The purpose of the morning & evening routine is to <br> GET YOU OUT OF SURVIVAL MODE.
People are living their lives reactively. They wake up and immediately check their smartphone. They feel RUSHED and BUSY immediately upon waking up. Their whole day and life reflect how they wake up. Consequently, their health and relationships suffer. Moreover, their overall happiness and well-being are lacking, as they are not living according to their highest values and goals.
The purpose of the MORNING ROUTINE is to GET YOU OUT OF SURVIVAL MODE.
You do that by giving yourself space in the morning to orient yourself with the person you intend to be. You also orient yourself toward your highest goals and priorities. If you have a consistent morning routine, your life will be very different in 3-6 months. No longer will you be RUSHED and REACTIVE. Instead, you'll be living with INTENTION and PURPOSE.
To stay focused and pro-active, I have developed a series of morning routines the will help you get the best of your self in this season.
Obviously, you don't need to do all of the things on the list. Think of this checklist as a buffet from which you can select the ones that work for you, and there are likely several things you may try that aren't on this list. Also, your morning routine will likely change over time, depending on the various seasons of your life. For example, sometimes, I'm highly focused on writing, and thus my morning routine is directed toward focused work. In other seasons, I spend more time in the mornings with learning new skills as a software engineer.
No matter which season of life I'm in, a few things remain constant:
Spend 5 minutes before you go to bed mapping your top 1-3 priorities for the next day
Spend 10 minutes before bed thinking about your number 1 goal or number 1 problem you're trying to solve;
Don't check email/social media within 40 minutes of going to bed
Have an alarm set across your room,
Spend 5-10 minutes in prayer;
Pull out your journal and write by hand anything that comes to your mind related to your #1 goal or #1 problem you're trying to solve.
Spend 5- 15 minutes in Prayer/meditation
Spend 7-15 minutes in intensive physical fitness
Spend 15-60 minutes in focused activity on a big picture goal or passion project
Don't check email or social media for at least 60 minutes after waking up.
Take a cold shower.
Listen to or read uplifting content
After you've spent a few minutes purposefully preparing yourself for HOW YOU INTEND TO BE that day,
If you have kids, play with them for as much time as you can. Be sure to take a few minutes before interacting with them to orient yourself.
If you have creative endeavours, spend 60-90 minutes in focused activity on a big project.
If you're doing creative "Deep Work" immediately upon waking up, try listening to instrumental/ambient songs on repeat.
That's what I have for today, feel free to alter it and make it yours.