3 Tips to have Great Mornings

Mornings can be great

By this point, I think most people have heard that making the most out of your morning is important. There are entire books on how to establish your morning routine.

As a busy dad, I know that the morning is one of the few times that I’m only in charge of myself. Even so, I’ve spent many mornings blankly staring into space just to realize that my kids just woke up.

Over time I’ve developed a much better system for my morning. It not only helps me accomplish tasks early, but set my day up to be enjoyable.

Imagine your morning rhythm

Before you can have a great morning, you need to imagine what your great morning will look like. For me, I imagine my morning rhythm (like a routine, but not as in order – great for when kids through a wrench in your plans). It consists of exercise, creating, coffee time, and planning.

When you’re imagining a rhythm that you want to implement, consider what your outcomes are.

• is there an activity that you enjoy but can’t seem to fit it in your day?
• what activity would set you up for success in other tasks?
• do you want to build a deeper relationship during this time?

These are just some questions to get you started. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different rhythms; there’s no correct way to start your morning.

Prepare for the Morning the Night Before

One of the reasons I used to struggle with mornings is because I was always starting from scratch. A “cold start” if you will. The result of these cold starts is that I would end up not doing what I wanted to do. 

The cure for a cold start is preparation. As said by James Clear in Atomic Habbits, “you want to make success easy.” And the best time to prepare for easy success is the night before. There are a few reasons for this.

• You’re in a better headspace which taking action easier.
• You are able to clearly see what would help you for the next day.
• It’s typically better to trade time in the evening for more time in the morning because of how the work day takes place.

After I started preparing for my morning the night before – setting out my exercise clothes and journal for instance – I saw dramitic improvement in taking action.

Preparation is critical to achieve my next tip.

Allow Auto-Pilot

Let’s face it, when our mornings don’t turn out as planned, it’s not because it wasn’t possible, it’s because we thought too much.

What do I mean? I don’t know about you, but I don’t always “feel like it” in the morning. I don’t feel like working out. I don’t feel like planning. I don’t feel like waking up!

Our brains will do whatever they can to rationalize how we’re feeling, and in the morning, we don’t always feel the best. So what happens? We think of reasons not to do things. We’re:

• too tired
• unsure where to start
• too rushed

So we choose that this morning just won’t work.

Here’s where auto-pilot comes in. If you’ve followed tip 2 – prepare for the morning the night before – you should feel like you can accomplish your morning with your eyes closed.

Feelings will continue to come up, and instead of rationalizing them, just stick to the plan. It’s okay if you’re not fully engaged in each activity at first. That improves with time. What’s important is that you follow through with what you said you wanted for your morning.

Mornings have the power to create a day that we enjoy, or be something that we regret not using better.

You’ve got this!