Creating a Morning Routine when Life Gets Chaotic
Motivation doesn’t come from drive; it comes from consistency. Getting up and doing the same things over and over — practicing your craft until it becomes second nature. Motivation is a rhythm and roll; it’s promising yourself every morning when you wake up (sometimes out loud to make it stick) “I’m going to get X, Y, and Z knocked out however I can. I know by accomplishing those things, I’m one step closer to my goals.”
No, that’s not the sexy definition of motivation that people use to sell bogus self-help books. It’s the honest one.
Motivation thrives in the morning. That’s why a consistent morning routine is so crucial to success — or even simply maintaining your mental health. Because as much as some self-proclaimed badasses say they ‘thrive’ on change, the truth is that humans need structure in their lives.
Night Owls, don’t turn away just yet! This applies to you, too. You might work best in the wee hours of 1 a.m. or later, but a consistent routine in the morning (however you define “morning”) frees you up to be creative busybodies later at night.
We wanted to pull together a handful of our favorite tips on creating morning routine and sticking to it — even when life and the world get chaotic.
Strip your schedule to bare bones — then rebuild.
We humans have a tendency to make our lives way harder than they need to be. We get glued to our phones, ready to tear into complete strangers on the internet for 40 minutes of our morning instead of, ya know, showering. Or we do the opposite and overschedule our mornings to where we have to get half our to-do list checked off before we’re ever out the door.
Take a good, hard look at your morning routine. What can go? What could wait until you get home? What’s eating up a lot of your good energy first thing? What puts you in a better mood before you get started with your day?
Do the neutral tasks and chores that have to get done (i.e. brush your teeth, straighten your bed). Dump the mess that raises your blood pressure first thing in the a.m. (i.e. getting into political debates with JoeMerica926304). Invest in the daily tasks that make you smile (i.e. savoring a cup of coffee).
Stop making promises to yourself.
“Tomorrow is the day I’m going to wake up early and instantly become a morning person!”
Making promises about a new-and-improved morning routine creates more frustration when you don’t meet every single one of those expectations. No one goes from oversleeping your alarm to suddenly waking up an hour and a half earlier, drinking lemon water and doing yoga. Morning routines take time to establish. It takes anywhere from 40-60 days to create a habit — and that’s just one singular habit!
Rather than disappointing yourself with broken promises, try this: celebrate one little thing you did each morning. Pat yourself on the back for drinking a full glass of water after waking up or for stretching. Celebrating even the smallest tasks sends a subliminal pat on the back to your brain, coaxing you to do more to get more positive reinforcement.
Try the 1-minute rule.
Anyone can do anything for just a minute. If you spot a task needing to be done and it can be done in about a minute, do it. Bed? Made. Shoes you always trip on by the door? Put them in your closet. Dishes you keep forgetting to bring down? Take them downstairs before they bring in ants. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to default to getting 1-minute tasks done as soon as you see them.
And for those who are addicted to competition, set a timer for 20 minutes and see how many one-minute tasks you knock out before the buzzer dings. Do that a couple times a week, and not only will you have a cleaner house, you’ll feel more productive and (wait for it…) more motivated!
Trying to create structure amidst chaos might seem impossible, but it’s not. Take time for yourself to evaluate what really matters, and invest in those things. And if that investment also happens to include a cup of high-quality Pure Grind coffee, well… we think you’ve added an excellent choice to your morning routine.