Creating a morning routine that works for you is a very important step to living an organized and happy life. To have the most successful day possible you need to be prepared, calm, and focused. Here is my morning routine broken down in time increments. To be prepared, I make sure things are put in place the night before. This allows time to myself in the morning, which makes the day start calm. To focus on the day’s purposes, I schedule time to draft and review lists, calendars, and correspondence.
1. The evening before – Pack lunches, purse, backpacks, prep any mail that needs to go out, paperwork for work or school, set the coffee pot up and turn on timer for 4:00 am, plug up computers and phone, take a bubble bath and wash hair. Look at current day’s to-do list, is everything done?
2. 4:15 am – Alarm goes off, snooze.
3. 4:30 am – Get up (to a house smelling like freshly brewed coffee,) go to kitchen pour a cup, fill dog bowls, come back upstairs, light candles in bathroom and on vanity, turn on hair straightener. On the vanity is a tray prepped with items used each morning: candle, lotion, deodorant, room spray, body spray, egg cup, and a mini flashlight. it’s dark at this time and my husband is still asleep. The flashlight is for looking in my closet. (The tray is a vintage Connecticut state tray to go along with the bedroom theme of maps and represents the state where I grew up.)
4. 4:35 am – Get ready. In the bathroom is a bin with all supplies for washing, hair, and make-up. Right now, is just clean up time – hair and make-up come later.
5. 4:50 am – Check emails, weather, blog, schedules and calendars for the day.
6. 5:00 am – Make the day’s to-do list.
7. 5:10 am – “ME” time – enjoy coffee, read a book or magazines, surf the internet – anything non-work or household chore related. (Yes, I could sleep for almost an extra hour. But, my days have been significantly more productive since scheduling this time for myself. As a teacher and mother, it is literally the only hour I have all day child-free. It also allows for the caffeine in my coffee to kick in before I leave for work.)
8. 6:00 am – Eat some fruit for breakfast, possibly cereal. (I have snacks timed out throughout the day between meals. I have never been a big breakfast person so early in the morning.)
9. 6:10 am – Finish getting ready. Straighten hair, put on make-up.
10. 6:50 am – Throw make-up bag and chargers in purse, grab lunch, put fresh slice of pre-cut lemon in water bottle. Leave any reminders, notes, or to-dos for my husband on the dining room table. Out the door. Commute to work.
11. 7:15 am – Arrive at work. For the most part, everything is prepped the day before. Attend to any last minute details needed in the classroom. Review work emails, calendar, and morning to-do list for work related tasks.
12. 7:45 am – Ready to go pick up my class for the day!
Your morning routine sets the tone for the rest of your day. To create your own, start backwards. What time does your work day start? Write that time down. How long is your commute? Start subtracting the minutes of your morning routine rituals. Not a morning person? Start by only scheduling 15 minutes of “ME” time. That’s how I started. I quickly realized I loved “ME” time more than sleep! Always allow for 15 minutes of alarm snoozing too, just in case. Even if you aren’t a snooze-button hitter like I am, it’s a 15 minute buffer for anything that may come up.
Due to my work schedule, I am out of the house before my daughter needs to get ready. My husband has the day-to- day task of getting her ready. I do as much prep for him as possible (lunch, backpack, things printed for school) the night before.
Here are two articles about the morning routines of successful women:
6 Successful Women Share Their Morning Routines from Daily Worth and The Morning Routines of 12 Women Leaders from Forbes.
Do you have a morning routine? How does it help set the tone for your day? Leave me a comment and let me know. Another post you may enjoy: Planning Ahead 8 Tips to Make Your Week Less Stressful
Have a great day and thanks for reading.
My Color-Coded Life 
I have different routines for different mornings during the week. Really it boils down to two routines – a Monday/Thursday routine and a Wednesday/friday routine. Tuesday and the weekend are a free for all. I like the idea of me time and I’ve heard that’s good to do in the morning. Maybe I’ll figure out me time for my weekend mornings. I think I’m too freaked out about getting out the door on the weekday to be able to have calm me time during the week. It’s not that I rush around I just have that “gotta get there” mentality like my dad!
Yes, you are Paul’s daughter! Maybe just schedule 10 minutes. Set your alarm. Have a magazine ready to flip through or a book. I love sleep and I thought there was no way I would want “me” time over extra zzzz time. I started with just 15 minutes and now I’m up to almost an hour! Try it on your weekend mornings and see what you think. Thanks for reading.
I love this post. It reads as if we are casually talking about your day while eating lunch at your lima bean table. 🙂
I want to hear more about how you make a daily goal each morning – on your post-its in your notebook. All of my favorite things – goals, post-its, notebooks! Do you like the pics? Thanks for reading.
I love this. Thank you! As a (fairly) new, working out of the home mom, I quickly discovered how important the morning routine is! Thanks for the tips and article links. I love your blog!
Thanks for reading Janine! Glad this post was helpful as you figure out routines that work for you.