My Morning Routine

As a stay at home/ work at home mom, having routines and rhythms set up is SO important to having a productive… and positive day. Being able to maximize my time and get stuff done is always nice, but the effect it has on me and my family is even better! I notice a huge difference in my mood and stress level when routines are in place as does my family. Children in particular, thrive on routines. So even though I myself am not a necessarily a person of habit, it is something I try and work really hard on!

I am going to be sharing my morning routine on this post, but the purpose of me sharing is not for you to copy my routine..although you can if you want! haha I am providing it for some inspiration, but everyone’s family is so different-you will have to make adjustments based on that! For example, my son is currently 20 months old. So he is sleeping through the night and this allows me to be able to wake up early and do this routine! What works for me might not work for a mama with newborn twins…make your routine work for you 😉

How I established a morning routine:

Two steps:

1. I made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish in my morning and put it on my bathroom mirror where I would see it every day!

2. Then I just got up and started doing it. It is something that is really important to me so I stopped making excuses and just DID IT. I get up every day and do it to my best of my ability. Like any habit, the more you do it, the easier it will be become!

What my morning routine consists of:

Wake up at 5 am: I chose this time because it is approximately 2 hours before my son wakes up. I highly, highly recommend waking up before your children (or an extra hour earlier than you need to) This gives you some time for YOU and the opportunity to have a morning routine at all. I know that waking up early is hard, but it DOES get easier eventually, I promise!

Dishes+ coffee: I try to unload the dishwasher every morning so that dishes can go straight inside during the day. This helps prevent dishes from piling up and the sink and makes my whole day run so much more smoothly! I make and drink coffee while I’m doing this.

Laundry: Next I do some component of laundry-whether that is putting a load in, switching to the dryer, folding or putting it away. I try to do this EVERYtime that I am awake and Henry is asleep and I am awake (so morning, nap and night). This breaks it up throughout the day and makes it feel less overwhelming, but I still manage to stay on top of my laundry!

Get ready: I get myself completely ready and dressed for the day (whether that is in workout clothes for my workout class or in “real” clothes). I used to get so frustrated with Henry when I was trying to get ready because he would get into my make up, pull clothes of the hanger, etc. Getting ready before he is awake lets me do it in peace and makes my day just that much better.

Read: I try and carve out a little time every morning to sit and read. I almost always choose a nonfiction book in the morning because they get me excited and motivated for the day. I save the fiction books for before bed. Reading for just a few minutes every morning really helps to put me in a positive mindset. I’m currently reading Less is More, but Miracle Morning would be a great one to start with for some morning routine inspo!

Work: With any remaining time before Henry wakes up, I work on my blog. I think most clearly during this time and am able to get quite a bit done! If you don’t have a blog or work from home job, use this time to do something you like to do (or need to do) in peace.

Once Henry is awake, we eat breakfast together. We always read books during breakfast-it is a great way to get the little wiggle worm to listen to books 😉

After that the rest of the morning is spent on playing with him and getting him ready for the day. Most days we leave midmorning to go to a stroller workout class. Thanks to this morning routine or mornings are pretty calm and relaxed since I am able to provide Henry with the attention he craves first thing in the morning.

Other ideas for your morning routine:

• gratitude (some people love doing this in the morning- I prefer doing it at night, but see what works best for you!)
• exercise (it is SO nice to get it over with first thing in the morning!)
• podcast (a great alternative is reading isn’t your thing)
• make your bed (a habit of successful people all over the world- I need to get better about this!)
• make a to do list/ action plan for the day (I do this the night before, but it can also be done in the morning!)