Let’s face it, not everyone is a morning person nor do they have a working morning routine. But the morning comes every day and most of our responsibilities, be it a job, school, parenting, etc., require us to get up and get going in the mornings.  

Although I would classify myself as a morning person, mornings still don’t come super easy for me. Many days I’d much rather hit the snooze and skip the entire morning. But I’ve been doing this enough that I know as soon as my feet hit the floor, things start looking up.  

I’m not going to try to convert you into a morning person, but I can help you develop a morning routine that will get your day started a little better than it might be right now.   

For starters, a good morning begins the night before. In fact, much of my preparation for a good day starts the prior evening.  

Things to do the evening before to help you have a better morning

1. Plan  Meals, Clothes, Workout

If your coffee pot has a timer, have it set and ready to go. Even if there is no timer, you can have the coffee in the basket and be ready to pour in water and turn it on.

Fill your water jug or water bottles. Drinking plenty of water is important!  

What will you eat for breakfast? Perhaps you can prepare overnight oats. You might want to have some healthy bars available to take on the road.  

Workout clothes and work clothes. Have them laid out the night before. This serves two purposes. One, no excuse for skipping the morning workout. Clothes are ready. Or, if you are working out midday or after work, have your bag packed. When you have your work day clothes laid out, you save yourself time deciding what to wear.  

Know your workout plan for the day, or even the week. Every weekend, I plan my workouts and write them on the calendar. That way I don’t have to decide what workout I’ll do each morning. I’ve looked at weather and know if I’m going out for a run or a bike ride or staying in for the trainer or weight lifting or yoga. I also register for my yoga class in advance so I’m committed to showing up. 

2.  Wind down

Start unplugging and winding down at least 30 minutes prior to bedtime. An hour is even better, but I understand if you have kids in activities that might be difficult. Still, it’s important to give yourself time to wind down, maybe with a cup of hot tea and a book or just visiting with your family and watching something fun on television.  

3.  Sleep

Seven to eight hours of sleep is optimal. Sleep is important for our bodies to recover and to lessen the stress in our lives, just to name a couple benefits. 

As you can see, our evenings are very important to a good morning.  

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Now that we have things planned and prepared for the morning and hopefully have gotten a good night’s rest, when the alarm goes off, we increase our chance at getting up and going.

But if getting out of bed is still a bit difficult, try these things:

Set your alarm to allow you to hit snooze one time. This way you don’t have to jump right out of bed.

If hitting snooze way too many times is an issue, try putting your alarm across the room so that you have to get out of bed to turn it off.

When I hear my alarm, the thought crosses my mind to shut it off and roll over and go back to sleep…for the day!  

Instead I recite Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” You may want to put this on a Post-It note on your alarm or frame it by your bed. This helps motivate me to get up with an expectation that God has a plan for me for the day. Perhaps you prefer another scripture or quote that you find motivating. 

Once I get up, I can grab my workout clothes that are already laid out and hit the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth.  (Be sure to use cold water! There’s nothing like a splash of cold water to wake you up!)

Next comes my ice water and some stretches.

My first drink is ice water and then I lay down in the middle of the floor and stretch just to loosen my body.  

While I do my quiet time I drink warm water with a splash of lemon. Lemon is said to have some detoxifying effects on your body. I just find that I like the flavor and I want to start with water before having my coffee.  

Quiet time and workout are two keys that make or break my day.  

Now you should be ready to hit the shower and get on with the rest of your day.  

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Final note…..  Give yourself some time.

You may want to start by setting your alarm five minutes earlier or drinking a glass of water before the first cup of coffee. Perhaps you’ll start the evening before with some of those preparations. If mornings are difficult for you, do this in pieces. One change a week until you get there.

I’m cheering you on!