Forget what the experts say, here’s how to create a morning routine that works for you and your busy schedule with practical strategies for getting started today.

+++

What is a morning routine?

At the risk of being overly snarky here, a morning routine on its most simplistic terms is a set of rituals you perform every single morning to start your day and get you ready to be awesome.

It’s important to break this down into simple terms, though, because thanks to the productivity gurus and life hackers out there, the concept of owning the morning can get quite convoluted.

When you read about the morning routines of CEOs and multi-millionaires, they’re full of 60-minute rituals of meditation and journaling and tea and pontificating on how awesome their lives are because they’re rich.

This is bullshit and that’s not what this piece is about.

This piece is about finding some sanity when you awake from your evening slumber so that you don’t let the daily grind kick you in the nuts and screw up the entire day.

Especially for the busy professional and stressed out parent.

Yes, it means establishing some systems.

Yes it likely means getting up a little earlier than you are used to.

Yes, it means adding some more structure to your day.

But, always remember that structure leads to more freedom.

Allow me to show you how to create a morning routine for yourself so you can launch into your day with confidence and sanity.

+++

My morning routine

Despite how cliche it is, the old saying that humans are creatures of habit really is true. Most of us need need regular systems and processes throughout our day to help create a sense of normalcy.

Having routines and habits gives us a ground zero to return to when everything else around us in chaos.

It’s largely how professional athletes are able to thrive when tossed in hostile environments like road games in sub zero temperatures. They center themselves by keeping their routines as normal and regular as possible.

If all of their rituals are in place, then the surrounding chaos is not that difficult to deal with because the routine has rendered everything around them as normal.

For stressed out parents, busy professionals and slammed entrepreneurs, the importance of keeping a routine becomes even more important.

Angela and I keep our daughter on a regular schedule. Everyday looks pretty similar to her, rain or shine, whether at home or traveling. She understands how the day unfolds and now anticipates when to expect breakfast, lunch, dinner, nap (LOL) and bedtimes.

It’s ingrained in her system as part of her routine.

That routine trickles down to the parents, too. By having a somewhat consistent schedule and routine for her, it allows me to build around her day to determine my best avenues and opportunities for productivity as a writer and coach.

Now, if I’m being totally honest here, the routine for my kid is more about sanity for me than it is about the normalcy for her. When we toss the random curveball in her schedule, she’s totally cool with the adjustment. So if a daily routine is not something you’re into for the kids, no worries. But do find more structure in the schedule for yourself.

It all starts in the morning.

Every single day, I’m up by 5:00 a.m. It’s still dark outside. The rest of the neighborhood and the house is dark and quiet and it is my time to be the most productive of the day.

I spend my first 15 to 20 minutes of every morning by priming my mind and body for the day ahead. That includes a huge drink of cold water, splash of water to the face and then I sit down for some mindfulness.

Let’s go back again to that professional athlete preparing for a big game. They don’t just pop out of bed and hit the field. There are a series of preparations that lead up to kickoff or tipoff or the first pitch––from warm up and stretching to any pregame rituals and music.

Priming is my pregame routine.

It’s basically getting my mind right for the day so I can handle the ins and outs of trying to juggle my sanity, my productivity and still manage to have a semblance of a life as a stay at home dad to my daughter while she’s bouncing off the walls.

In other words, there’s a lot of shit going on and I need to be able to focus.

For that, I turn to meditation.

No, I’m not about to go knee-deep into some hippy stuff about meditation that involves tie dye and patchouli.

Meditation allows me to get my head in the right place. Its benefits cannot be understated. From more focus and creativity to the health aspects of reducing stress and inflammation. It’s a workout and massage for the brain all at the same time and works wonders for starting the day off right.

This is how some of the heaviest of hitters and big power brokers win the day. They conquer important tasks before the rest of the world has even had that first sip of their nonfat vanilla lattes with extra whip.

It’s a who’s who list of powerhouses:

• Oprah Winfrey
• Joe Rogan
• Arianna Huffington
• Jerry Seinfeld
• Will Smith
• LeBron James
• Kendrick Lamar

Note: You totally do not have to meditate. If it’s not for you, that’s 100% okay. A few minutes of deep breathing in a quiet space for a good five to 10 minutes without distraction is really all you need to get the mind right.

I spend 10 minutes on meditation with a guided app called Calm. Then I move on to a brain dump for another five minutes in my journal.

Some mornings, I’ll journal about things to come. Other days, it’s a list of things that I need to focus on throughout the day in order to keep my sanity. Not necessarily a to do list, but rather a few core principles or affirmations that I need as my theme of the day.

And then there are the days when it’s just a page long rant to vent.

There’s beauty in letting it all out early in the day so it doesn’t cloud my decision-making later. I’ve got to be on my toes once the kid wakes up. It’s imperative to stay in the game.

After a quick 10 to 15 minute check in on the brain, it’s time to get moving.

For me, that means writing. I pound the keyboard with a goal of cranking out about 1-2 pages worth of content every single morning.

It takes quite a bit of work behind the scenes to push out a blog post before it goes live on any number of sites where I write. Committing the consistency of producing a page each day helps fuel that process.

They don’t have to be the best pages ever written. Oftentimes, they aren’t. But, by just practicing the craft of writing each and every day; I’m honing my skills like a golfer perfecting her swing or a mathematician improving his precision.  

Yeah, that’s great, Pete. But, I’m not doing any of this shit. I’m here because I want to learn how to create a morning routine for my crazy ass schedule.

Perfect. Let’s get into it.

Establishing your morning routine

It starts with understanding that you need to do only what you can do.

Don’t try to make some huge monumental shift in your day to day routine by suddenly popping up out of bed at 4:30 a.m. on Monday just because you read this post. The key to winning your morning and developing a manageable and enjoyable routine is to start small.

Get up 10 minutes earlier tomorrow morning. That’s it.

Pop out of bed and spend that time working on the one project you’ve always wanted to accomplish (like writing a book).

Spend that extra time as a chance to check in with yourself with some peace and quiet before the kids start sucking away all of your joy and energy with a little meditation or writing in a journal.

Trying to get into better shape? Crank out some pushups and air squats during this extra 10-15 minute window.

Does 10 minutes of movement lead to muscles as big as The Rock? Nope.

But those 10 minutes are surely better than the ZERO minutes you’re committing to a fitness program right now, right?

 

Looking to start a side hustle or learn a new craft? Finding the time to fit these new skills later into your busy day with kids around the house is daunting, if not impossible. The importance of tackling this obstacle early on becomes even more critical as a result.

But as you create a morning routine for yourself, keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be about starting a new business or writing the next Game of Thrones series. Finding a little more time for yourself in the morning can be as simple as just needing more room to relax or do something fun.

Here are some other ideas for creating your own daily morning routine:

• Loosen up with a foam roller
• Find a few new and exciting recipes for your health journey
• Complete a crossword puzzle or other brain “builder” exercises
• Read a book
• Listen to a podcast
• Watch a Ted Talk
• Learn a new language

Think outside the box here.

Time is our most valuable non-renewable resource. With a solid morning routine free of the distractions, you are gifting yourself a little bit more of it to do whatever it is that you’ve been trying to tackle.

Why the morning? Can’t I just stay up late?

You could. Absolutely. I don’t get bogged down into some dogmatic view of the world that only the early risers are the ones who are successful in life because they have some fancy script that they follow to a tee just like every other Fortune 500 executive.

The whole point of this post is to ensure you have a regular routine that allows you to find more time in your day for productivity and then execute it.

You can certainly shift this entire schedule upside down and do all of this at night after the kids are tucked away and sound asleep. Or it can even be the middle of your day––although that would be rather difficult to enact, I’d think.

However, for parents, I suggest mornings because it is the one time of day that you have absolute control over your day.

If you wait all day to find that open period for productivity, then so many factors––kids, spouse, work, random life stuff––can influence and prevent you from sitting down to do the work.

1. What about the last-minute invite to Happy Hour with coworkers?
2. Or the off-chance your child is a little under the weather after school and requires your attention?
3. Maybe you’ve enjoyed a nice day of work and the stars are all aligned in a way that allows you and your husband to have enough privacy for some sexy time?

I’m in the corner of team morning production so the evening is utilized as the down period to relax the mind and prep for the upcoming day.

Don’t let your kids be your alarm clock.

At minimum, I suggest waking up before the kids get up to center yourself before the day of crying, whining and temper-tantrum-throwing even begins.

It sets a bad tone for the rest of the day and turns what could be a low key and organized morning into a chaotic shit storm of suck that has everyone scrambling before you even get out of the door.

I’ve found my days to be much more manageable when I have some time to take a calm sip of coffee before my kid enters the mix.

I challenge you to practice getting up before the hellions for two weeks … just 14 days … to see how it works for you. I promise it’ll make for a much smoother morning and a better day overall.

Once you’ve established this newfound behavioral habit of waking up just a few minutes earlier, then you can start working your way up to even more time.

The best morning routine starts the night before

Make sure you are getting enough good quality sleep. This whole idea of owning your morning is useless if you’re groggy, cranky and moodier than a Dementor looking for a wizard to kiss.

We need 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Only about 1% of the population actually functions well on less than this. If you’ve got a buddy telling you otherwise, he’s lying to himself.

Now, for the newest parents of the group, this is not going to work out well for you. If your kid is still waking up multiple times during the night looking for a feeding or a changing, then you’ve got more important duties.

It’s important that you weather the storm to get to that phase when the child is sleeping through the night. Then you’ll be ready to tackle this next step in opening up more free time by establishing routine.

But if you are sans kid (good for you) or have kids that sleep through the night flawlessly (good for you, too), it’s on you to get your solid night of restful shuteye.

Go to bed earlier if needed. You can catch up on the DVR eventually. Your body and mind will thank you for it later.

Take inventory of your time. Sit down and go through your average (work) day.

Be brutally honest here. Find the gaps in time when you’re just sitting around reading headlines or watching cat videos on YouTube.

Explore opportunities where you can fully maximize your time to be more efficient throughout the day. Try to take less work home with you so when you step foot in the door, it’s time to enjoy the simpler things in life and wind down.

Be merciless with your calendar and schedule to find the holes that can filled in with more productivity during the day, so you aren’t still cranking away at the inbox at night.

Spend a few minutes before the end of the day to brain dump a few thoughts about the next day’s responsibilities. Listing out your tasks for tomorrow is a great way to alleviate any anxiety that could prevent quality sleep tonight.

Then focus on getting to bed at a reasonable hour so you can wake up a bit earlier to attack some of your biggest goals.

When you do pop up the next morning, fuck the snooze button.

It does nothing to aid in restful sleep cycles. It’s disruptive and just delays the inevitable. Get your ass up and attack the morning by identifying that one big goal, habit or activity you’d like to accomplish.

Then, get to work. Win the morning before the rest of the house even wakes up and feel like a boss knowing that you’re joining a rarified club of fantastic creators and innovators who win the day by winning the morning.

We constantly talk about not having enough time in the day. This is the hack that will help open up a tad more freedom.

The important part here is to focus on keeping the circadian rhythm in place by going to bed at a normal time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. Sleeping in is not doing you any favors. Even on weekends.

If you must, give yourself an hour of extra time on the weekend, especially if you were up later the previous night.

Stack habits together to create a morning routine that works for you

If you follow me on Instagram (hint: you should, because I’m pretty awesome), you’ll see how often my daily routine involves a cup of invigorating liquid gold, also known as coffee.

You’re likely in the same boat (especially if you’ve got young kids and need that caffeine shot to the system).

If you’ve already got a daily morning ritual (like coffee) the best way to create a new meaningful and successful habit is to stack the new habit with an older one. This is the idea of habit stacking.

Let’s say you want to use some of your newfound morning freedom to reading more books. The best way to build this into your routine is to include the reading with your daily cup of java.

Develop a small system that leads to the new habit of choice.

For example:

Pop out of bed → Brew the coffee → Read a page of your book while coffee brews

This simple concept sets the stage for you to make reading a part of your morning routine.

So … how do you create a morning routine?

Find some more time in your day to be mindful. Take some time out to write in your journal. If you are up early enough, maybe you can finally establish that workout routine consistently.

“Early to bed. Early to rise. Makes a [person] healthy, wealthy, and wise.” 

The catchy sound byte has stood the test of time and now you have a chance to actually put this into practice.

Perhaps you are an entrepreneur of have dreams of starting your own gig. Maybe it’s just a side hustle that will pad your wallet with some spending cash or vacay money or just awesome savings.

Whatever it is, establishing time to start the day before the chaos even begins is your path to victory.

Now go forth and conquer.

Featured Image by Engin_Akyurt on Pixabay 

Let’s work together to create a morning routine that works for you … 

I’m here to help you out. Whether that be creating a top notch workout plan that fits your busy schedule, or just finding more time in your day to tackle a pretty awesome and fun new habit.

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Create a Morning Routine” and I’ll answer any questions you have about make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you’d like more knowledge bombs from me. I’d be honored if you join my mailing list to get regular updates every time I post something pretty dope.