How to Create a Morning Routine to Boost Daily Energy
Janine van Someren PhD
Executive Wellbeing Coach | Consultant | Guest Speaker | Workshops | 121 Coaching
Morning routines - even the idea can make you groan – for many the aim of the morning is just to get out of the house in one piece – if you’re a snooze button, grab a coffee, whizz out the door type of person then you’ve a routine. If you’re an ‘up with the kids’, keep the show on the road, let’s get out of here “go go go” then you have a routine – we all have a routine but having one that works FOR YOU, that ENERGISES YOU, is a whole other ball game.
If we imagine our day as a set of dominos where the first series of decisions you make in the morning are the first dominos that fall – when the first domino of the day is a positive one it triggers a domino effect for the whole day, where the decisions you make allow you to be happier, energised and ready for the day ahead.?
Here we’re going to create a morning routine that makes you feel more energised and acts as a domino to start the day in the right way that puts you and your wellbeing first. How you set your day up is how it ends up. Focus on creating a positive morning routine and see the wellbeing advantages that flow from there.?
Let’s look at morning routine options based on 3Ms Mindful, Movement, Mindset that can be completed in just 5 minutes.
Mindful Morning - 2 minutes
No matter how many times I review the research, listen to the experts, watch the TedTalks, it’s clear that the power of a mindful pause in the morning is one of the best ways to re-set your energy, reduce overwhelm and decrease stress.?
The pause does not need to be a 30-minute meditation, benefits are gained from taking a two minute mindful pause to focus on your breathing. Adopting the 3-4-5 method where you breathe in for 3 seconds, pause/hold for 4 seconds and breathe out for 5 seconds you lower your stress response and activate a relaxation response. This will help your body to re-set and improve your resilience to micro stress doses throughout the day. Repeat the 3-4-5 technique as often as you can [need to] throughout the morning.?
Morning Movement - 2 minutes
Movement in the morning can be anything from dancing in the kitchen to bodyweight exercises such as press-ups or squats. For this morning routine we are focussing on preparing for the day ahead not training for a marathon. Here we’re looking at adding just 2 minutes of movement into our routine as a way to ease us out of a fight or flight mode, to increase brain cell activity that dampens down anxiety and lessens the effect of an overactive stress response.?
Many of my clients choose a simple yoga sequence of stretches as their movement. Clinical research over the last few years has told us what the ancients knew intuitively?- yoga helps reduce stress and anxiety, combat fatigue, is good for you heart and is a perfect antidote to the stresses of modern life.
Morning Mindset - 1 minute
Develop a mindset that allows us to start the day with a positive mindset. Use?Mel Robbin’s 5 second rule, where you count down 5-4-3-2-1 and use the momentum of the countdown to get out of bed without delay.?
Follow your 5-4-3-2-1 habit with the Maui Habit used by the Founder of the Behavior Design lab at Stanford University BJ Fogg. His Maui Habit begins the moment he gets out of bed: After I wake up and put my feet on the floor, I will say “it’s going to be a great day.” Pause for a few seconds after you say the phrase to let it sink in. While it may feel a bit "woo" at first, you'll soon begin to notice it's impact and if the words seem a bit strong at times when your mindset is low, then edit the phrase to “it’s going to be a great day - somehow.”?
Your 5-minute morning routine
Now that you have your 3M's you can begin to establish a morning routine to manage stress, promote movement and boost energy.?
Why Routine Matters
The idea here is to give you the potential to get out of the house in one piece while maintaining a level of energy that allows you to start the day at an optimal level!
Giving yourself the time to even have a routine will immediately benefit your wellbeing as seen when we measure heart rate variability using Firstbeat Life technologies. The Firstbeat Life profile below shows that when my client Sarah has a calm relaxed morning “routine” she stays within her threshold of stress tolerance and gives herself the greatest chance of starting the working day in a positive way. This is presented as green in her Firstbeat Life profile below and highlights when she was able to find her flow in focussed work. By staying within her stress threshold she was able to reduce the impact of stress during the day [the red on her profile is noted as busyness rather than stress].?On a?side note you may have noticed the block of red in her evening profile from 18:00-22:00? This highlights an area of challenge seen with many of my clients who are parents and find the evening routine of family life particularly challenging. This time frame was addressed by tweaking her evening habits to promote a relaxing, stress reducing, sleep optimising routine which we evaluated in future Firstbeat Life measurements.?
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Know Your A-B-C to Make Your Routine Stick?
Once you have an option that resonates with you, that you believe will fit your lifestyle, then it’s worth thinking about how to make that routine become a sustainable habit. Here’s your ABC of creating a morning routine that sticks:?
A is for Anchor
What is the stable, rock-steady reminder that triggers your new routine?
Think of your anchor as think of it as the holding point for your new routine. Your anchor could be a visual reminder such as a post-it that says “pause” or it could be an auditory cue such as an alarm reminding you to practise some yoga stretches. For many of my clients flicking the switch on their kettle is their cue to pause and take a moment to reset. Your anchor is stable, reliable and strong. It acts as a trigger for you to adopt your new habit.?
Anchors that remind you to pause with the mindful 3-4-5 breathing method:
B is for Behaviour
What is the one behaviour change that you could make that would have the biggest impact on your morning routine??
Choose a new behaviour that is the easy to add to your routine. Make it so easy that it would seem ridiculous not to do it. The world’s leading behaviour change scientists all agree that if we want behaviours to become habitual they should take little mental or physical effort. If your new behaviour is easy, you are significantly more likely to make it part of your morning routine.
Easy morning behaviours to adopt:
C is for Consistency
How will you make your new habit a consistent part of your day?
One of the best ways to develop sustained behaviour change is to add your new habit to a routine or action that you take consistently. Habits such as brushing your teeth or the first cup to tea in the morning are consistent behaviours carried out routinely without much conscious thought. When we attach our new habits onto these consistent behaviours we are more likely to adopt the new habit.?
Consistent everyday behaviours, that you can combine with new habits:
From Morning Routine to Long Term Change
Remember long term behaviour change occurs when one small habit, consistently done, becomes a lifestyle choice. The habits you adopt today will turn you into the person you want to become. The version of you that is happier healthier and more energised than the you you are now. Create a morning routine that the future you will thank you for. Whether you consider yourself a morning person or not, a morning routine is essential.
If all this talk about habit change has triggered a change in your thoughts on the potential you can gain from your mornings then share with friends who would benefit too. Finding moments to pause and breathe in an otherwise busy life is part of the wellbeing challenges that are addressed in my coaching.
Get in touch if you want to explore how your morning routine currently impacts your wellbeing and start your Firstbeat Life profile to connect the dots between your body reactions and daily activities. Follow me on LinkedIn, subscribe to the newsletter and check out my website to find out more about my work.?
Check out my latest podcast appearance on The Sharon Fitzmaurice Podcast: Small changes create huge benefits with Janine van Someren PhD