My Non Negotiables For My Morning Routine
When my mornings go well, my whole day goes well. Creating a morning routine is nothing new. I’ve read countless books about it, read blogs of the ultimate morning routine, and sometimes even had one myself. For the past 10 years I’ve been raising young children. 3 of them actually. This has meant that most of the ‘Ultimate Morning Routines’ that I’ve read about haven’t really made much room for having young children or the crazy schedule that requires.
For the past 3 years I’ve had a morning routine that really works for me and I wanted to share this with you in the hopes that you can design your own morning routine that will energise you and improve the rest of your day.
What has always worked for me is to take action rather than trying make it the perfect routine. When I’ve tried to copy other peoples morning routines then I’m often left frustrated and exhausted rather than energetic and inspired. My morning routine is quite fluid based on so many factors. My routine has changed significantly over the years based on; when I’ve been breastfeeding then my morning routine may not start until 11am, when the kids started school, when I started working in an office, when I became a single mum. Then there are factors that can impact my routine on the spot such as if kids are sick or we’ve been up during the night due to nightmares.
So instead of creating my perfectly scheduled morning routine, I’ve established some non-negotiables that will happen in the morning some time.
- Exercise
Very cliche and very essential. My morning walk has been something I’ve been doing since I was around 12 and would go with my dad each morning and would be our bonding time. There have been times where it hasn’t happened but most mornings I will go for a walk. Not only has it helped with my ongoing back pains since having kids but it is the alone time I need to recharge before the day truly begins. Sometimes it’s lapping my street and other times it’s an hour into town with my favourite podcast on.
2. Meditation
I’m not going to lie, this can sometimes be for 2 minutes while I’m in the shower. I do make the time to meditate and often it is for at least 10 minutes down at the park. This really does give me so much more energy and clarity to charge up my day.
3. Skinny Dip in The Pool
Yep. To be really clear here, it’s my own pool. No matter what time of the year it is, I get my active wear off and jump into the pool after my morning walk. This morning it was like diving into an ice bucket. My nipples would have cut glass but it’s extremely refreshing and I feel like I can achieve anything after jumping in a pool that cold! There are other health benefits that I won’t particularly bore you with. But I did want to leave you with that sexy image in your head!
4. Breakfast
I’m a breakfast person. Every day. I can’t begin my day without breakfast. Once I’ve got out of the pool I get dressed and make myself some brekky. It’s usually eggs and veggies from my garden (yep, total veg gardener right here and not to brag but I grow amazing zucchini). Some days I also make up a smoothie if I’m going to be out for most of the morning.
These are my non-negotiables. The best thing you can do for yourself is to work out what energises you. Your morning routine shouldn’t be something that’s exhausting. You should be wanting to jump out of bed to get started! What are things that energise you? Meditation? Loud music and dance? Reading? Journalling? Work out what will work for you and remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect each morning. The whole point is to give your self this springboard of a morning to really charge up your day.
