Lockdown Strategies: How to Have a Purposeful Morning Routine To Support Your Intentional Life

We are back on the importance of routines when it comes to living that Intentional, purposeful life we now know we want. Yes, it is important to listen to the still small voice; to your head, heart and gut. 

But it you don't create time for yourself to do that with your daily routines it won't happen. So let's look again at a morning routine that will nourish your life of intention and purpose. 

Analyze Your Current Routine

Before you can change up your morning routine, you need to be fully aware of what it is like now. Even if you think you don’t have a routine, you do! Think about the order in which you do things at any time of the day. It is easiest to analyze it in the morning, since this is when most people do roughly the same things. Maybe you go to the bathroom once your alarm goes off, or you take your dogs out first. You might make coffee or do some yoga before taking a shower. These are actions that are part of your routine. Make a note of what you do and how you do it. This lays the foundation for adapting or changing it up until it really supports YOU.

Now Be Intentional About What You Want to Change

Once you have a better understanding of your current routine, you can think about what you want to change, add, or remove.

This might mean waking up a little earlier to fit more in, removing tasks that aren’t good for you or benefiting you, or even changing your entire routine to be more intentional.

I began using an online Journalling tool last year and have found that very helpful in starting off my day. I use it to explore what I feel, my mood, what I want to do that day and after 750 words are down I either carry on developing the thought I'm exploring or leave it knowing that I have cleared some more space in my head for the rest of the day. Come what may, I go first to my journal. That has been the biggest and more useful change I have made to my mornings in a long time and I am still reaping the benefits. I used to journal in the evenings and now I know that for me - morning writing works best. Give yourself permission to experiment and try things - it's the only way to find out.

Be Honest With What You Can Accomplish

It is important to be honest with yourself about what you want to accomplish, and WHY you are choosing each part of your morning routine. Are you doing yoga in the morning because it makes you feel good, or because you saw other people doing it? Do you want to add in writing in a journal for a specific reason, and do you have time for it?

A big part of being purposeful and intentional with your morning routine is understanding why you want to do something, what it will serve, and whether or not you will have time for it in your normal schedule. It is a big truth that we will find time for something we really want to do so it is important to find out why you want to do a particular thing and check out the level of your motivation. If the why is a real priority for you - you'll do it far more easily.

Have Time for Self-Care or Rest

Everyone needs a little downtime in their routine, which can just be a few minutes where you check in with yourself and allow yourself to be mindful or meditate. Try your best to schedule in a few minutes during your morning routine when you can practice self-care, do breathing exercise, or just rest if your body and mind needs it. 

My routine is to greet the day consciously and welcome this day I have never seen before. I take a minute just to feel gratitude to the sun for rising, for my body for recharging as I slept and enabling me to see the colours change in the sky and for being alive. Then I move on. 

Be Open to Change

Sometimes, certain habits in your routine are no longer serving you. Be open to these changes and remain flexible in your morning routine. Even if you have a purposeful morning routine right now, in a few months, the season is different and you might have other healthy changes you want to make. There is nothing wrong with adjusting it to fit your lifestyle.

Giving yourself permission to experiment and adapt is a wonderful way to take care of yourself. Have fun!

Join me anytime on Facebook at the group MakeBigImpactNow. This is a community of Changemakers and Grassroots Givers who are doing what they can to make a difference and change the world. They are sincerely engaged in Doing Good Better, starting with themselves!

I'm producing a ton of free content about making an impact, leaving a legacy, making a difference and opening up the most profound levels of self-care for turbulent times. https://www.facebook.com/groups/468677503774245/

I am also blogging and posting on my old website which I will be dusting off and breathing new life into over the next few weeks. Watch this space. www.elizabethmorrisonline.com