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10 Habits Your Morning Routine Must Include for a Productive Day

These 10 habits are not only a great way to shape your morning routine, but can truly make a difference in your productivity, happiness, and success!

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I pretty much do the exact same things in the exact same order every single morning.  I’m sure many of you can relate.  For example, I have to eat breakfast before I take a shower so I can brush my teeth right after my shower.  I don’t want to brush my teeth, and then go downstairs and eat breakfast!  That would just negate what I just did.  I also don’t want to take a shower and get halfway ready and then eat breakfast, and have to come back upstairs to finish the job.  I also wash my face while I have my shampoo in my hair, and wash my body while I have the conditioner in my hair.  Just these little shortcuts help out with my sense of starting the day out right.  I’m sure I still can make adjustments here and there to make myself really efficient though.  I also find when I’m trying to start a new habit, the best place to put it is in my morning routine.  It’s the main thing that always goes exactly according to plan.

My routine though may not work for someone else though.  I know one person who eats breakfast after her shower to give her hair a little drying time before going back upstairs to finish the job a little quicker.  In that case it absolutely makes sense to break it up.  My hair is just so thin that it would be completely dried before I even got down the stairs!  My point is that there should be a natural order to the way you get ready in the morning so that you aren’t making several trips and you aren’t wasting time brushing your teeth before you eat your breakfast.

Take a look at your morning routine and figure out where you can cut corners today!  Do you have a specific order all ready for how you do things in the morning?  I love mornings often tell people that I get more done by 9am than I can accomplish the entire rest of the day!   My mind is alert and I’m focused on my tasks!

These 10 habits are not only a great shape your morning routine, but can TRULY make a difference in your productivity, happiness, and success!  I’ve incorporated these into my day for so long, they have become a habit now.  Without doing these things each day, I wouldn’t be as productive as I am!  What would you add?

1) Wake up Early

While the rest of the house is asleep, I can my day started without distraction, and without feeling like I’m ignoring my kids.  The earlier the better for me!  Having a solid, quiet hour in the morning has been instrumental in setting the tone for the rest of the day.  More peace, more relaxation, and less chaos for sure!

2) Make a To-do List

The very first thing I do each day is write my to-do list.  I have a spiral bound notebook with the date at the top of each page. I review yesterday’s tasks and decide what needs to be carried over to the new day, and re-write them on the new day.  I then put a star next to the three items I MUST get done today!   I usually will over-schedule my lists.  Some people say that this is not a good idea, but it’s more of a brain dump for me, and I really need to get EVERYTHING down on paper, even if it’s something that needs to be done in the future.  However, using the three stars for the must-do tasks is essential. If I don’t get anything else done today, getting those more important tasks finished leaves me satisfied at the end of the day.

3) Review Your Calendar

After my to-do list is ready, I review my calendar for appointments and kids activities. Reviewing this EVERY morning is essential.  Appointments creep up on you, and without consulting your calendar each morning, they may easily be forgotten. I have never missed an appointment because I review this each and every day.

4) Spend time in meditation, Prayer, devotion

Essential to my morning routine is to spend a few minutes in prayer and meditation. This really centers me, helps me remember my priorities in life, and helps me connect spiritually.   The days I miss this piece of my morning, are the days that feel aimless!  Even if you don’t believe in a higher power, meditation can help you stay calm in even the most chaotic of life’s circumstances.

5)  Exercise

While some people might prefer to exercise in the afternoon or evening, studies have found, morning exercises are more likely to stick with it.  For me, exercising in the morning, getting my heart rate up, wakes me up.  I’d rather exercise before my morning shower, and having that one thing accomplished each day, allows the rest of the day to be more flexible.

6) Set Goals

Each morning, reviewing one or two goals for the day helps you to stay on track for success! Whether your goals are health related, money related, or are relationship oriented, revisiting these every single day keeps it top of mind!  My goals are usually health related.  So, for example, if my goal is to weigh a certain weight, I’ll remind myself of the goal and consider three things that will help me get to that goal that I can do today.  Today, as I did this, it was: Eat 5 veggies today, track all my food, and drink one gall of water.   I know these three things will help me achieve my goal, and reviewing that each day keeps me on track.

7) Do the Hardest things first

With certain things that show up on my to-do list every single day, there comes a time, where I have to bust it out before I do ANYTHING else for the day!   This is called, Eating Your Frog.  If you have a writing assignment, a bill to pay, a tough phone call to make, etc., Move it into your morning routine so you can just finish it and take it off your to-do list once and for all.

8) Eat a Healthy Breakfast

There is no doubt starting your day with healthy fuel will set you up for a productive and wonderful day. We like to drink green smoothies in the summer (to get all those veggies in), or make some warm, hearty oatmeal in the winter, to really fill you up till lunch.  Skipping breakfast wears you down, and makes you less productive.  The glucose to your brain can get you going for several hours in the morning!

9) Be present with the family

Once the house starts to wake up, I try to put everything away I’m working on, to just be present.  My kids need attention, and having finished the tasks earlier helps me to really be with them and connect before we all go our separate ways. We can eat together,  talk about their day, or help them with their chores.

10) Clean & Organize

And finally, getting the house put back together before everyone leaves for the day makes a HUGE difference in our mood and productivity!  Leaving the house in chaos & mess makes it hard to come home to at the end of the day.  Have everyone pitch in and make sure the dishes aren’t left in the sink, the garbage is taken out, and the counters are wiped and floors swept!

That’s our daily routine! What do you do to make sure you are productive each day?

 

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Org Junkie's Organizing Favorites for June 10/16

Friday 10th of June 2016

[…] 10 Habits to Include in Your Morning Routine for a Productive Day ~ @ Organized Mom […]

Adam Barnett

Monday 6th of June 2016

I'm not very good at making lists, but I don't miss having breakfast and working out in the morning. That's my secret for a productive day.

deb

Thursday 7th of August 2008

I have such a routine, that even my dog knows when he's about to get a treat before I even say anything. He goes outside to play while I get ready & by the time I open the bathroom door again, he's ready for his treat.

Ann at One Bag Nation

Tuesday 5th of August 2008

My weekday routine is automatic. I get up, get ready for the gym, brush my teeth, come back, shower, then start breakfast, get my daughter up, etc.

I'm such a creature of habit that on the weekends when I don't have a routine, I'll often forget to brush my teeth - embarrassing but true!

Ann at One Bag Nations last blog post..Decluttering & The Landfill

susan

Tuesday 5th of August 2008

Every Monday morning rather than make the bed, I strip the bed and throw the sheets in the washing machine. Later after they are dried, I put them right back on the bed and don't have to fold them or put them away!

susans last blog post..Micro-eggs