How I Built a Productive Morning Routine

My entire life I was always a night owl. I would stay up late watching Netflix or mindlessly scrolling on my phone. I would wake up the next day repeatedly hitting the snooze button and either running late for wherever I was supposed to be, or sleeping until noon and wasting my day away. I would tell myself it was because I "couldn't fall asleep," and that "I just wasn't a morning person," but in reality I was not doing any sort of winding down and preparing the night before that would set me up for an organized, stress free morning.

I realized that in order to build the habit of waking up early and doing my morning routine, I would have to set myself up for success the night before. Here are a few things I did to switch my mindset and thinking to start the process of becoming an early riser:

A successful morning starts with your night time routine.

1. Clean and organize your room. A clean environment represents a clean mind. I did not realize the importance of having a clean space for yourself and how it impacts everything else in your life. In high school and college I was known for being a slob, laundry all over my room, bed was never made, and would let laundry and trash pile up for weeks. I was sick of being known as the slob by my friends and family and realized I was allowed to change if I wanted to be the organized, clean girl I knew I wanted to be. As someone who has struggled with anxiety and depression, having a messy room would add to the stress that I was already feeling. Waking up in a clean, organized space made me feel good and ready to start my day.

2. Lay out your clothes the night before. Whether you want to go on a morning walk, do some yoga/pilates, crush a workout at the gym, or go to your favorite spin class, pick out a cute workout outfit that you feel confident in and lay it on your dresser. This will get you excited to put it on in the morning and avoid the stress of figuring out what to wear. It doesn't matter what type of physical self care you do, play trial and error and find out which one gets you excited to get out of bed and puts you in a good mood for the rest of the day. This took me a while to learn as I thought that I had to wake up and go run myself to the ground at the gym working out at 7am. I realized this was not for me and that I loved a morning walk listening to a podcast or just having that quiet time to myself to think and plan out my day while getting fresh air and moving my body.

3. Plan out your day. Being successful and becoming the person you want to be has never accidentally happened. When I first started the transition to becoming this better version I would live by the saying "take it day by day." When planning out my day I would sit and think, what can I do tomorrow to become a better version of myself and enjoy myself throughout the day. You need to put in the work, build structure, and make a plan for how you spend your time. Waking up prepared for knowing exactly what you need to get done will give you a reason to wake up early. Checking the boxes off your list throughout the day and doing what you said you will do, will give you that shot of dopamine you need to build your discipline. In simpler terms, your brain will connect these productive actions with a positive feeling, the more you commit to yourself and complete these small victories, the more you will continue to want to do them. The more you complete these victories, the stronger your discipline becomes, the stronger your discipline becomes, the more consistent you will be. The more consistent you will be, the better results you will earn. The better results you will earn will give you the confidence you never knew you had.

4. Take magnesium/melatonin. Put your phone on do not disturb. Go to bed before 10pm. I am not saying you need to take any type of sleep assistance; however, taking these allowed me to fix my circadian rhythm and get used to going to bed earlier and falling asleep easier. I would take these anytime from 8-8:30 and be asleep by 9pm. Once I took these it would trick my brain into believing "its time to wind down" and I would start my night time self care routine (showering, brushing my teeth, tidying up my room, laying out my clothes, filling my water bottle on my night stand, etc.). After I was settled into bed I would put my phone on do not disturb at 9. This was a huge part of being able to put my phone down as I was usually kept up late by my group chats and any other notifications.

This is the specific night time routine I would follow for the next 6-8 months:

Get home from the gym at 7:30-8. Eat dinner. Spend time with my family/dogs. Shower. Take magnesium/melatonin. Clean up my room. Skin care. Make sure my next day was planned out. Lay out my morning walk outfit. Fill my water bottle. Get into bed around 8:30/8:45. Phone down by 9/9:15.

Now that your night time routine is set. Its time to build a morning routine that gets you excited to get out of bed. Before I was a morning person, I would wake up and immediately grab my phone and lay in bed and scroll. This would lead to me missing out on my morning because I was too focused on whatever I was looking at on my phone. I made a rule for myself that changed the game which was, not looking at my phone for the first 30 minutes that I was awake. We dont realize it, but we are so used to depending on our phones for any kind of entertainment/dopamine. Starting your day off with dopamine from your phone, you brain would crave that kind of dopamine for the rest of the day which leads to mindless scrolling. I realized I needed to start my day off with getting dopamine from self care instead, that way the little self-care actions would have a domino effect throughout the day. Here's how I changed this habit:

1. I started taking 1up nutrition greens every morning. The habit stack of them being good for your health and tasting delicious created the dopamine that got me excited to get up and go downstairs to drink it. From the time I would slowly wake up, make my bed, stretch, do my skin care, put on my outfit and get downstairs to make my cup of greens, I would reward myself with looking at my phone.

2. Once I built the routine of getting up early and drinking my greens. I was able to build the next habit, moving my body first thing in the morning. Whether it was going on the treadmill and going on tiktok while I walked or going outside and listening to a podcast. The habit stack of doing something I want to do with something that I needed to do made the entire process so much easier and enjoyable. Once I was done with my walk I rewarded myself with a delicious, hearty breakfast. Having these small rewards made the entire morning more enjoyable and once you start doing things for yourself and carving out the time in the morning. You will start your work day so much happier.

This is the specific morning routine I followed for 6-8 months:

Wake up with no alarm anytime from 6-6:30. Immediately get up. Chug water. Brush teeth. Cold water on face. Skin care. Put on cute walking outfit. Stretch. Go down stairs to drink greens. Sit outside or on my phone while I finish my glass. Go on walk outside or on treadmill. Eat breakfast. Go upstairs. Journal/set intentions for the day. Take vitamins. Change into comfy clothes. Make coffee. Start work day.

Building a morning routine was the most important part of my transition to becoming a better version of myself. When you have time to yourself, are able to get outside and move your body, eat a high protein/healthy breakfast, and have time to sit with your thoughts, you are able to take control of not only just your day but your entire life.