Why create a morning routine?

Morning routines are one of the most important steps in creating your intentional life. They are also a crucial aspect of decluttering. So let’s dive into why morning routines are “all that” and breakdown how you can easily create your own!

Morning routines set you up for the rest of your day.

The way you feel in the morning will carry into your day. Have you ever noticed, when you wake up feeling like you didn’t sleep well or you realized you overslept and had to rush around to get going on time, your day felt rushed or you labeled the day as “bad”?

Those are both perfect examples of the way your morning affects the rest of your day. When you have a clear routine for your morning, not only will you wake up feeling less scattered because you know what you have to do, but you can also ensure that you set yourself up with the best mindset for taking on the day.

Morning routines allow time for what’s important to you.

Remember how I said morning routines are the most important step in creating an intentional life? Part of that is due to the fact that you can use your morning routine for the things that will help you reach your goals and attract your desires.

Let me explain.

Most people think the time they have in the evening is when they will finally write their novel, learn Spanish, or train for a marathon. The problem with this mindset is that by the time we get home from work, prepare and eat dinner, and do whatever else is a requirement (like put the kids to bed, do the dishes, and so on) we are too tired. All we want to do is couch potato and Netflix… who feels me on that one?

The morning is your time. Uninterrupted. Your brain is fresh and you have the entire day ahead of you. This is the time when you can really take 30 minutes to practice your language flash cards or write your novel. In the morning, before the world has woken up and you take on the energy of other people, you get time with yourself. 

Morning routines create healthy habits.

The basis of an intentional life are positive habits. When you have clarity on your desired life and goals, you can start implementing habits that support those dreams. Reaching your goals is all about the little things you do every single day, and habits make up the things you do every single day.

However, when we want to change something in our lives we need to do something differently. In order to achieve a new goal or attract a new desire, we need to shift habits. Habits are the things we do subconsciously, so it takes quite a bit of mental work to shift towards new positive habits that support our dreams. 

Starting your morning off with a habit, such as a routine, will encourage you to implement the rest of your habits throughout the day. When you have a morning routine, you know exactly what you’re going to do right when you get out of bed. If the first thing you do is meditate, then as soon as your alarm goes off, you know it’s time to meditate. No extra thinking power required.

Going through your morning routine will give you an accomplished feeling before you even start your work day. In other words, a morning routine enables you to enter into your day with a positive mindset.

You will feel more motivated throughout the rest of your day because you already made yourself a priority. You will also feel more inclined to make time for the things that are important to you because you started off your day in the right headspace. Ultimately, it will bring you closer to your goals.

How does this fit into decluttering?

Morning routines are a crucial part of decluttering. The goal of decluttering is to step into your intentional life and start living in abundance. 

The process of decluttering in itself is a habit because you show up every day to release clutter step by step. Through decluttering, you release more than just physical belongings. You can also release limiting beliefs, toxic relationships, and commitments.

Morning routines are an aspect of decluttering because you first need to identify what is important to you, meaning what you want to make time for during your morning routine.

You only have a few hours to yourself, so you will need to declutter anything that is not truly benefitting you during this time.

In turn, you are creating habits that support and sustain your intentional life where you are attracting more abundance since you are focusing on what’s important to you.

How to create your very own morning routine 

I want to make this as easy for you as possible, so let’s pretend we’re going out for dinner together. Maybe you love Mexican food so we’re going to get a burrito bowl or maybe you’re more of a sushi person, so we’re going to a poke bowl place. Regardless of the cuisine, we’re feeling the bowls! 

At these places, you usually get some options but there’s a method in place. For instance, you get to pick your base where you can choose between rice or salad. Then you get to pick three toppings. And finally, you choose a sauce!

Getting hungry yet?

We’re going to build your morning routine in the exact same way. Time to order up!

The Morning Special: aka your morning routine!

The base: Choose the time you will wake up and commit to it!

I recommend waking up at least two hours before you need to leave the house. At least! That gives you one full hour for your morning routine and one hour to get ready for your day with ease. This will vary depending on your lifestyle, for example if you have kids, but the rule of thumb is two hours.

Write the time you will be waking up at on a sticky note, set your alarms, journal about it, do it all. Get really excited about waking up at this time and make the commitment to yourself that you will get up as soon as the first alarm sounds.

Tip: If waking up is something you struggle with and your goal wake up time is hours earlier than the time you currently wake up, work your way there. If you wake up at 8.30 right now but would like to be waking up at 6, do a full week of 7am wake-ups. Then the next week, set your alarm for 6.30 and so on until you easily slip into your goal wake up time.

The toppings: This is what will be included in your morning routine.

I recommend picking 2-3 items. If you’ve never done a morning routine before, start with 1-2.

Morning routines are about creating healthy habits. To create new habits and ensure they are sustainable, we need to be able to focus on one thing at a time. If you overfill your morning routine, you will either not get everything done and feel guilty or have trouble sticking to it and also feel guilty.

The best approach is to start with ONE thing at a time.

Once that one thing becomes a habit for you, then you can add the next thing. If you’ve never done a morning routine before, then waking up at the same time every day and working out is HUGE! Make your one thing consistent before adding the next topping.

Toppings you can choose from:

• Move your body – work out, go to the gym, practice yoga, go for a run or walk, etc. Find a buddy to hold you accountable.
• Meditate – calming your mind before stepping into your day will help you ground yourself and de-stress before stepping into the external world.
• Intention Journaling – write out how you want your day to unfold, how you want to feel, and what you want to have happen. Visualize it going the way you want it to!
• Gratitude Journaling – write down five things you are grateful for from the previous day. This will put you in a perspective of appreciation and you will be looking for things to be grateful for as this day unfolds.
• Be creative – if you are a creative soul, this might be your time to draw, write, blog, and create.
• Learn something new – always wanted to learn a new language or get your sailing license? This is a great time to study and work towards that goal!
• Reach a goal – always wanted to declutter or fix up the old car in your garage? This is a great time to schedule it in!

The secret sauce:

The sauce is your secret weapon. This is your Why. Your Why is your deeper reason for doing something.

It’s really hard to wake up at 5.30am every morning if you don’t have a purpose or reason for doing it. The morning routine helps with having a purpose because you are waking up at this time in order to complete your routine.

However, you need to find something deeper.

If learning a new language is part of your morning routine, why is learning a language so important to you? Maybe it’s because you are working towards moving or travelling to Spain so you want to be able to communicate.

If working out or meditating is in your routine, why are you doing those things? Is it because you feel so incredibly amazing afterwards or because it calms you as you step into your day? Perhaps you are training for a marathon or you simply feel the mental improvement.

Whatever your reasoning is, identify it! Write it down. Get really clear on why each of these activities are important to you and why you have included them in your morning routine.

This is your secret sauce. When things get hard … when you don’t want to wake up and do the routine … when you don’t feel like showing up yourself … come back to your Why.

This is your determination. This is your motivation. This is how you begin living intentionally. Everything you do has a deeper purpose. Everything you do is positively serving you in the direction you want to be going.

So, what’s in your morning routine meal? We want to know!!

Share, like, and comment below if you enjoyed “How to create your morning routine”. Reach out to hello@declutteredintentions.com or @declutteredintentions on Instagram if you have any questions or comments! Let’s do this morning routine! 

Meet the author 

   Olivia Heine, Declutter & Intentional Life Coach

   Olivia is a declutter and intentional life coach. She specialises in helping people who feel stuck use decluttering as a tool to create habits of intention and attract more abundance. Her passion for decluttering was born out of anxiety ridden situations, but she used it as a way to gain clarity, release what wasn’t serving her, and start living in abundance. She approaches decluttering as a form of self-love and self-care, because in order to gain clarity and create healthy habits you first need to deepen your connection with yourself.
Website: declutteredintentions.com
  Instagram: @declutteredintentions 
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