Introduction 

• Does anyone enjoy the sound of their alarm going off every morning? I’m sure there are people somewhere who do but I am sure they are either extremely lucky or positively crazy, for the rest of us it is just something we have to deal with too many days of the week. However, just because it is something we have to deal with, doesn’t mean we have to dread it, or sleep walk through the first 1 to 2 hours of our day. In fact, having a defined and productive morning routine can help set you up for the day in a positive and engaged way.
• The aim of this piece is to discuss the importance of morning routines, specifically there are four fundamental aims; (1) highlight why having a defined morning routine is so important (2) explain my morning routine (3) highlight how I’d like to be able to improve my morning routine (4) things not to do in the morning.

Why is morning routine important? 

• For many people the first 1 to 2 hours of their day is a slog or a mission, getting through it is an accomplishment in itself, by why? At it’s most basic level there are two things at work; (1) we are upset our lovely sleep has been broken (2) we don’t give ourselves enough time to get everything done in the morning.
• I firmly believe that a defined and well-structured morning routine can have a massive impact on the rest of your day, but it requires some thought. I see 4 main reasons why a morning routine is important:
  • It allows you to accomplish something – once the day actually gets into full swing there are constantly people wanting something from you, be it children, your boss, your friends or a charity worker in the street, it comes in from all directions. Being  pulled in every direction can make it very difficult to complete or accomplish anything before the next issue or escalation comes in. Early in the morning is a time when other distractions are at a minimum, having a defined morning routine will allow you to accomplish something before the distractions kick in, setting the tone for the rest of the day and ticking something off the list.
  • Repeatable habit – Defining your daily routine and sticking to it allows you to form good habits. Habits are just actions/decisions you take over and over again until they are second nature – check out my post of habit formation here; http://jablifestyle.net/2016/05/22/forming_habits_routines/
  • Reduced Stress – Doing the same activities at the same time every day will significantly reduce the common morning problems of feeling flustered or stressed. It’ll mean you don’t miss the train and won’t be late dropping the kids off, it allows you to go on auto-pilot.
  • Physically and mentally prepares you for the day – If you struggle to maintain either or both physical and mental durability during the day then having a defined morning routine allows you to focus on targeting ways to address this.
  • Take back authority/ownership of your day/life – There are so many people telling you what to do and what not to do in the rest of your life and throughout your day, the 1 – 2 hours you have each morning allows you to take back control, even for that short period and focus on yourself, even if after that time is over you have to go back to things being defined by others.
• Not everyone will want to create a morning routine to achieve all of the above, and obviously the goal of your morning routine will impact on the type of routine you chose. Make sure you know what you want to achieve from a morning routine before you define your route. For example, if your goal is to accomplish something in the morning, you are more likely to want to get up earlier and have a longer routine, this will allow you to tick off the most important thing on your to-do list before the day’s distractions kick in. If your goal is to reduce the amount you faff and procrastinate the morning, extending the time you take to get up in the morning would be counter-intuitive.

My Morning Routine 

• Now you know the ways a morning routine can improve your life and give you back ownership and power of your day, it’s probably a good time to bench-mark of what an average to solid morning routine can look like. I hope that by sharing my morning routine you’ll see how I’m trying to achieve the above things and perhaps you can learn the lessons I’m still trying to!
• My alarm goes off at 06:50am every work day morning (it also goes off at around 8:30 on the weekend, I’m not an indulgent sleeper). There is no snoozing of alarms, once I’ve turned off the alarm and pulled myself from dreamland it is straight into the shower (I cannot function in any way shape of form without one). I almost never shave in the morning, I find that my skin is too sensitive and can become very dry if I do. I usually have a 5-7minute shower, and then suit up. Similar to needing a shower before I can consider myself human I also need to have some form of breakfast to get me going. You can find out more about my ketogenic breakfast here: http://jablifestyle.net/2016/05/22/converting-to-a-ketogenic-breakfast/
• After that I do something might consider slightly strange to bother calling out, but I drink 1 pint of water. This is something I started doing only recently but has had a significant impact on getting rid of my morning grogginess, I hate feeling rubbish in the morning and for a long time I didn’t realise it was dehydration causing it. Next is brushing my teeth and making my bed. This is where the accomplishment part comes in, getting those two things done sets the tone for the day, they are so easy and simple to complete but are very important to me.
• I leave the house between 7:30 – 7:35 (depends on length of shower and choice of breakfast) and walk the 0.5 miles to the Northern Line station, I then have ~30mins in the tube and 0.5 mile walk to my office, so get into the office around 8:10 – 8:15.
• Throughout my commute I listen to podcasts. Which podcasts I listen to differs greatly –I’m currently writing a blog on this topic at the moment. I’d love to be able to do more reading on my commute but I like having a physical book not Kindle or similar, and anyone who has been on the Northern Line in London during rush hour will confirm there isn’t enough personal space to be able to read!
• That is what the first 1.5 hrs of my day look like, as I said at the start it’s definitely a middle of the road routine at best. The positive is that it is very well defined, repeatable and hits my fundamental requirements, namely (1) effective wake up (2) ketogenic  breakfast (3) accomplishment – getting something done. However there is much more I’d like to be able to do….

How I’d like to improve 

• There are three ways in which I want to improve and enhance my morning routine, but am yet to do any of them;
  • Hit the Gym – I really want to be able to add a gym session into my morning routine once or twice a week. I try to go to the gym 3 times a week, but always after work or on the weekend, and moving one of these session to early morning would give me a night or afternoon back into my busy life. Why haven’t I done it? I see a couple of key reasons;
    • Protein Intake – I am naturally a slim person, I have a swimmers physic which I definitely don’t complain about, however there is one draw-back, if I’m not taking enough protein to fuel myself before and after gym sessions then I burn muscle, and that isn’t something I can afford to do. Therefore, I must take on-board protein 30 mins before I work out. This means I not only have to wake up early enough to get to the gym before getting to work at 8:15 I have to add an extra 30 mins to give me time to digest the protein.
    • Effectiveness of Session – I can sometimes struggle getting to the gym, but once there I always want to have a big session and justify the effort of going. I am concerned that early in the morning I will not have the drive and motivation to get over my tiredness and have an optimal session.
    • Breaking my current routine – I am a massive creature of habit, my current morning routine works and I’m concerned adding a morning gym session in twice a week could throw off the things I’m currently getting right. I fully recognize the fallacy of my argument, wanting both things, unfortunately that’s human nature.
  • Meditate – I really enjoy listening to podcasts and interviews with top performers, across business, athletics and academia and a common theme across a large percentage of them is a meditative practice of some description. I don’t have one, and I want one. What haven’t I done it?
    • Some part of me is still skeptical – Despite hearing a similar story over and over again I still think a small part of me is skeptical. Not skeptical that it doesn’t work for others, but skeptical it won’t work for me. I am always in my head and am not convinced meditation will get me out.
    • More beneficial than sleep – My skeptical view almost certainly leads to this second point. I’m yet to be convinced that the introduction of meditating practice would be better than the extra 20-30 mins sleep.
  • Fully appreciate these are poor arguments and unfounded ones, how can I say I don’t believe in meditative practice when I’ve never done it?
  • I have heard that the Headspace 10 minutes a day challenge is excellent, I even have the app downloaded and ready to go, maybe writing this post will be the final push to start my meditative practice….watch this space.
  • Journaling/Affirmations – Similarly to meditation, I’ve heard only positive things about journaling and affirmations. They are not the same thing; journaling is brain dump turning your current thoughts into words or the thoughts you have at that particular moment on a defined topic or topics. Affirmations is writing the same goal/ambition down multiple times to re-enforce it and focus on achieving it. My rationale for having not done this is similar to the third reason for not going to the gym, concern of affecting the equilibrium of my current morning routine.
  • These are just the ways I am looking to improve and enhance my morning routine in my quest to achieve optimality. Some of these I have been considering for a fairly long time (6+ months) but this is the first time I have communicated them, writing them down does make them seem a lot more achievable and makes many of my reservations seem silly. Watch this space, I’ll definitely keep you updated with my progress!

What not to do 

• Whilst I know I don’t have the best morning routine, and definitely have areas I’d like to improve on, I do think I have a solid understanding of what you shouldn’t be doing, the following will ruin your routine, and make your mornings a crazy and miserable time.
  • Don’t lie in bed checking your phone/ Social Media – Modern smartphones can be incredibly useful, but they can also be a considerable drain on time and can ruin your great morning routine intentions. When your alarm goes off, stop the alarm and put the phone down immediately and focus on getting out of bed and on with your day. Taking the time to check e-mail or Facebook or Twitter will drain your time and give your brain time to talk itself out of going to the gym, writing affirmations  or having a healthy breakfast. If the temptation is too much for you, try removing your mobile phone from your bedroom completely and go back to a good old alarm clock to get you up in the morning.
  • Don’t snooze your alarm – This is a pet peeve from my backpacking days around South America. I hated the person in the dorm who would set 5 alarms before getting out of bed in the morning. All snoozing does is reduce the amount of good quality sleep you get and give your brain time to think of all the reasons why you shouldn’t get up and be productive with your morning. Learn to get out of bed 1-2 minutes after your alarm goes off for the first time.
  • Give yourself time – Trying to squeeze everything into the shortest time possible will only make you stressed, make you late or make you unfulfilled because you couldn’t complete everything in your morning routine. All of these things more than make up for the extra 10 to 15 mins sleep time you get from cramming everything in. If those extra 10 to 15 minutes are so important to you then start going to bed slightly earlier.
  • Don’t use a terrible ring tone – The theory goes that if you have a terrible ring tone or alarm to wake you up in the morning then it’ll force you awake as you try to turn it off as soon as physically possible. This is a load of rubbish! Why would you want to be snatched from a lovely dream by a horrible sound? All this will do it put you in a terrible mood and make you more likely to stay in bed because you feel as through it’s justice for the horrible noise.

Conclusion 

• Overall, morning routines are a very powerful tool to add efficiency and productivity to your day. The modern professional has less and less free time so we need to look to be more efficient with the time we have.
• Implementing a well-defined and structure routine can make you happy – physically, mentally and spiritually – and give you that extra spark in the morning to set you up for an optimal day ahead.
• If you don’t have a defined morning routine yet or are looking to tweak it then I absolutely encourage you. You should look to experiment as much as you feel comfortable doing. Just remember don’t change everything at once, take incremental steps. If you change everything at once you’ll either fail because it’ll be too much or you’ll not understand and appreciate which things are working and which are not.
• Good luck and have fun with your routine definition, let me know how it goes and I will definitely keep you updated with my progress fitting in those things on the ‘to be added’ list.

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