Your Morning Routine
Do You Even Have a Morning Routine?
You do - even if you don’t think about having one!
Your routine might look a little different than a recent viral video featuring a jacked fitness trainer getting up before dawn, dunking his face in a bowl of iced fancy bottled water, journaling and going for a run all before most of us open our eyes.
Your routine could be simple - get up, brush teeth, pour coffee, choose outfit. It’s not an ambitious routine, but it’s a routine. Whatever you’re currently doing, there could be a lot of unrealized potential in your morning routine.
What Superpowers are Hiding in Your Routine?
This is probably a topic in itself that could stretch on for pages, but I’ll hit some highlights (while glossing over the obvious like brushing your teeth).
Workout - The whole “fasted cardio” thing has been mostly debunked recently, but doesn’t mean a morning workout isn’t a good idea. Morning is when some hormones are at their peak for the day, meaning you can maximize your output and muscle growth. It’s also a great way to prioritize your workout, so you don’t have to worry about squeezing it in later.
Prep for success - This could be simply reviewing your calendar for the day, or preparing food for the rest of the day. If you’re having trouble sticking to a nutrition plan, leaving the house with a prepped lunch and snacks is a huge power move.
Read - Morning has become my favorite time to read. Most of my reading is business or self-improvement focused, and it tends to get me fired up to take action. I’ve found reading these sorts of books before bed amps me up rather than winds me down.
How Are You Fitting All This In??
Clearly, everyone’s day will look a little different. My morning routine has become a collection of simple and quick activities that can easily be adjusted to suit my day. And I’ll just be honest here - my routine has developed mostly out of laziness!
Here are some of my current favorite morning routine components:
Exposure - Regardless of the weather, I’ve been making a habit of getting outside first thing. Studies are showing that natural sunlight plays a big part in our brain activity - both in the morning and evening - so getting some light exposure in the morning cues your body to get going. I’ve also found a benefit in exposing myself to whatever the weather is. If it’s below freezing, my body gets quick exposure and is prepared for it. If it’s going to be hot enough to fry and egg, I’m prepared for that as well. I also go out barefoot most days.
Breathe - Most of the time, I’m not investing in a whole breathwork routine even though this would be a fantastic time for it. At minimum, I take 3-5 deep breaths while looking at the sky to absorb that lovely natural light. This also helps with the exposure component, so I’m crossing off 2-3 components in the span of 60 seconds.
Movement - The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized the power of movement in small doses. It’s good for your body, and good for your brain. Not every session needs to be a full blown sweaty workout. I’ll perform 10 slow squats or cossack squats, 5 Jefferson curls or some good mornings - maybe a combination of several movements. You can use an app like the one I created called “NEAT Moves”. This only needs to take 2-5 minutes! This gets my blood flowing and amazingly boosts my energy. My desire for coffee diminishes a lot after some easy movement, because I’m so awake!
Reading - I already mentioned that I like reading in the morning. I usually don’t even finish a full chapter, but I get it in. It also helps to kickstart my brain by making it work a little bit. I’ve recently added in a little bio-hack of reading with one eye closed for half a page or so then switching eyes. The thought being that your brain can tend to rely on whichever of your eyes is stronger, allowing the bad eye to continue getting worse. I swear I need to my reading glasses less the rest of the day when I do this!
Calendar and Emails - After I’ve “earned” some screen time I’ll check my calendar and do a quick scan of my email inbox.
Breakfast and Food Prep - Then it’s time to start my nutrition off right with a good breakfast and prepare usually one additional meal and a snack for the day, depending on how long I plan to be at the gym.
And for me, all that takes less than 30 minutes - and the bulk of that time is reading and emails, so I can easily tweak those two when I’m in a hurry or have a later start.
Don’t Overthink Your Routine
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
If you’re having trouble re-structuring your day, just pick one thing to add to your routine - that’s what I did! You an always add and subtract activities when needed, so pick the quickest, easiest thing first and see if it gets you results.
My focus was getting my mind in the right place to start my day, but yours may be more about logistics. Set your priority, then choose accordingly. And I’m always here if you need help!