Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about building a good morning routine. Because
Speaker 1: this podcast is called Before Breakfast. I know a lot
Speaker 1: of listeners already have great morning routines. I know other
Speaker 1: listeners would like to build them, But what exactly makes
Speaker 1: a good morning routine listeners? Zena wrote in with a
Speaker 1: question along these lines. She asks, is it better to
Speaker 1: start the day with productive work or should you work out, read, meditate,
Speaker 1: et cetera. Sometimes I do those things, but then I
Speaker 1: feel anty and like I'm avoiding something, namely the productive work.
Speaker 1: She's worried she should be doing well. First, I want
Speaker 1: to say that I don't think anyone should create a
Speaker 1: morning routine that makes them feel anty. That is not
Speaker 1: the point. Also, there's no one right answer to what
Speaker 1: makes a good morning routine. But to build a morning
Speaker 1: routine that's right for you, it helps to know a
Speaker 1: little bit about why mornings matter. The reason many people
Speaker 1: like having a morning routine is that mornings set the
Speaker 1: tone for the rest of the day. A wind scored
Speaker 1: then creates a sense of momentum that can keep you
Speaker 1: going until bedtime. Also, most people have more discipline and
Speaker 1: focus in the morning. They also have more control of
Speaker 1: their time before work and family demands stack up, So
Speaker 1: that makes mornings a great time for doing stuff that
Speaker 1: life tends to crowd out those important but not urgent
Speaker 1: things such as strategic thinking and planning, creative work, spiritual practices, exercise,
Speaker 1: or nurturing close relationships. So if you're thinking of building
Speaker 1: a morning routine or expanding one you already have, ask
Speaker 1: yourself a few questions about the activity or activities you're
Speaker 1: thinking of choosing. First, Do I enjoy doing this? A
Speaker 1: good morning routine gives you a reason to get out
Speaker 1: of bed. The image I like to keep in mind
Speaker 1: is my children bounding out of bed on Christmas morning.
Speaker 1: They're just so eager to see what the day will bring.
Speaker 1: That might be tough to pull off three sixty five
Speaker 1: days per year, but I do know that it's going
Speaker 1: to be hard to get up early day after day
Speaker 1: for something you don't want to do. In the throes
Speaker 1: of a new resolution. You'll stick with it for a
Speaker 1: few days or even a few weeks, but then something's
Speaker 1: going to happen. You'll get busy at work, or you'll
Speaker 1: get sick, or a family member will get sick, you'll
Speaker 1: miss a few days, and then you'll have a hard
Speaker 1: time starting up again. So, in other words, if you
Speaker 1: hate to run, don't build a morning routine around running.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's some other form of exercise you like, such
Speaker 1: as taking a class, or going for a walk with
Speaker 1: a friend, or doing yoga with a video at home.
Speaker 1: All of these would be much better choices than attempting
Speaker 1: to force yourself to do something you just don't like.
Speaker 1: I mean, who wants to get out of bed for that?
Speaker 1: The second question is whether morning time is the best
Speaker 1: or only time for this activity you're considering. For many
Speaker 1: people with regular jobs and families, morning is the best
Speaker 1: logistical time for exercise. Probably you can find time the
Speaker 1: rest of the day for the other activities that Zena listed.
Speaker 1: You could meditate in your car in the parking lot
Speaker 1: for five minutes before going into work. You could read
Speaker 1: before bed at night. At least theoretically, you should be
Speaker 1: able to do productive work at your desk during your
Speaker 1: actual work hours. So that's why exercise is a very
Speaker 1: popular morning activity. But let's say you work in an
Speaker 1: office with a gym and lunchtime classes that employees are
Speaker 1: encouraged to take, or maybe you and your spouse go
Speaker 1: for an hour long walk after dinner together each night.
Speaker 1: I work for myself, so I can usually run in
Speaker 1: the mid afternoon as a way to take a break
Speaker 1: from work. If you fall in one of these categories,
Speaker 1: then maybe you'd choose a different morning routine, like working
Speaker 1: on your novel or meditating or taking an online class.
Speaker 1: I think productive work makes the most sense in situations
Speaker 1: where you have goals beyond your immediate job responsibilities. Perhaps
Speaker 1: you'd like to do original research that would help you
Speaker 1: become known as an expert in your field. You could
Speaker 1: choose to get up early three mornings a week to
Speaker 1: work on this and then focus on your normal duties
Speaker 1: during the work day. I've also seen some leaders use
Speaker 1: early mornings for thinking about the long term direction of
Speaker 1: their companies. They need to be accessible to employees during
Speaker 1: the work day, so they do focused individual work before
Speaker 1: they show up at the office. Whatever you decide to
Speaker 1: do as a morning routine, be sure to start small.
Speaker 1: It's better to decide to walk for thirty minutes two
Speaker 1: mornings a week and stick with it. Then aim to
Speaker 1: take an hour long class seven mornings a week. Over sleep,
Speaker 1: your alarm on day three and never go back and
Speaker 1: feel free to switch it up. To a routine doesn't
Speaker 1: automatically mean doing the same thing every day. You can
Speaker 1: carve out time without dictating that the same activity happen
Speaker 1: within it. So maybe some mornings you exercise, some mornings
Speaker 1: you do to productive work, and some mornings you read.
Speaker 1: There are enough days in the seven day week that
Speaker 1: you don't actually have to choose between these things, and
Speaker 1: that means you don't need to feel anty, always wondering
Speaker 1: if you should be doing something else. If you've got
Speaker 1: a good morning routine, I'd love to hear about it.
Speaker 1: You can email me at Before Breakfast podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time.