Tired of being in a rush every morning?

Building up a refreshing morning routine will help you enjoy a productive day. Not only will you feel more in control, which reduces anxiety, but you will also finally take time for yourself and save mental energy along the way.

Good morning mood, good day

Research actually demonstrates your mood in the morning affects your mood for the rest of the day. And I bet you didn’t need this confirmation because all of us have already experienced in one way or the other.

By creating a morning routine, you will increase your perception of control (whether it actually increases or not) and as a result create a positive state of mind.

But let’s see exactly how we can avoid getting out of bed on the wrong foot.

What should I include in my morning routine?

As a first step, before deciding what to do, you naturally have to decide when you want to wake up, and then stick to it as explained in my previous article.

Then, you will define a routine, which you feel will get your ready for your day, and apply it the first 60 minutes of every day.

To achieve it, start picking up from the list below one thing you always wanted to do but never found time, as well as another thing exclusively for you. There’s evidence to suggest taking time for yourself in the mornings can actually make you more productive and focused during the day.

Concretely, here are examples of what you can include in your morning routine:

• Work out. Don’t remember the benefits?
• Take time with your kids.
• Make your bed. It literally takes two minutes and there are apparently a lot of unsuspected benefits stemming from the feeling of accomplishment and pride.
• Eat your breakfast. You’ll get the energy you need by eating properly. As a bonus, this survey confirms it can be helpful if you plan on losing weight.
• Meditate.
• Drink a big glass of water.
• Read.
• Play chess of course.

Just in case, you’ll find here an interesting article with many more ideas.

If you’re afraid you won’t be able to fit everything you want to do in 60 minutes, don’t be. Remember this first hour doesn’t need to be perfect; it only needs to suits you. Just two or three activities at your best convenience will do the job.

And if you really want to do more, you can either extend the time (for some of you who can) or think about how you make your morning easier, as suggested in my last article.

Lastly, ditch screens during this first hour. When you dive straight into e-mails, texts, and Facebook, you lose focus and your morning succumbs to the wants and needs of other people.

Use your mental credit efficiently

So, you’ve found your perfect morning, you commute to work, and then what?

You remember my last article on limited mental energy? The longer people stay awake, the less self-control they seem to have. As every morning is the same now, you don’t waste mental energy and can function at your peak as soon as you arrive to work.

Impulsive crimes of procrastination are mostly committed after midnight so capitalize on your first few working hours to finish the tasks you dread the most. Since we’re on the subject, here is a productivity technique which you could try: define no more than 3 goals for the next day and tackle them as soon as you arrive at the office.

I can guarantee this small trick changes a lot how much you can accomplish!

Get ready to feel empowered

I’ve already stressed the importance of routines but spending your morning in autopilot is definitely very beneficial.

Create your morning checklist to start with, be sure to include what is important to you and see how it changes your day. Believe me; you’ll never go back to your previous lifestyle.

One last thing, doing things repetitively can of course lead to some boredom. So keep your morning habits fun and exciting: you can change up every month, or every 90 days by trying for instance different meditation techniques or another type of exercise…

Are you ready to tackle tomorrow?