I love my morning routine. I’m telling you, I need it. I’ve been on vacation where I’m supposed to relax and get away from the hustle of life and have felt slightly miserable because my morning routine was thrown off. Realistically, I know that’s not how everyone is wired, but this is something I try my hardest to stick to.

For me, clarity is crucial. If everything is simply thrown together at random times, then I can’t function properly. And I’m also aware that my days, particularly my mornings, aren’t always going to look as clean or as tight as I’d like them to be. So, to give you a quick glimpse, here’s what my mornings look like 95% of the time:

6:30 A.M.

I want to be up early enough to where I can take my time getting up and thinking through some of the things I may have on my docket.

7:30 A.M.

At this time, I’ve hung out with Chango, my son, for awhile. He has his own morning routine too and once he’s good to go, it’s off to take him to school.

8:00 A.M.

This time is my jam. I’ll get home after taking Chango to school and I’ll start my brewing some coffee. A friend once came over and saw me make coffee and was annoyed at how long it took me. I’ll spend about 5-10 minutes preparing, grinding, and pouring coffee. This helps me keep the morning quiet and slow. I have no deadlines so I’m taking my time and enjoying the process.

Coffee - 9:00 A.M.

I’m sipping on my coffee and reading my Bible and/or writing until 9. I may put some music on, but still haven’t logged on to my email account or looked at my calendar. I have zero deadlines during this time, but shortly after 9 I begin working on something. Depending on the day, I may have meetings already scheduled or I’m working on developing content or my sermon.

I like my mornings to start off slow and quiet because I know I may not necessarily get that kind of an environment the rest of the day so I take advantage as much as I can. And again, these aren’t all of my mornings so there’s plenty of tweaking throughout the week. As you think through whether or not you should have a morning routine, here are 3 reasons why you should:

1.) Motivation

One of the hardest things for people is waking up and looking forward to something. For me, I genuinely look forward to the coffee making process. For others, it may be working out and getting it all out of the way before the day even begins. Everyone is different, but once you find that one thing you actually look forward to in the morning, waking up becomes easier and less of a pain.

2.) Completion

Mentally, by creating a morning routine you are now able to build a daily habit of starting and accomplishing tasks. Often, we can get swamped in our days where we feel like we’ve done a lot and have finished nothing. A morning routine helps you with a sense of accomplishment.

3.) Quiet Time

Many of the people I talk to with they could have some quiet time whether that would be for 20 minutes or an hour. A morning routine helps you with that. Depending on how you plan it, a morning routine will help you create an environment of silence and solitude.

THINGS TO THINK OF

1.) Prepare

You need to think about what is realistic for you and what your week looks like. For me, my morning routine happens 3 days out of the week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). Generally, on Tuesday’s, my first appointment is at 7:30 a.m. and then at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday’s. I try to make changes ahead of time so that I don’t feel thrown off.

2.) Time

Not everyone can have a long morning routine and that’s okay. Think through what it is your time will realistically look like in the morning.

3.) Adjust

Like many things, you’ll need to make adjustments as you move forward and that’s part of the morning routine. Adjustments are okay, but once you’ve found your sweet spot, enjoy!

The morning routine is all about catching momentum for the rest of your day. And often, we’re constantly on the go and looking for convenience and speed. In the mornings, however, it’s all about you. Give it a try. I’d love to hear about what you’re doing doing or trying in the comments!

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