Morning routines are exactly what you think they should be

I truly rely on my weekday morning routine to get me moving and going every day. I know that there are some people out in the world that wake up radiating morning joy with a song in their voice while they dance through the many steps of their well put together morning routine.

I however am not one of those people. I’d be the lump slowly inching across the floor, glaring at said morning person as I search for a cup full of coffee, that I might get to finish before it gets cold. 

Mornings may not decide how your entire day will go, but it does decide how many spoons you will be starting the day with. If mornings aren’t when you are most alert or productive, you will burn through more spoons doing a small task that would only take maybe half a spoon during the hours your brain is more productive.

I’m more alert and productive for tasks that involve home management later in the day, so this is when I do things like going through my kid’s backpacks, taking out papers and signing folders, and putting the next day’s snacks and water in there. Their shoes are found in whichever location they throw them off at because the shoe bucket that sits next to the door they walk in is clearly not the place for them to be. They’re put in their rightful place with clean socks tucked inside and their clothes are picked out for the next day. It sounds like I have a whole system down but, this isn’t always completed at the same time, just at some point that works for me, before I get to clock out to dreamville at night. 

I get these things done in my productive hours, to help my less productive morning self better regulate mornings.

I also get to sleep in later than I would if I had to get up earlier, which would result in getting less sleep. Morning people tend to go to sleep later than night owls, but regardless of which category we’re in, getting up in the morning is still a need. To combat this, we need morning routines that work with us, like allowing us to still get enough sleep. 

This is why I made my morning routine consists of getting up about 20 minutes before my kids have to leave, starting the coffee pot, telling them to get dressed and brush their teeth, getting their backpacks on, walking them out the gate to the school doors, wrapping them up in big hugs, then watch them run off into the doors to go get breakfast before class, and then walk back across the field to my house where my coffee awaits.

That’s it, that’s my morning routine. A whole 20 minutes of getting up, getting kids dressed and walked over to the school. 

It sounds easy enough but a lot can happen when you’re wrangling an 8, 7, and 5 year old out the door for school in the morning. The movement of getting them out the door working with my circadian clock gets my gears rolling, to the point that I often pull my phone out to start typing out thoughts and ideas on my short walk back home. 

Because as we all know, you gotta catch those thoughts quickly before they’re whisked away somewhere.

If you came in here hoping you’d find the miracle answer to creating a successful morning routine and are instead feeling defeated while thinking, “yeah but, that routine wouldn’t work for me”

You’re right, it wouldn’t

Because it wasn’t made for you

There is no miracle one size fits all morning routine either

Yes, there are loads of tips and tricks out there, and each one is useful but, only for those who fit with them

All those books, podcasts, blogs, social media posts, planners, etc that are meant to help create those successful morning routines are not meant to be a starting point

You are the starting point

It starts by looking at your morning self’s capacity levels, eliminating the things that are draining you before the day even starts, and looking to see what you can do to help morning you

I could do more in the mornings, I could wake up earlier than my kids and get things started then but, I struggle with mornings. My internal clock is trained to know which alarm is going off and that it’s time to get up to get my kids ready, and only because I’ve had to do it daily for so long. I will sleep straight through alarms that start going off any earlier than my usual ones

And honestly, I’m not willing to get less sleep and raise my stress levels attempting to become something I’m not

If it doesn’t work with how you function 

or 

Feels like it would make mornings worse 

Then it doesn’t belong

Your morning routine is exactly what YOU think it should be

Shifting into a new routine that works for you and your home might mean shifting some other things around in your day too, which can take time and feel overwhelming

Use support from someone who can look at what you’re wanting your routine to be and can help you reorganize how your days function to create a routine that works for you and your life

Whichever routine it is: morning, afternoon, night, work, gym, meals, hiding from your kids in a closet

It’s your routine, make it work for you and your life

Make it exactly what YOU think it should be