What is your morning routine? While you might be inclined to say that you don’t have one, rushing out of bed every morning to get to work on time or staying in bed scrolling social media for hours are both routines! Humans are creatures of habit. In fact, “approximately 45% of everyday behaviors tend to be repeated at the same location about every day”. While it is scary to think we could be living out a routine filled with poor habits unknowingly, we can get rid of them. Not only that, we can choose to create good habits! How empowering to decide what we will be doing automatically! You can imagine and create your ideal life by thinking how you want to be spending your time, skills to be working on, your goals, and forming habits accordingly.
Creating a morning routine is a wonderful way to not only create positive habits– but to start your day with them! You might think that you do not have the time for a morning routine. But, soon enough you will realize that this routine is only about benefiting you- and the rest of your day! Below I outlined the top benefits of a morning routine plus ideas for you to make a positive start to your day!
RELATED: Evening Routines and 7 Steps to Better Sleep
Morning Routine Benefits!
1 | Proactive About Your Day
When you have a morning routine in place, you are setting the tone for your day. You do not allow the TV, social media, or anything else to determine the day you will have. By filling your morning taking care of yourself and immersing in positivity (keep reading for examples!), you are being proactive and taking charge of your day from the very start. The key is to start your morning routine right away and not allow the outside world to interfere with your emotions first. If you need to sleep with your phone across the room or on airplane mode so you will not check social media right away- that is okay!
2 | Accomplish Your Goals
What do you want to accomplish today, in the next month or in the next year? When you devote time to something every single morning, the time adds up. I have had a goal of reading more books and if I start my day by just reading 20 pages a day, that is already 140 pages for the week I was able to knock out in my mornings alone! Try to learn something new and spend some time every morning devoted to learning. You will be surprised how far you will get by just learning a little every day. You can even use your habit tracker to match certain habits with your morning routine to check them off your list right away!
3 | Avoid Decision Fatigue
Our brains only have a limited amount of mental stamina for decision making. When we have too many decisions to make, we are likely to suffer from decision fatigue which worsens our quality of decisions and exhausts us mentally. By having a morning routine in place we do not need to spend time thinking about what to do next or how to fit something important to us into our busy schedule. Our routine has made these decisions for us and gives us more mental strength for decisions throughout the day!
Ideas For Starting Your Day
We all start the day differently! You do not have to use the examples I have for your morning routine below- they are just some positive examples to help get you started!
–Hydration! Every single morning I am sure to start with my bottle of water! After spending hours sleeping, your body is in need of some water. Plus, since it only takes 2% of dehydration to weaken our functioning, I prefer to stay ahead of the hydration game.
-Move Your Body! You do not need to start every morning with an intense exercise routine (unless you want to). Even taking 10-15 minutes to stretch your body and get the blood flowing is great after laying down all night.
-Reading! Reading has been shown to be the best stress reliever while also benefiting our brain functioning. Check out my complete article on the benefits of reading for mental health here and my book reviews for your next read!
-Inspiration! In addition to reading a good book, you could listen to an inspirational podcast or practice your positive affirmations and meditation. Maybe spend some time looking at your vision board and envisioning the positive life you are creating for yourself.
–Gratitude Journal! It is no secret that I am a fan of gratitude. I take some time each morning to reflect on what I am grateful for and write three things out. By starting my day with a thankful mind, I am able to appreciate my life before my day even begins!
Related: 8 Surprising Benefits of Gratitude and How to Practice Today
Tips For Starting Your Routine
-Make part of your routine something you are especially looking forward to! This will help you want to get out of bed on time to leisurely enjoy your morning routine. Maybe it is that inspirational podcast, some time you take out for drawing, or simply enjoying the quiet morning relaxing.
– Reward yourself! Celebrate that you are taking the time out of your day to better yourself. Right now I am practicing a new morning routine. When I finish 30 days of my new routine, I am rewarding myself with a new item for my self-care kit!
-Use your habit tracker! See what habits you could fit into the morning and you will already be able to start your morning off by crossing positive habits off!
-Do not be afraid to change your routine if it is not working for you and to try something completely different.
-Remember your morning routine is most importantly about you! Take the time you need to figure out what works best and what brightens your day from the start!
Morning Routines Help the Day
I have had times in my life where my routine was rushing out of bed on time, grabbing food out the door and barely catching my breath before the start of my day! After adopting a positive routine, I can see just how important this is for me and building the positive life I want and deserve. My morning routine has helped to empower me and accomplish more than I thought I could- and all bright and early!
What are your thoughts on morning routines? Please comment and share what you think the benefits could be and if you have experienced them yourself! I would love to hear your personal experience and how you like to spend your mornings! If you know someone who could benefit from this article, please show you care and share the bear! Be sure to sign up for my emails and follow on social media to get the most of the positive world of Brightside Bear!
