There are so many benefits known to having a morning routine. Do I always follow mine? Absolutely not. But I can tell when I’m craving it, and need to start implementing my practices again. Now is one of those times, so I wanted to get all of these ideas out on paper and hopefully help someone else along the way!
Whenever I’ve had a morning routine, it’s been out of a necessity to carve time out for myself before I spring into my workday. I held true to this for a long time while I was studying to become a licensed interior designer. Little did I know, shortly after I’d be departing from my design career and morphing it into something else. I craved a more creative and free life. Not worried only about deadlines and feeling like I was chained to my office, ESPECIALLY on long work days when I knew studying was all that was waiting for me after.
Carving out a morning routine checks off those super important tasks right away in the morning. This is the best way for me to stop doubting myself, and thinking “if only I had more time I’d journal more, meditate, or get more crafts done.” Back in the day, it was carving out extra time for studying.
I fell into a really well-planned and fulfilling morning routine early on in the pandemic. I was able to gain back travel time and utilize that time for me. Not that it wasn’t prior, I utilized my drive to listen to podcasts and enjoy my coffee, but being able to do that from the comfort of my home or back patio was so soul-filling. It was those mornings that were giving me a taste of what slow living could feel like, while still being as productive as I like to be.
I’m going to outline a few ideas of what I was incorporating in my morning routine, that I am working towards getting back into. Maybe some of these tasks will resonate with you.
Journaling (Morning Pages)
Morning pages come from the book “The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron. I still haven’t finished the book, insert eye-roll here. But the one practice I’d fallen in love with was essentially doing a brain dump every – single – morning. Three pages are all you need to do. At the beginning doing this task was very difficult for me. Getting into a rhythm to allow a stream of consciousness to flow through my pen onto the page can feel very overwhelming. This is especially true if you’re like me and your thoughts can tend to feel like they are racing or on top of each other. But being able to calmly review each thought that comes through and write it down is incredibly freeing.
I haven’t gotten back into this practice yet, but every morning I’ve been thinking about it so I know I just need to set aside the time to do so. Doing my morning pages helps me to feel so much more creative. If I even had sat down to write a page out before writing this post, I know the words would come so much more freely for me. The stress of the day to come simply melts away for me when I’m able to put it onto paper and get it out of my head.
Truly, if you can find 15 minutes of your day to fill only three pages in a notebook, I challenge you to do this with me. I keep it easy on myself and keep A5-ish sized notebooks on hand. This way the notebooks aren’t so large it doesn’t feel fillable, and also they are so damn cute for whatever is going on in life. Here are a few links to my faves from Target:
Meditation
We all know meditation is so highly spoken about. Is this something I do consistently enough? Absolutely not. As I get closer and closer to my third trimester and the baby being here, I’m looking forward to getting back to meditating. In addition to already essentially emptying my brain with my morning pages, meditation helps me check in with the rest of my body.
My favorite kind of meditations are either body scans or visualizations. When I’m looking for something quick, I tend to use the app Insight Timer. They have a catalog of amazing free meditations, and I can almost always find exactly what I’m needing at that moment. When I have a little extra time, or I need to work through some particularly tough feelings I absolutely adore utilizing To Be Magnetic’s Pathway Workshops.
I joined the pathway maybe a year and a half ago. Never have I ever kept up with the workshops. I was able to complete one as they suggest, but never any others. I would like to continue my work with this practice, but some of the Deep Imaginings (visualization meditations) are just a little too long to incorporate into my morning routine currently. As a lay-down type of meditator, they tend to make me drowsier than I already am this early in the morning. Plus I know that quick and easy bites for including meditation in my routine will help me to continue with this practice, and not fizzle out after a week or two. Consistency is what I’m looking for to help me springboard into my creativity for the day. Knowing myself, I need quick options and a lot of variety.
Have Some Fun (Or Be Responsible)
We all need a little more fun in our lives. I understand how privileged I am in telling you to include some fun moments in your morning routine. I think a lot of us will have blocks in coming up with something fun to do that won’t take up hours right away in the morning. When I think about having fun with my morning routine, I like to add in some time to listen to a podcast, knit, cross stitch, or work on any other craft that may be calling on my heart.
During the periods of my life when I couldn’t (shouldn’t) fit in something fun in the morning, I would spend some time studying for my exams & drinking my coffee. I had the pleasure of this time frame being in the summer, so it was nice to disconnect from technology, read from my study book, and enjoy the sunrise on the back patio while I read a chapter or two before work. Again, very lucky in what my work situation was like at the time.
Other things you could do to round out your morning routine:
- Get ready for the day (some of us need that reminder to wash our faces and get out of our pajamas)
- Go for a walk
- Study
- Make breakfast if you don’t normally
- Read a book (for fun or self-improvement)
- Get your workout done for the day
- Do a house chore so you don’t have to dread it all-day
Going back to the fun bit for a second – I want to help you (and I) understand that work doesn’t always have to come before play. Yes, it’s nice to have something to look forward to when the workday is over. But, how many nights a week do we get home or retreat from the home office, too exhausted to do anything but put something on the TV for background noise and incessantly scroll on social media? Guilty as charged. Big time. Doing something to fill your cup at the beginning of your day can be a mood booster, and you’ll never have the guilt or sadness of not being able to work on your passions in the evening on the days that end up running long, or your child needs you, or any other excuse we make for ourselves! My entire goal with my morning routine is to put myself first, and not my work.
Final Thoughts
It’s all about what works best for you in this time of your life! It will likely never look the same from season to season. Embrace that change, understand why you may have stopped the morning routine for a time, and dig deep into knowing what your soul needs during this time.
Was there anything on my list as I start getting back into a morning routine that you’ll be adding to yours? What other ideas do you plan to infuse into your routine? Please let me know in the comments below! I’d love to read them.
