Creating a Mindful Morning Routine

Back at the start of the year, I declared 2021 to be a “year of months.” In lieu of making a slew of resolutions at the beginning of January, I decided to take it month-by-month, focusing on one thing at a time. January’s focus was my morning routine.

Routines are built, not declared, so it was a bit of a cheat to squeeze a whole morning routine into one month’s goal, but much of my routine was already in place. I mostly wanted to shore up the habits I liked (meditating, eating a good breakfast, settling into deep work) and eliminate the ones I didn’t (checking social media, reading news).

I’m happy to announce that my morning routine is now perfect every day.

Just kidding. 

It’s not perfect, and it probably never will be. There are always distractions and imperfections and temptations too great to ignore. (Patreon subscribers got a glimpse of the minute-by-minute reality, complete with cat poop and news anxiety.) A month of focus did make it a lot better. 

Broken down into steps, my morning routine looks like this:

• Wake up

• Stretch

• Get dressed

• Chores

• Coffee

• Meditation

• Breakfast 

• Work

If I’d just written that out, I don’t think it ever would have stuck. Instead, I took time in January to visualize exactly what an ideal morning would look like. Here’s the gist of it:

I wake up sans alarm, stretch a bit, do some skin care, and get dressed before doing a few basic upstairs chores (making the bed, wiping down the bathroom, starting laundry, and scooping the cat box). Once I finish those, I go downstairs, pour myself some coffee and have a few sips before settling in to meditate. After meditation, I make some breakfast and plan out my tasks for the day while eating. By 8 or 8:30, I finish eating. I turn on my aromatherapy diffuser and some good concentration music, open my laptop, and start working. From there, except for occasional breaks, I stay focused until lunchtime, doing my most important and deep work before noon.

This is a simplification of the real visualization. When I work my way through this, I can feel the morning sunlight on my skin and smell the mix of citrus and mint in the diffuser. I know exactly which lo-fi playlist is on the speaker. I can taste the yogurt with berries and granola I’d make for breakfast. Off course, it’s not exactly like this every day, but when things start to veer off-course, I can use my visualization as a touchstone to return to the path I want to be on. 

It’s important to remember that we don’t live in thrall to our routines. Rather, our routines should work in service to our greater goals and visions for our lives. I envision revisiting this morning routine every few months to make sure it’s still in line with my current priorities and lifestyle. And, in the meantime, every new day is a new opportunity to structure my days in accordance with my vision. Heck, every new minute is an opportunity, It’s never too late to change course and get on the path that leads to where we want most to go.