4 things I do (Almost) every morning

I am a bit obsessed with other people’s morning routines!  Seriously.  I’ve read and bought books like what the most successful people get done before breakfast and the miracle morning and chances are if there’s a book coming out about how to do mornings better, I am buying it!

Maybe, just maybe you’re obsessed with morning like me.  Or, maybe you’re a night owl and all this talk about morning routines really bothers you but you also know there’s something to patterns and routines regardless of when they happen.    

I want to take you quickly through my morning routine.  Not to give you more stuff to do.  Not to make you feel guilty for hitting the snooze button.  But to show you some things that have worked for me in the morning and maybe one or more of them will work for you.  There’s 4 things- well 5, if you count coffee- I do just about every morning:

1. Time in the word- 1 and 1a are almost simultaneous.  I read some passages from the Bible while making coffee.  I follow a read through the bible in a year plan and it’s become almost automatic.  If you follow Jesus, time in the word is a great way to start the day.  If you’re not, read something inspirational, uplifting, or challenging to get you going and get your mind started right.
2. Planning- if I’ve done things right, I’ve planned my day the night before- see, I’m not against night owls- in terms of what I need to do, what I am doing when, meetings, projects I am working on, etc.  My morning planning time is writing down answers to the same prompts each day including from a planner called the High Performance Planner.  The planner includes prompts like One thing I can get excited about today is and If one word could describe the kind of person I want to be today, then that word is . . .  and why I chose it. . . 
   
3. Journaling- I have a Microsoft word journal on my laptop simply called Bs journal.  Laugh now as most of it is BS!    The goal here is to write. I’ll write about the previous day, I’ll write about anxieties or stresses I am feeling.  I’ll be honest as possible with who I am, what I am thinking, and how I am feeling.  I write most  every day and the goal is to get at least 500 words in.  I don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or even if it flows or makes sense. I am trying to simply get stuff onto paper and let the writing transcribe how I am doing.
4. Creating- mornings are my best time for doing anything creative- writing this happened in the morning- editing it probably happened later.  Anything you see on the blog or on the Facebook page likely took place in the morning regardless of when it got scheduled.  The later in the day it gets, the less interesting and creative I am.  Heck, let’s be honest, the crabbier I get, so it’s important to me that creative work happen in the morning.

My routine usually takes an hour. Sometimes longer.  Sometimes less.  It’s important for me that this routine happens before I open my phone. Before I check email.  Facebook.  Twitter.  Any of those things that aren’t bad but that rob me of the freedom a morning provides. 

That’s it!  Share something from your routine that’s worked well for youin the comments and make your next morning your best morning.