TheWellEngineeredLife

One thing all of my friends know about me is that I am a crazy morning person. A 5am wakeup is consistently the best part of my day. While this sounds a little insane and partially genetic there are a couple of non-negotiable things I will never miss to make this happen.

My morning routines started more out of necessity than anything else when I started studying mechanical engineering in college. Suddenly my free time had evaporated and finding time to workout and eat a healthly meal was almost impossible. To make things worse, I felt like the less I worked out and ate healthy, the worse I would perform in my classes.

I had always been an early riser, but this was the push I needed to finally commit to structure. Eventually through years of trial I have found my most important habits to structure my mornings.

1. A Solid Night Routine

The absolute worst thing is trying to wake up to a 5am alarm after a horrible night of sleep and force yourself to the treadmill still half asleep. I quickly found out that a great morning starts with a great night of sleep.

Every night I decide on an ideal time to wake up the next morning then work 8 hours back from then. Ideally then I try to be in bed an hour before that time. If I am trying to wake up at 5am I would then attempt to be in bed at 8pm. Often when I have a lot going on I will cut back this time to plan for 7 hours or change the hour before to a half an hour before. Either way having this extra time to wind down before bed sets me up to have a good night of sleep and plenty of energy in the morning.

I will also attempt to get off of my phone an hour or two before bed. This gives me plenty time to do my skin care, read my book, and give my eyes a rest from the blue light. But to be honest, this does not always happen.

2. Create a Plan

Early in the morning while you are half awake is the worst time to try and piece together a plan for your day. At the beginning of the week I plan all of my workouts so each day has a set plan and their is no decision making when I wake up in the mornings.

The last thing I do before bed each night is mentally run through my plan for the next day. This allows me to just get up in the morning and go on autopilot until I am actually awake enough to function.

3. Lay Everything Out

A really underrated hack to a great morning is to lay out everything you need for the next morning. Every morning I set an early alarm and have my clothes and shoes laid out in the bathroom for the next day. I set up my breakfast and make my iced coffee for the morning.

The purpose of this is to have the least amount of friction possible to the plan. I think the best way there is to stick to a plan is to make the it as easy as possible to follow.

4. Identify Challenges

If I find myself planning out amazing sounding mornings and solid workouts but they still are not happening I like to take a moment to reflect and see where things are going wrong.

If I can’t get up for my alarm, am I staying up scrolling on my phone? Am I planning unrealistic workouts that I am dreading? Are there some days that an early morning just isn’t realistic?

It can be really helpful to take a step back and reflect on what is working and what is holding you back from your goals.

5. Act Before I Think

My last piece of advice for the perfect morning routine really would be to just act. Waking up to an early alarm the first time or doing your first early morning workout can feel similar to jumping into an ice bath for the first time. My best advice for this is just starting.

The more you can get through the discomfort of just starting the easier it gets. I like to remind myself that if I am doing my hardest hard first thing in the day my day can only get easier.

Even though all of these habits are easier said than done, they really make the difference for me when it comes to having a great morning. My best advice would be to start with one and start slowly waking up earlier and earlier. Taking your mornings for yourself when possible is the best way to set yourself up and make sure you are getting your goals done first.