Very Realistic and Highly Productive 6 AM Morning Routine!
As 2023 approaches, waking up early and having a productive morning routine is sure to be on the list of resolutions for a lot of you.
Recently I came across a viral reel where people use the sound of a crowd cheering and applauding as their alarm tone for waking up at 7 AM.
Smart, right?
Well, I thought so too.
So, obviously, I changed my alarm tone too because, why not! I wake up at 5:55 AM every day and I deserve all the applause!
My friends and colleagues are usually shocked to hear that I wake up at 6 AM every morning. Some of their common questions include, “How do you manage to wake up early? What do you do after you wake up? How do you manage to keep your energy up?”
In this post, let me show you how you can wake up early too while keeping up your energy level and productivity throughout the day.
This is by far the most realistic morning routine where I have even time blocked so you can plan the rest of your day accordingly. I have also mentioned the apps and resources I use to keep up with my morning routine.
Realistic Morning Routine for a Highly Productive Day
As mentioned above, I have my alarm set for 5:55 AM. There is no specific reason for this time and you do not have to follow it.
Choose a time that works best for you. It can be 6 AM, 5:30 AM or 6:30 AM. But see to it that it is no later than 7 AM.
1. Guided Meditation- 20 minutes
Starting the day with meditation and breathwork is my secret sauce for keeping my energy up throughout the day!
Meditation has a lot of benefits on your physical, mental, and emotional health, but I do not want to stray from the topic at hand here with those benefits!
When you wake up, your brain is still in resting mode and so the number of thoughts is minimal. This makes it easier to meditate and focus on your breath.
See to it that you meditate for 15 to 20 minutes. You can use guided meditations to help you focus better.
Calm is one of the best apps to help with guided meditation.
2. Scripting or Intention Setting- 20 minutes
To me, writing is a more effective and focused form of meditation because when you are writing about something specific, you will never be distracted by other thoughts or people.
Scripting is a form of meditative writing where you focus on any one of your goals and write in your book as though you have already achieved it. The goal can be small or big!
Intention setting is more like a command to your brain! You can set the intention for the day or the week or even the month. It can be anything from, “I shall quit alcohol for this week.” to “I shall create a second stream of income by the end of this month.”
Doing this on a daily basis will help you sort your priorities and remind you of your goals!
3. Writing a to-do list for the day- 20 minutes
This is the part that helps with keeping up your productivity throughout the day.
Start by listing the 3 most important things to do for the day. This need not necessarily be work-related. It can be personal tasks too, but these are your highest priority for the day!
Then list out all the tasks that you have to do throughout the day. There is nothing too trivial to mention in your to-do list.
I add tasks like bathing, praying, doing dishes, etc. to my list alongside my work-related tasks like checking emails, trend research, etc.
Microsoft To-Do app is one of the simplest apps to use for creating your to-do list. It gives you a cute ding when you strike a task off the list.
It also picks up on the unchecked tasks from the previous day and prompts you when you are adding tasks for the present day.
For those of you who are looking for a more professional task setting and tracking, Notion app is the one for you!
4. Catching up on news updates- 20 minutes
I grew up in a household where we woke up to the sound of news playing on the TV. I would see my dad with a newspaper every morning, reading through it like as though his life depended on it!
So catching up on the news every morning has become an effortless part of my morning routine.
Especially since I discovered the “In-shorts app” which brings the news to us in the form of small, bite-size snippets. It is a very quick and effective way to keep ourselves updated on what is happening around the world.
5. Reading a book (Non- Fiction)- at least 20 pages
Now this one is a no-brainer I suppose. Almost every rich and successful person has credited their success to their reading habit.
But what we very skilfully overlook is the fact that reading here does not refer to reading for pleasure or entertainment. It refers to reading to improve our skills and expand our knowledge.
At any given point, I am usually reading 2 books, one fiction, and one non-fiction. The fiction ones get done very quickly. The non-fiction ones on the other hand are part of my productive morning routine and take time to complete!
Psssssst: Currently I am reading “Paper Towns by John Green” in fiction and “The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel” in non-fiction.
And there you have it, the most realistic morning routine along with time blocking and some helpful apps to get you started.
A Few BONUS Tips
Before we go, here are some tips to keep in mind if you want to keep up with your resolution throughout the year!
Waking up early is tough.
Not hitting the snooze button is tougher.
Not scrolling through your phone first thing in the morning is the toughest!
So, these tips will help you thread through all these hurdles and keep up with your productive morning routine!
1. Keep your phone/ alarm away from your reach.
Set your alarm on your phone or even better, on a traditional alarm clock that will wake up your entire neighborhood with its ringing noise!
Keep the alarm across the bedroom so that you have to get off your bed and walk over to your alarm to turn it off!
2. Avoid browsing your phone first thing in the morning
If you have used your phone for the alarm, you would either end up scrolling through your phone after the alarm is off or you would head straight back to your bed to sleep some more!
Avoid doing either one of these!
3. Make your bed as soon as you wake up
The physical act of making your bed right after you wake up works in your favor in 2 ways-
One, it signals your brain to wake up.
Two, you will not feel like going back to bed!
4. Drink 2 glasses of lukewarm water
Some people say that cold water is better to have first thing in the morning but I have personally benefitted from having lukewarm water.
It hydrates your body as well as improves your metabolism.
5. Sleep early, in order to wake up early!
Last but not least, a productive day usually starts the previous night itself. As Ankur Warikoo rightly puts it in his book ‘Do Epic Shit’,
“The trick to waking up early is not waking up early. It is sleeping on time!”
Parting Words
Now, you know what your goal is and you know how to achieve it. The only thing left, the only important thing ever, is ACTION!
Start today.
Do not wait till 2nd Jan 2023.
Consider these 15 days as a practice run to achieving your 2023 resolution of waking up early and following a productive morning routine!
And if you fail on a day or two, do not worry and do not give up.
Everyone falls off the wagon at one point or another, I do too. It is all about getting back on the wagon that is important!
Hope you found this post helpful.
Would love to hear your feedback.
Until the next post.
Kani Karthick.
