Are your mornings missing something? Whether you realize it or not, you may be selling yourself way too short when it comes to how you start your day – especially if your first move is to snooze your alarm multiple times, or scroll through Instagram for 10 straight minutes (hey, I love the ‘gram as much as the next gal! But I’ve learned it’s an non-ideal way to start the day).

Your morning is your sacred time. When you make the effort to overhaul your mornings, don’t be surprised if your entire life changes for the better as well. Here’s why morning routines are so important, and how you can start creating your own perfect morning routine today.

Why You Need a Morning Routine

A morning routine is the difference between consistency and chaos. A morning routine centers us, and primes us for a productive, positive day ahead; when your morning goes right, the likelihood that the rest of your day does as well skyrockets. Plus, mornings are much more in our control, so it’s easier to use them to set the tone for a great day ahead. But there’s a real science to having a finely-tuned morning routine as well – here are some of the major benefits of having a morning routine:

You Create “You-Time”

Mornings are YOUR time. It’s the time at the beginning of the day before you start work, head to the office, have to deal with all the obstacles that life is planning to throw at you that day… maybe even before anyone else in your household wakes up! It’s your time to do WHATEVER you want – which can mean curling up with a cup of coffee and a DVR-ed TV show, or journaling and reflecting on the previous day, or anything else you desire.

Creating a morning routine is an investment in your own health and wellness: it’s a form of self-care. And this time will payoff throughout your day, throughout your week, and throughout the rest of your life!

If you find that you’re one of those people who complains about not being able to make time for yourself, or that your days are too busy to mediate/workout/journal/write that book/etc, then look to your morning to create the time.

You Create a Sense of Control

Even on our most well-planned-out days, events can take an unexpected turn. We are rarely ever able to control exactly how our days unfold.

We can, however, control how we start our days. And this sense of control is incredibly powerful: According to the “Locus of Control” theory, you feel good about yourself to the degree to which you feel you are in control of your own life. You are your happiest, most authentic, confident self when you feel that you are the master of your own destiny.

By starting your morning off with a recurring, known, predictable routine, you feel at ease, calm, and in control. You know that there are certain things that you are going to be able to accomplish with this sacred morning time, and even that realization is enough to reduce some of the daily stress and anxiety we all face from time to time.

Furthermore, practicing a controlled routine triggers a positive chemical reaction in the body. According to Examined Existence, over the course of a day “every conscious decision you have to make takes a load on your brain and expends glucose – the more decisions you make throughout the day, the more tired your brain gets.”

When you are on “autopilot” through the help of a morning routine, this eases your cognitive load, which in turn allows you to expend valuable brainpower and energy on tasks that may need them more.  It’s a way of being able to focus on tasks that are more important to you, and reserve your energy for when you need it.

You Create Positive Momentum for Your Day

When you have a solid morning routine, you set yourself up for success by enacting the “psychology of achievement” and creating positive momentum going into your day. The psychology of achievement is a principle coined by Brian Tracy that explains an empowering mental phenomenon. When we achieve something significant (whether it’s big or small), it triggers the “psychology of achievement:” successfully completing one task triggers a release of dopamine (the pleasure hormone) in our brains, which then motivates us to complete MORE tasks.

By achieving at least one “win” during the course of your morning routine, you subconsciously set yourself up for a productive day ahead.

How to Create the Perfect Morning Routine

Now that you know the mental and physical benefits of using a morning routine, let’s get started creating your OWN morning routine. The formula for the perfect morning routine is:

Gratitude + Do Something You Love + Small Win + Energize = Perfect Morning Routine

Let’s break down the four elements of a perfect morning routine in detail:

1. Gratitude: Reflection time, mental priming, and giving thanks. This helps to start your day in a mindful, grateful, positive state, and starting your day with gratitude is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Prayer works exceptionally well here. So does meditation: anything that creates time alone with your own thoughts.
2. Do Something You Love: The best way to make every day a GREAT day is to start it by doing something you love. Figure out what makes you happy, and make time for it in the morning. This can be something small, like reading a good book for 15 minutes, or something that takes more time, like taking a dance class (if you love dancing!) It doesn’t matter WHAT it is – it just matters that you do it.
3. Small Win: Like we mentioned above, you can enact the psychology of achievement and set yourself up for a positive and productive day ahead by making sure you achieve at least once small win in the morning. For many of us, this can be fitting in a workout, which leads me to the fourth element…
4. Energize: To set yourself up for a successful day, you need to get FIRED up, both physically and mentally. A great way to energize yourself physically is to workout – aim for at least 20 minutes of physical activity (Here are some of my favorite workouts for busy women), but anything that gets your body moving is great, including going for a walk, and doing some dynamic stretching or yoga. It’s also important to energize yourself mentally: read something that inspires you, and repeat personal affirmations to prime yourself for ultimate motivation.

Morning Routine Example

If you’re a learn-by-example individual like me, here’s an example of a morning routine (mine!) that you can borrow or try out. I’ve been using this morning routine for a while and I can say it’s really revolutionized how I feel every day, and my output levels!

7:25 Wake up!

I am working on waking up at the same time EVERY day, and 7:25 is an attainable time for me. When I’m in the middle of a show, and have either rehearsal or performances, it’s really hard for me to wind down and get in bed before 11:30. This 7:25 wakeup time still allows me to get almost 8 hours of sleep, even when I’m doing a show. If I happen to wake up before 7:25 – great! (although it doesn’t happen naturally very often).

Note: I try really, really hard to not check my phone/email/social media when I wake up. I reserve that until about an hour after I wake up, as you’ll see.

7:25-7:30 Pray – Write out daily gratitude list & Big 3 Goals

I have been an advocate of starting your morning with gratitude for years, and I have been trying out a new goal-accountability and manifestation tactic, where I write out my big 3 goals for the year EVERY day. Writing out my goals each morning energizes me and motivates me to get to work on the things that will help me achieve those goals.

7:30-8:30 Write

For my work, writing is an essential creative skill. So I prioritize writing in my morning routine. Typically I spend this time writing content for P&P, almost always a blog post. When I am in a content-creation sprint, my goal is to hit “publish” and to promote each daily post by 8:30 AM. Sometimes I start a blog post from scratch, sometimes I work on one that I’ve previously started.

I find this is super effective in powering up my days, because it ensures I’m devoting time to my purpose before I do pretty much ANYTHING else in the day. Plus, I achieve my “win” and feel SUPER accomplished when I’m able to publish and promote a new blog post before 8:30 AM!

8:30-9:00 Check email/make daily to-do list adjustments

Only after I’ve achieved my small win do I check my email, social media, and other accounts. This also includes doing daily social media management for P&P.

I find that waiting an hour to check my email has NO negative side effects – only positive ones. It prevents me from reading something negative, or starting the day in reactive-mode. Plus, many people aren’t even in the office (or waking up!) until 9:00 AM. You’re not missing anything – trust me.

I also make adjustments to my daily to-do list during this time as needed. I try really hard to make each day’s to-do list the night before so – again – I’m approaching my days in a proactive, not reactive state.

9:00-10:00 AM Workout

I’m prioritizing my fitness for work right now, so I’ve blocked off an hour for my daily workouts. This usually includes one circuit, maybe a run, and dedicated stretching time (so important!) I’m currently doing the “Fresh Body, Fit Mind” 12 Week Program from Amanda Bisk.

10:00-11:00 AM Shower & Do Vocal Work

I’m also prioritizing my vocal health and devoting time each week day to warming up and training my voice (I have a vocal coach who I meet with 2x/month, but I find that doing my recorded warm ups almost every day has REALLY improved my voice health and range). This changes when I’m in a run, since I know it’s important to rest my voice.

Putting aside time in the morning for my passion of acting also helps fuel my soul – it’s one of my life priorities after all. This “checks the box” for me of doing something that makes me happy – but honestly, so much of my morning routine makes me happy! And the goal is to create one for yourself that makes YOU happy as well.

How to Stick to a Daily Routine

It can be tough to get in the habit of sticking to a morning routine. And there may be some days where you really don’t feel like it. But the important thing is to get started.

Get started trying out different routine blocks to figure out what energizes and motivates you. Try different workouts, try different affirmations, and figure out what makes you feel GOOD. Once you find a few things that work for you, try to work them into a blocked schedule, like my example one above.

Another way to get in the habit of sticking to your morning routine is to schedule it the same way you would anything else in your life. For me, I actually have Google Calendar events set up for each of the blocks above. That way I feel like they’re actual “meetings” that I am accountable to attend and complete!

Give the Google Calendar approach a try, and see if it’s something that will work for you as well. If you work in an office setting where your company uses Google Calendar events to set and schedule meetings, this may be a seamless and natural process for you.

I also realize that my morning routine is pretty lengthy. Since I work from home, I have more freedom in how I spend my mornings, and I realize that. But it’s not about copying MY routine: it’s about creating one for yourself that you can stick to, and that helps you feel energized, strong, and successful.

Do you currently have a morning routine? What are some of the things you like to make time for each morning?