I can do those things later in the day. Also if I have a lot of prep work to do (cooking food for my MOPS group, prepping lunches for the boys for preschool), I may work out for 20 minutes instead of 30. I allow margin so I don’t feel rushed going from one activity to the next, but I’m able to complete each thing with a sense of purpose.
Be intentional and disciplined in how you use your devices. This, of course, is a good reminder for any time of the day, but especially when you wake up. It’s important that you are setting your own agenda instead of someone else hijacking your time and attention first thing in the morning.
I interact with my phone and the computer several times in the morning: when I wake up I turn off my phone’s alarm. When I work out, I use YouTube on the computer. When I listen to music, I pick up my phone again, and use it when I read the Bible. There are numerous opportunities for me to get sidetracked and check my inbox or social media. It requires immense discipline (more than I’d like to admit) to only do the specific thing in my routine and not get sidetracked. But it is well worth it when I feel centered and focused when I start my morning.
My morning routine has allowed me to start each day with a sense of calm and purpose, knowing that even if nothing else goes right for the entire day, I’ve started it in an intentional way that focuses on the things most important to me. Now that my morning routine is becoming more habitual, I’m working on developing routines for the time when my kids are napping and my evenings.
Do you have a morning routine or other routines that help anchor your day? Leave a comment!
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