A solid morning routine is one of the most effective tools that we have to improve our overall quality of life. If you’ve read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg or Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
If you think about a graph that shows 365 days along the bottom and hours on the left hand side your morning routine may only take one hour each day. However, if you were to put another bar next to each day for the “cumulative total of hours” for the year you’d see a bar 365 hours on the far right side.
The best part about mornings is that we have maximum control over our schedules at that time of the day. Jocko Willink talks about this concept. He suggests waking up at 4:30am.
In theory I agree with the power of morning routines. However, I have some practical challenges with establishing a solid morning routine.
- I don’t always to go bed early enough to get 8 hours of sleep and still get up early. That means sometimes my morning routine gets cut short (or doesn’t happen at all) because I choose to sleep in.
- There’s a tension between what I do first. Writers say you should write first thing in the morning to establish a consistent routine. Pastors say that you should spend time reading your Bible and praying first thing in the morning. Fitness coaches say that you should exercise first thing. I feel guilty because no matter what I choose to do and if I do one thing consistently for a period of time I feel guilty that I didn’t choose the others.
- The hours before work are typically the most available for other people. While they don’t always like getting out of bed I’ve found that having coffee with a friend before work is a much more available time slot than anything else on their schedule. This is great news because it allows me to fit in some time with a friend during a busy week. However, if I’m going to have coffee with a friend that appointment starts an hour earlier than my workday. That means I need to either get up an hour earlier or I need to skip my morning routine.
In the morning I often feel a grogginess as I’m waking up. I drink water, I drink coffee, I eat a protein-rich breakfast. However, it really takes me about an hour before I feel alert and awake. Vigorous exercise (kettlebell swings or running) can shortcut that timeline to alertness but I find that my inner complainer typically wins the argument against my logical brain that says I should engage in that workout.
One of the things I’ve done in the past with some success is setting my clothes out the night before. This helps by removing two excuses; I don’t know what to wear and I don’t want to wake my wife up by rummaging through our drawers and closet. However, this evening habit has never stuck for me.
Another of my challenges in establishing a morning routine is that I don’t feel like I can do the same fitness regimen everyday. Strength training the same muscle groups everyday isn’t healthy. Running is something that I might be able to do with more consistency but my legs always scream at me for the first three miles or so. I’m not ready to run MORE than three miles every day to get to the point of enjoying each run.
As you can see I regularly wrestle with my morning routine. It starts, stops, sputters and morphs all the time. The list below (in no particular order) is probably too long to be a consistent morning routine but these are all of the things I wish I did each morning.
- Drink Water
- Brush Teeth
- Eat Breakfast
- Make Coffee
- Exercise for 30 Minutes
- Read my Bible for 30 Minutes
- Write a Blog Post
- Pray / Worship
- Shower / Shave
- Read some pages in a book
- Review my Schedule
- Prepare / Pack a Lunch
- Leave for Work On Time
As I write out this list I can see why Jocko says we should wake up early. It could easily take 2-3 hours to accomplish all of the things on this list.
I can also see why parenting is likely super challenging. Even if you have a bullet proof morning routine before having children they likely impact your sleep schedule and may be needing your attention during the hours that you’re normally “crushing it” in the morning.
Maybe 2019 will be the year that I master the morning routine. Maybe…
