The Power of a Positive Morning Routine

Last year, I constantly felt that I was not achieving the things that I wanted to do. I missed my day-to-day goals and tasks that I wanted to do, and I thought I was missing the long-term goals I had set for the year.

In the end, the year wasn't that bad, and I did have some outstanding outcomes, such as buying our home, but I also missed a lot.

It was time to change something, and as always, going into the new year was a good starting point to try something new: A more impactful morning routine.

The Importance of Starting the Day Right

In 2018, I wrote a blog post about a successful morning routine. The main idea in that blog post was to start the morning in a way that brought positivity into my life. I wanted to start the day feeling good.

Over the past few years, I've forgotten about that concept. Instead of making the best of my morning, I was waking up to rush through every task I didn't really enjoy but still had to do. I hoped that the quicker I got these done, the more time I would have to spend on things that mattered to me at the end of the day.

In reality, however, most of the time, I did not have any time at the end of the day because new tasks would come up, or even if I had some time left, I would be so exhausted that I couldn't spend it properly. Ultimately, this had a terrible impact on my personal and work life.

Creating a More Impactful Morning Routine

In order to make my day more successful again, I made sure that I started the day with things that mattered to me. I've created a new morning routine that puts the important and, for me, enjoyable things first. This way, by the time I start working or leave for my commute, I will have done most of the things I enjoy, like reading and writing and the daily work on my side project. It's just tiny things, and my morning routine is just around 90 minutes, but in this short period, I get so much done that it brings me some positivity for the day.

Since making that change, I've encountered something I didn't feel in a really long time: I have time; I suddenly have time to do things that never got to start or simply do nothing and relax without feeling guilty about it. Since the things that matter to me are already done before I get to the more taxing tasks, I have time left after everything is done. Nothing is scheduled or tasked for me to do; I can simply choose based on how I am feeling.

Starting the day with positivity by doing things I like helps me get through the annoying or more complicated parts of the day. This morning routine creates energy instead of sucking it out of me.

I've only been doing this since the beginning of the year. Still, I've already accomplished more on my side projects than the entire previous year. One week into the year, I finished my first book of the year, and I've written more than 2500 words in the first 10 days. They came all from a simple change in how I start my day.

Try it for yourself

If you want to improve the start of your day, too, try the same. Start the day with the things that matter to you, and let that make you feel good for the rest of the day.

It could be reading in bed before you get out, going out for a quick run before work, or just waking up with the kids and making breakfast before dropping them off at school. Look at everything you are doing and think of what you really enjoy and what is important to you. Put as much of it first as you can.