Creating a morning routine will not only help you start your day off right. It will also allow you to be more productive.
But you don’t want to just create any morning routine.
Use these simple tips to help you decide how your morning routine will go.
Related: Here are the morning routines and habits of millionaires and billionaires.
1) Figure out what’s important to you.
Although it may be tempting to simply copy the exact morning routine of a successful person, the chances of their routine fitting into your own life are pretty slim.
The reason the morning routines work for those people is because they’re tailored to their needs. If you’re not interested in getting in shape, there’s no reason to do an hour-long workout every morning like Richard Branson, for example.
Instead of simply copying and pasting someone else’s routine, take the time to consider the things that are important to you.
Whether you put your health first and know you need to work out every morning or a calm and relaxing morning is important to you, figure out your must-have elements then be sure you work those factors into your own routine.
Ask yourself these questions to figure out important things you may want to consider adding to your own morning routine:
- What aspects of your life do you value most?
- What are your goals for the future?
- What makes you happy?
Make a list for each of these categories to help you determine a few must-haves that you want to add to your morning routine to ensure you start your day off right.
While you won’t be able to include every item on your list, it will help you understand the values and activities that are important to you. Those clues can help you decide how you want your morning routine to work and what tasks you must have on your daily to-do list.
2) Make a list of morning activities you must do each day.
In addition to adding things that are mentally important to you, there are several things you must do each morning to improve your physical self.
Make a list of the things you need to do every morning in order to get yourself ready for the day. Typical daily tasks could include simple things like brushing your teeth and taking a shower.
Or you could include more personalized tasks like enjoying a cup of coffee in silence or going for a run. This list will include everything that is a nonnegotiable task that must be done every morning in order for you to start your day off right.
3) List activities you could do to satisfy both your needs and the things that are important to you.
The key to a successful routine is moving beyond simply surviving each morning to setting a morning schedule that will help you thrive throughout the rest of the day.
In order to do that, you’ll need to come up with activities you can do each morning that will help you act on your values, achieve your goals, and make you happy.
Sometimes, you’ll be able to combine wants and needs into one task. You could use your shower time to meditate, for example. Other times, each task will need to be its own individual to-do.
Either way, make sure everything that you want to get accomplished is on your morning to-do list.
4) Start your routine.
After coming up with a list of things you can do, it’s time to start putting them into action.
But don’t attempt to tackle everything on your list on your first morning. Instead, try to add your activities into your existing routine one at a time.Once one activity starts to become a habit, you can slowly start working in a new element to your routine, allowing you to slowly and steadily develop a successful morning routine that works for you.