How To Create A Better Morning Routine
Hi, I’m Liz Moser, and I’m a Mayo Clinic Certified and National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach.
I like to say to my clients whatever you do first in the morning gets done. Maybe that’s a bit simplistic, yet an organized focused morning routine filled with back to back self-care habits sets you and your day up for success.
And the opposite is also true: repeatedly hitting the snooze on your alarm, waking at the last second with the promise that you’ll complete x, y, or z later in the day is a recipe for a chaotic day and ultimately an unfulfilling life.
In this blog, I’ll talk about the history of my morning routine, my current morning routine, and some critical points to keep in mind while creating your morning habit stack. Habit stacking is a strategy you can use to group together small changes into a routine that you follow daily. The key to consistency is to treat a habit stack like a single action instead of a series of individual tasks
OK, here we go, first things first:
LIFX Smart Lights: My LIFX (pronounced Life-X) light bulbs start brightening my room at 4:45 am. They wake me up to bright white light, while my alarm is my back up. I can’t stress enough what a massive difference it is to wake up to a bright room. It’s a game-changer for your mood and energy levels.
Wake Up: All morning routines start when your feet hit the floor. I’ve always been an early riser, and in June 2018, I committed to waking at 5 am using a calendar challenge, and since then, I've slept in maybe once or twice when I was sick.
Make the bed: I officially added that to my nightly checklist in January 2018.
Bright White Light Therapy Lamp: Last Fall, as it got colder and darker in the mornings, I stopped walking outside. Not long after that, I started to get a little blue, and one of my mastermind buddies suggested I purchase a SAD light. So, I bought this light the Verilux HappyLight for $37.95 on Amazon, and I turn it on every morning as I do my daily reading, record my gratitude, and fill out my checklist. Within several days I noticed a difference in my mood. Light therapy works!
Daily reading: I started a daily reading practice several years ago with Coleman Barks’, A Year with Rumi: Daily Readings. Rumi was a 13th-century poet, and I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Since then, I’ve had multiple readers. Lately, I switch between Tim Ferris’s Tribe of Mentors and Judith Hanson Lasater’s Living Your Yoga.
Gratitude Practice: In conjunction with my daily reading practice, I also started writing three gratitudes mornings and evenings. That morphed into answering why today is going to be a great day in the morning and answering this question what went well today at night. I go back and forth between simple gratitudes or answering those two questions.
Nightly Checklist: On October 30, 2017, I started using a nightly checklist, and this system clicked for me and my personality. I love charting and putting one day after another of intentional living. Using a checklist makes me feel organized and focused. I check off my morning habits, and then I complete the day's checks at night. For more information, check out this blog.
Meditation: I started a daily Meditating practice almost three years ago. Then in June of 2018, I started meditating in my near-infrared sauna. Finally, in January of 2020, I committed to two 20-minute sessions per day. One in the morning and one in the evening. Some evenings I ZOOM into a 40-minute Yoga-Nidra class, and I count that as my evening meditation.
Exercise: I’ve always enjoyed exercise and have worked out in various ways for many years. Then in March 2018, using a 10-week calendar challenge, I started a 10-minute daily morning workout. For the past few weeks, I’ve added an extra 5 minutes to work on a yoga posture. Currently, I’m practicing my tripod and headstand. When I quit coffee last January 1, oddly enough, I was compelled to get on the treadmill two days later and start walking. Then on January 13, I started my 70K step challenge per week. And with the warmer, brighter mornings, I’ve moved my daily walk to my morning routine.
Writing: In July of 2019, I committed to writing every morning. Then in February 2020, I specified to 30 minutes every morning. This week I recommitted to it and slid it in after walk and before breakfast.
I've also started experimenting with the Nadi Shodhana breathing technique before putting fingers on my keyboard. It’s a yogic pranayama alternate nostril breathing technique reputed to have multiple benefits.
Some of which are it:
Fosters mental clarity and an alert mind
Enhances the ability to concentrate
Brings balance to the left and right hemispheres of the brain
Without further ado, here is my current morning habit stack:
4:45 LIFX bulbs start brightening the room
5:00 Rise and Shine to a light-filled room
Turn on my HappyLight
Make bed
5:10 Drink 20oz water
Daily Reader
Gratitude Journal
Check off morning habits on Nightly Checklist
Wash Face
5:20 20 min Meditation in the sauna
5:45 15 minutes workout
6:05 Walk outside
6:45: Energenesis or Hot water and lemon
6:50: Nadi Shodhana breathing for 1 minute
30 minutes writing
7:20 Empty dishwasher
Prepare and eat breakfast
Check emails and social media
8:00 Say out loud, "I'm a morning routine, Ninja!" and give myself a high-5! Ha!
If you want more information and inspiration about morning routines, I recommend Hal Elrod’s, The Miracle Morning.
The Miracle Morning is a habit stack consisting of 6 habits: Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing (writing/journaling) Represented with the acronym: SAVERS. Elrod recommends spending anywhere from 1 minute to 10 minutes on each activity. It’s a good read check it out!
My key points about establishing a morning Habit Stack:
-The key to a morning routine is waking up early. Get up before your household wakes up and before you must answer to anyone else. I’m also a huge fan of picking one time and waking at that time every day. Creating habits takes repetition. If you want a “wash rinse repeat” morning habit stack, step one is getting out of bed at the same time every day.
-Buy programable lights or a light alarm clock. Whatever it takes, wake up to a bright room. It makes a huge difference to your mood and energy level.
-Start small and with one activity and then build up. What’s most important to you? Exercise, journaling, walking, reading, meditating? Pick your one activity and then start with 5 minutes or 1 minute and build from there. Be patient and kind to yourself while not skipping days. Repetition creates habits!
-Commit not to go online until you've completed your morning habit stack. Put yourself first before you check your emails and get on social media. Ultimately, you’ll be more present for your family, friends, and work colleagues after your morning self-care routine.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about how I created my morning routine, and you learned several critical points to keep in mind while creating your morning habit stack.
One final thought: An effective morning routine is all about putting your oxygen mask on first before you are called to be an effective employee, a loyal friend, or a loving parent, and partner.
I’m Liz Moser, a Mayo Clinic and National Board-Certified Wellness Coach. If you have any questions about my morning routine, or if you have any questions about health and wellness or wellness coaching with me, please contact me through my website at lizmosercoaching.com
Bye for now and be well! Liz
