Developing a Morning Routine that Works for You
Introduction
Part and parcel of a CEO’s obligations now is to explain to anyone who will listen just how strict a morning routine they maintain. We’ve all been inundated with increasingly braggadocious tales of early mornings, workouts and ice baths, as if, were it not for such tales, the CEOs in question worry the wider public may start to doubt that their fortunes were quite so meritocratically earned.
As such most CEOs would have you believe that they’ve sorted their emails, run a marathon, partaken in a mountaintop meditation in Tibet, and packed in a protein-heavy breakfast of champions for good measure, all before your 7am alarm has let out its first beep. This is simply what one does when one is a high performer, we are led to believe. The implication tinged with a not so subtle hint of “and you’d be a billionaire too if you just pulled your finger out.”
Of course, no one is doubting that morning routines are important and can have a crucial effect on the rest of our day. But the truth is most routines that are advertised to us by the ever-expanding productivity market are nothing but PR. As such, if one was looking to genuinely cultivate an effective morning routine, they’d be better off thinking smaller.
This article hopes to provide some more practical methods –– tried and tested –– that can make a difference without making one feel like a failure for not rising in pitch darkness or having not ticked off a whole bucket list worth of activities before the cockerels have started squawking.
Finding a routine that works for you
The problem with advocating one’s personal routine is it’s just that: personal. Even if these CEOs do achieve the relentless levels of performance they claim to every morning without fail, that doesn’t mean trying to follow suit is a guaranteed path to success. Mark Wahlberg gets up at 2:30am [1]. Does that mean that if we all got up at 2:30am we’d have Mark Wahlberg’s bank account? That we’d be starring in distinctly average blockbusters and that the world’s next Wahlburgers would suddenly spawn from our fingertips? No. We’d just be tired. And moody. And certainly in no position to make any working progress.
Benjamin Stall and Michael Xander, the co-founders of My Morning Routine and authors of My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired, have made a career of documenting the morning routines of the rich and famous, cataloguing almost 300 morning rituals in total. Rather than such detailed understanding having hardened their position on an ideal routine, it has softened it.
“Without meaning to offend anyone involved, there’s nothing intrinsically special about the people we profile in this book,” they told Forbes. “Aside, that is, from their ability to keep the habits and routines that allow them to achieve at a high level. And we can all do this; we can all turn our morning into a more positive experience (even parents of young kids can, to an extent; we have a chapter on this in the book), we just have to know where to start.” [2]
The most important thing you can do, then, is devise a routine that works specifically for you. That means that if you are aware you work better in the evenings than you do in the morning, don’t try to devise some new 5am Club inspired routine. It won’t help, and it will almost definitely hurt.
Equally, be kind to yourself if you break the routine. Too often, productivity gurus act like anything more than one slip up shows that someone isn’t sufficiently dedicated to whatever betterment task it is they’re working on. That’s a stance you can afford to take on a social media branding video, but the real world is less black and white. You will break your routine. You will do it more than once. And guess what, so will everyone else –– so what are you worried about? As Spall writes in the New York Times, “it’s important to keep in mind that life happens and sometimes you simply won’t be able to stick with your morning routine. It happens, and that’s fine. Reflect on it, then forget it and move on.” [3]
Kevin Cleary, the chief executive of Clif Bar & Company, agrees. “I give myself a break and take the longer view of what’s happening,” he says. “If I can’t do my workout later in the day, I’ll tell myself I’ll just pick it up tomorrow or the next day. Six months from now, my body or I won’t know that I missed a day.” [4]
There is a whole industry out in the big bad world predicated on telling you that the changes you make to your morning routine must be life-altering and that they must be rigorously adhered to –– no excuses, no exceptions. Outside of that industry, there are seven billion or so people getting on with their day. So start small and don’t harangue yourself for any slip ups.
However, if you find yourself slipping up time and time again, maybe take that as an indication that the changes you’re trying to make are too drastic and you would benefit from trying to do less, at least at first. As Stall and Xander put it, “The most common elements of the most successful morning routines are their ability to be simple and easy to follow. I’m serious! That’s not to say the intricacies of these habits need to be simple (your workout routine can be as complex as you want it to be), but what is simple and easy to follow in this situation would be, say, getting out of bed and doing two minutes of light stretching, or sitting down for a five minute meditation.” [5]
Let’s not overcomplicate this. Small changes go a long way. So, here are some of the most recommended little changes you can make.
Strategy #1: Waking up
There’s a whole heap of thinking available on when one should wake up, how they should wake up, what they should do when they wake up. Wading through so many theories about waking up is so exhausting it leaves you wanting nothing more than sleep. But the wake-up routine does have an impact and so is worth exploring. After all, one US study found that an extra hour of sleep a week raised average earnings by 5%, while another in Germany found that half an hour more sleep each week was associated with around 2% higher earnings among full-time workers, with the largest effects for mothers. In other words, this stuff matters, even if most prognostics are too absolute. [6]
The most debated element of the wake-up routine is, you guessed it, time. Theories differ, drastically and passionately, as to what time one should wake up. As noted, some opt for the (bone-chilling) 4am or 5am start. Others sleep until their body wakes them. Yet again for those in the back, there is no one way to do this. What is important, regardless of what time you’re going to bed and waking up, is that you develop a set routine and stick to it. As we’ve said, there will be breaches, that’s inevitable. But generally, try to make sure you’re going to bed at a similar time each night and waking up at a similar time each morning. “It can take time to train your body,” says Markus Kreth, CEO of Asia Media Publishing Group, “and you’ll have to keep up with it even on the weekends, but doing so can help regulate your internal clock and improve sleep quality — both of which can impact your performance throughout the workday.” [7]
If the 5am alarm sounds masochistic to you, maybe you’d benefit from the thinking on the other end of the spectrum. Wayne Elsey, founder and CEO of The Funds2Orgs Group, recommends ditching the alarm clock entirely and simply trusting your body to wake you up. “If you need an alarm,” he says, “try going to sleep 15 to 30 minutes earlier each night, and keep on increasing the amount from your usual sleeping time so that you no longer need to have the alarm — or at worse, wake up before the alarm rings. Second, stop snoozing. It doesn’t help you get more rest as the snooze setting doesn’t give you enough time to go through an entire sleep cycle.” [8]
For those who, like the writer of this article, think setting an alarm any time pre-seven should warrant a trial date at The Hague, the natural wake-up approach feels like a good one. After all, how often do we actually listen to our body rather than trying to wrangle it under the control of our busybody routines? Besides, if it’s good enough for Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey and Amanda Huffington, maybe there’s something in it.
The only problem with getting up whenever our body wants us to is it puts a lot of pressure on what time we go to bed. Here, too, there is advice. “Eliminate the mobile devices in your bedroom,” says Elsey. “Doing so will minimise the temptation of reading countless notifications, scrolling through social media, reading the news (which is usually negative) and communicating with others through texts. The reality is that having mobile devices, even using dimmers for brightness, could disrupt your sleep. For many people, mobile devices keep the mind alert and resisting sleep.” [9]
But it’s not just going to bed that is made worse by phones, it’s getting up too. “By keeping the phone out of your bedroom, you force yourself to read it after you get out of bed,” Elsey goes on. “Ultimately, this allows for you to ease into the morning, without the pressures of your world.” Too many of us start our morning by stretching out to our iPhone alarm and then scrolling and snoozing until the day becomes too heavy to ignore. As small an act as keeping your phone in a separate room can be enough to change this.
Arianna Huffington agrees. “A big part of my morning ritual is about what I don’t do: when I wake up, I don’t start the day by looking at my smartphone,” she says. “Instead, once I’m awake, I take a minute to breathe deeply, be grateful, and set my intention for the day.” [10]
So, a steady bed time and a phoneless night and morning, that’s the waking up portion sorted. But what happens after you wake up?
Strategy #2: Body and mind
Wake-up times are disputed. What follows is not. Every piece of literature on this subject recommends one starts their day with at least one of the following, ideally both: exercise and mindfulness.
Some may read that and think, “I know myself. I’m not a morning person. The last thing I’ll be in the mood for once I get out of bed is a run or a workout.” Thankfully, you don’t need to go that far. Remember what Stall and Xander said? Simple and easy to follow, that’s what’s needed.
You don’t need to burn yourself out on a treadmill or squat yourself into the category of walking wounded to start the morning effectively. A simple stretching routine or a brief walk is more than sufficient. The simple act of getting outside can help. As Kreth notes in Forbes, “Research has shown that exposure to nature can improve cognitive function and reduce stress levels. This simple activity can boost your mood and focus, preparing you for the day ahead. Furthermore, walking has been proven to enhance cardiovascular health, leading to long-term benefits such as increased longevity and reduced risk of chronic diseases.” [11]
If you don’t want to go outside, copy Marie Kondo, the organising consultant and author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Kondo explained to the New York Times that when she wakes up in the morning she immediately opens the windows to let in fresh air, a practice she has done since she was a child [12]. She also purifies the house by burning incense. Think of your morning mind like a child –– easily influenced, in its formative stages; the environment you create for it in those early moments will affect it later; a serene start to the morning can put your mind at peace, while a stressed start sets you up for disaster.
That’s also why any number of successful people preach the benefits of mindfulness every morning, be it yoga or meditation. It only needs to be a few minutes –– five, ten, twenty –– but the effects are shown to be profound.
None of these recommendations is strenuous, but the impact of implementing them can be life-changing.
Strategy #3: Dealing with tasks
Sooner or later, your work day will have to start. The when and the how of this are hotly disputed, but one approach seems to be more widely adopted than the rest: to tackle key tasks first. To do that you have to know what your key tasks are. To do that, you need to prepare them.
You can get a headstart that morning or even the night before. Jacob Corlyon of CCMR3 told Forbes of his process: “I write down a list of up to four of the most important things I need to accomplish tomorrow to move the needle, personally or professionally. Then in the morning, I tackle those items before the day gets away from me. This reduces my stress and ensures I am getting my most important items done each day.” [13]
Former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault does precisely the same, ending his evenings by writing down three things he wants to accomplish the next day [14]. As does Michael Shribman of APS Global Partners Inc., except he does it in the morning rather than the night before [15]. Either way, making a note of what you want to achieve is a helpful way of framing your day and monitoring your progress. It sharpens what we want to achieve. If you’re someone who finds days can pass by a bit aimlessly, drifting from project to project, this technique can be especially helpful.
Developing a morning routine that works for you
While the obsession with hyper-productive morning routines has become a status symbol for CEOs and productivity gurus, it’s important to remember that routines are highly personal and should be tailored to individual needs and preferences. The rigid, extreme morning rituals we often hear about are not necessarily the key to success for everyone. Rather, the most effective routines are simple, easy to maintain, and adaptable to the realities of life.
Consistency, self-compassion, and small, sustainable habits can be far more impactful than any gruelling or rigid schedule. The best advice is to find a routine that works for your energy levels, lifestyle, and goals, and be kind to yourself if it doesn’t always go to plan.
One of my favourite bits of advice I read when researching this article was from a man who’d accidentally become a best-seller for a self-help book he’d written while still heavily depressed [16]. Subsequently, in an attempt to justify his new ‘The Happy Guy’ nickname, he sought out genuine ways to make himself better and to find meaning in the day to day. He tried every bit of advice he could, and found three things really helped: (1) letting go of regret (2) showing gratitude (3) planning ahead. Every night now, he fills out a piece of card that he leaves on his nightstand so it’s the first thing he sees each morning. It’s a two minute process he swears has changed his thinking on life. The three sentences he fills in are:
I will let go of…
I am grateful for…
I will focus on…
If all you have is two minutes every morning to turn around your life, you could do a lot worse than following suit.
More on Habits
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How to Avoid the Winter Malaise and Keep Productivity up Through the Dark Season
Why Achievement Doesn’t Guarantee Happiness
Boosting personal and organisational performance in the digital age with Ade McCormack – Podcast
Sources
[1] https://russhowepti.com/mark-wahlberg-daily-routine-explained/
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/smarter-living/tips-better-morning-routine.html
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/smarter-living/tips-better-morning-routine.html
[6] https://www.ft.com/content/1d388f40-4213-45c2-abdb-06b6a9493f85
[12] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/smarter-living/tips-better-morning-routine.html
[16] https://hbr.org/2021/01/this-two-minute-morning-practice-will-make-your-day-betterelop cognitive, behavioural, emotional, and leadership capacities.
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