I am now on my 5th week of my new morning routine (and evening routing as well)!
NEVER have I got so far in implementing a habit so successfully (though I am keen to make it to 66 days since a new study has shown it to take between 18 and 254 days to form a new habits depending on the habit and your own tendencies rather than the previously stated 28 days.. find that research here).
I first tried to establish a morning routine back in 2017 when I read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. Hal shares his story of how his S.A.V.E.R.S (Silence, Affirmations, Visualisations, Exercise and Scribe) routine first thing in the morning, kept him motivated to keep on track with his goals as well as preparing him mentally to deal with whatever the day through at him. Whilst attempting his 30 day challenge, I began to see the real benefit of affirmations and journalling each morning. Getting up at 430am before my family was the perfect time to really focus on myself and my goals before I set out for my daily commute. However, as my days got longer in the office and my health (mental and physical) took a turn for the worst, this newly attempted habit was the first to lose its place in my routine.
It wasn’t until I got my health back under control in July that my morning routine took front stage again. I am a natural early riser. I am the morning person everybody hates. So when I started waking up without my alarm at 530am without an alarm I instantly used that time to write morning pages (I was already attempting to journal more though had not found a structured time of day to make this happen regularly). I then discovered Amy Landino and her book Good Morning, Good Life. Amy is big on setting up an Evening routine that sets up your morning routine as well as having a good skin care habit.
Since I was already completing my morning pages I decided to link together several other new habits to fully form my morning routine as follows (and yes I consider my evening routine part of my morning routine)
8pm: Xander goes to bed.
815pm: I brush my hair, brush my teeth, cleanse, tone and moisturize my face then do a full body moisturise.
830pm: I am typically in bed reading a book (current read is I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou).
930pm: I am fast asleep.
530am: Wake up without an alarm and instantly drink the pint of water I took to bed with me the night before.
535am: I brush my hair, brush my teeth, have a shower, cleanse, tone and moisturize my face.
6am: I go downstairs (most often joined by Xander and get myself my first of two Dr Pepper Zero (only caffeine for the day).
615am: I write my morning pages in my Citrus Book Bindery A5 Open Spine (yes i am repeating this and telling you of my obsession in yet another post). Please note that my cover is slightly warped due to taking a paddle in a glass of spilt water.
645am: I write my 3 gratitudes from the day before as well as writing my affirmations 3 times. This is done in my Paperblanks Journal.
655am: I review my calendar and goals and update my trackers as necessary. See my previous post 20 Goals for 2020.
7am: Either I tackle a personal task or I catch up on my favourite Youtubers for an hour whilst having breakfast and my second (and last) Dr Pepper
8am Start work
What does your morning routine look like? What do you wish you had more time for?
See you on Tuesday
Faerydae Stitches 