Who said mornings were easy for moms?
Mornings are busy, rushed, and complicated. It seems like everyone needs something from you and you don’t even have time to brush your teeth. But a conscious morning routine can help change that.
I am not saying that everything has to go perfectly in order to have a successful day; rather, having a plan for the morning can help us do our best while juggling kids and careers or caring for the home, a list that seems impossible on some days.
How you start your day, or more specifically how you spend those first few morning hours has a big impact on the rest of it. Think of it as setting the tone for your entire day. That’s why making over your morning is so important – in a way that is realistic for you. It’s about much more than those first few hours.
Here are seven suggestions on things that you can incorporate into your morning routine that will start you off on the path to finding your own perfect routine.
1. Your morning routine starts the night before
A successful morning routine starts the night before. Make sure you have everything you need for the next day ready to go so you can wake up and hit the ground running. Set a timer for 15 minutes before bed to accomplish a few tasks and then reward yourself with a good night’s sleep.
During that 15 minutes, you could be packing lunches, laying out clothes for yourself and your kids, and putting your workout clothes next to your bed (if that’s part of your plan for the morning). By taking these small steps, you’ll be able to reduce stress in the morning and start your day off on the right foot.
Creating an evening routine can be key to having an easier morning. By establishing what you need to do each morning, you can plan ahead and make sure that everything gets done without stress.
Trust me, Tomorrow You will be much happier if Tonight You did a few quick preparation steps before bed.
2. Wake up 30-45 minutes before your children – If you can
Waking up before your children is a great way to start your day. This gives you some time for yourself to relax and get ready before the chaos of the day begins. Having a routine makes this process more efficient, so you can get ready without feeling rushed.
Once you start, it’s also easier to maintain the routine and the habit. It can seem like you never get enough sleep, but sometimes starting the day alone in the quiet of the morning can help change the whole tone of the day and feel more rested.
Now, it may not be in your season of life to do that right now. My kids are 3 and 1 and they wake up early AND only sleep well if I’m with them. That means if I wake up early, they wake up early too.
So if waking up before your kids isn’t in the cards because you are a night owl or they are light sleepers or WHATEVER reason, don’t worry. This is your morning routine, not anyone else’s and it’s important that it actually works for you.
3. Water before caffeine
You’ve woken up at your desired time and now you’re ready to start your day. But how? First thing’s first, you should start off with a big glass of water – not coffee. Wait, wait, don’t come for me! You can have your coffee AFTER your water. 🙂
Drinking water in the morning helps regulate chemicals in the blood, which allows the liver to continue its job effectively. You’re also very dehydrated when you first wake up, so when you start your day with coffee first instead of water, you’re exacerbating the problem.
Drinking lemon water is a good way to start your day. Not only does it help you stay hydrated, but it also has a host of other benefits, including boosting alertness and mental sharpness. Lemon water is especially beneficial if you’re looking for an energy boost in the morning.
So while your coffee or tea is brewing, drink up that water!
4. Set Goals For The Day
To begin the day, set goals for what you want to accomplish. Writing down your goals will make you more likely to accomplish them and help you with direction for your day.
Identify why you want to achieve these goals and what will come from completing them. Are they small tasks you need to get done? Are they part of your long-term goals for your future?
Prioritize your goals so that the most important tasks are completed first. Keep your goals realistic too – it’s better to start off with simple, easy-to-achieve goals to get you in the habit than lofty goals that are way too much for a single day. Overreaching on your morning routine in the beginning will actually cause you to pull away from it altogether. Keep it simple, keep it achievable!
5. Offer Up Your Prayers
It’s incredibly important to start your day off with prayer and meditation. Giving God your first time in the morning – not after everything is done and ready, but first – truly can change your day and put you in the right mindset for being a mom all day long.
It’s helpful for some people to keep a prayer journal to keep them focused on their prayer intentions and to see the ways that God is moving in their life.
6. Daily affirmations
Affirmations are positive statements that help to program your mind for success. They can be used to help you feel positive and motivated for the day ahead. Repeating affirmations daily can help to change your mindset and improve your life.
We have some free affirmation graphics that you can put on your phone home screen to help guide your affirmations throughout the day.
7. Ten Minutes of Exercise
Morning routines that feature extensive exercise routines don’t work for everyone. If you enjoy working out first thing in the morning or you’ve never tried it, by all means, try it out! You might just find that it’s the perfect way to start your day.
For those of us who struggle with fitting in enough movement during the day, don’t overwork yourself in the morning with setting goals that are too high. Start with 10 minutes of exercise – nothing too intense, even just a stretching video – to get your body moving. Look up some free workouts on YouTube to try out different types of exercise and see what works for you in the morning, and it may not be the same thing you would enjoy in the afternoon!
Creating Your Own Unique Morning Routine
The best place to start is with the new set of tasks that are most important to you and figure out how they work together. If your goal is to go for a run in the morning, you may decide to do that first thing before getting a shower and having breakfast. If your goal is to meditate each morning, you may decide it would work best after you’ve had a cup of coffee.
Making over your morning isn’t about figuring out how to cram more tasks into fewer hours. When you read books and articles on productivity and time management, that’s often the main message and gist of it. While it can help in the short term, it isn’t a good long-term strategy for meaningful change. Very soon you’ll hit the limit of how much faster and how much more efficient you can get.
That’s why you need to start your morning routine one step at a time and set small goals.
Why a Morning Routine for Moms
A morning routine is all about setting yourself up for success, getting your head and body ready to go, and making the most of the day ahead. Once your day officially starts, it can be hard to find times that are just for you. Being a mom means being needed almost constantly, especially if you have little ones in the house!
Caregiver fatigue is a real medical issue, and the only way to recover from that is through rest. Starting a morning routine that helps you feel refreshed and helps you do some of the things you love consistently can
Those moments in the morning when you spend 30 minutes to yourself, focused on what you need to do to start the day successfully can be a huge help in managing the rest of your day.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase that “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” The morning routine is your key to refilling your cup consistently every day.
How to Stay Motivated to Keep the Routine
The best way to stay motivated to keep the routine is to make sure that you have a good reason to do it and to keep your routine short and achievable from the start.
The journey of a thousand miles does begin with a single step, but sometimes that first step (in any direction) is the most important. That’s why I encourage you to go with a morning routine challenge vs. trying to completely change your morning all at once.
Action breeds motivation, not the other way around. Motivation is not the first step to changing your life, motivation is the result of progress. Don’t think that because you “don’t feel like it” today, something will magically happen to make you more motivated tomorrow!
Making over your morning and turning it into a new routine isn’t something that comes naturally to most of us. It can take a while to get into the groove of a new morning routine, especially as a mom.
Today, I encourage you to write your new morning game plan down. It’s easy to forget what you’re planning to do. Writing it down will not only give you a reference to refer back to, but also solidify your new plan in your mind.
Then, tomorrow morning, start with changing one or two things around to match your new routine. See how it feels. I can’t say this enough – no one else’s morning routine will be right for you! You have to go through the work to figure out what works best for you in your current season of life.
Practical Application for Your Routine
Baby steps are key to preventing total mom burnout and building a routine that will actually stick.
Make a list of the changes you eventually want to implement and work slowly to implement them. Too much too soon will just set you backward.
Overachieving and overburdening ourselves are common in moms. Take this opportunity to build the morning routine that will set your soul at ease and that you look forward to, not something that will draw from your depleted energy reserves.
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