My morning routine

“I don’t do routines,” my friend said, “I just take it as it comes.”

While it may be true that some people just don’t do very well with routines, I’d argue that they are in a very tiny minority. For the rest of us, even those of us who don’t like following rigid schedules, a morning routine can be a great start for the day. In this post, I want to share my personal experience as someone who has gone from having absolutely no morning routine to having a pretty effective one.

Here, roughly, is my morning routine:

1. Wake up (currently at 0810)
2. Drink a glass of water [5 min]
3. Morning essentials (brushing teeth, the loo, etc.) [15 min]
4. Upper body exercises [15 min]
5. Jog [30 min]
6. Breakfast [30 min]
7. Shower [15 min]
8. Morning Prayer [1 hour]
9. Work session [1 hour]

Notice that I did not put exact timestamps, just estimates of how long each part of the routine takes. This is because morning routines are not meant to be rigid, inflexible structures. Rather, you can adjust it as you go along. For example, I might take longer on a jog one day, or spend a bit more time in the shower. As long as you get through your routine and arrive on time for your next appointment, you’ve been successful.

Alright, so what’s the point of having a morning routine? The main advantage I’ve experienced is that a morning routine gives me wins early in the day. This means that before I am even halfway through my day, I can already check off multiple accomplishments. Exercise? Check. Jog? Check. Time with God? Check. Got some work done? Check. Having wins early in the day creates momentum. And momentum keeps me motivated and productive throughout the rest of the day.

I can illustrate this more clearly with the analogy of the car. Imagine that you are the car, and that every distraction during the day (e.g. friends, social media, work, video games) is a speed bump on the road that tries to slow the car down. If the car can build up enough momentum in the morning, then it is far more likely to be able to get through all those speed bumps without stopping. Conversely, if the car starts off at a meagre 10 miles per hour, then it’s going to break down after just one or two speed bumps.

But not all morning routines are created equal. In my experience, successful routines usually incorporate a mix of exercise and mental focus. Physical activity and mental activity are tightly linked. Going for a jog is not only good for our muscles, but also trains resilience in our brains. And mental resilience helps us push past our boundaries in exercise. It is a positive feedback loop.

I had no morning routine until 2017, my final year at Oxford. I used to sleep at 3 AM and wake up at 11 AM, then mope through the rest of the day in a low-productivity daze, finishing off with social gatherings, movies, and games. Maybe most of you don’t have it that extreme. But a morning routine helped me pick myself up, and today I am 100 times more productive.

So how can we build effective morning routines? Here are six principles to get started:

1. Wake up well in advance of your first appointment of the day. You need time to build that momentum up. If your first appointment is 30 minutes after you wake up, you won’t even have time to get started before the distractions of the day hit. That being said, your exact wake up time doesn’t matter; unlike many “experts” out there, I don’t think it is necessary to drag yourself out of bed at 4 AM every morning.
2. Steer clear of social media and texting. It may feel fun to talk to friends first thing in the morning, but it saps your mental energy and stops you from highly performing.
3. Avoid distractions and temptations. If you’re honest with yourself, you know what your main distractions and temptations are. Get away from those in the morning. Don’t jog past your favourite cafe. Don’t look through your notifications if you know you will want to reply to texts.
4. Start easy. Too many times I’ve implemented some intensive morning routine overnight, then realised it is too hard and gave up after just a few days. Start small, and ease your brain into it.
5. Make sure the routine is fun. If you’re doing things you absolutely hate, then your morning routine will not be successful. That being said, just because your routine is fun does not mean it should be easy. So…
6. Make sure the routine is challenging. Ideally, you should be pushing past your limits every morning. This will give you true satisfaction and a real sense of victory which will help you crush the rest of your day.

And here are just three strategies you can implement right away to start a new morning routine:

1. Take out a notebook or a piece of paper and write down a draft routine. Something that takes about one hour to finish is already enough. Then implement it tomorrow, and try your best to follow your plan. Find out what works and what doesn’t, adjust your plan, and then re-implement it the following day. Repeat the process until you’ve got an effective routine.
2. Give yourself a small reward after you finish the morning routine. It could be a small snack or time to play video games.
3. Find an accountability partner! Even if you are not physically doing the routine together (and this may be distracting for many people, myself included), it helps if you have a partner to keep you accountable. And you can do the same for him/her. Maybe set up a system where you send each other a certain emoji for successful completion every morning.

Remember, the purpose of a morning routine is to achieve wins early in the day. Build enough momentum in the morning, and you will have enough energy to sail through the rest of the day. So set your alarm for tomorrow and get started!