My Morning Routine for Clarity & Vision

Six months ago, I made the decision to wake up 2 hours earlier than I normally do. It was a scary decision at the time, but I am SO glad that I stuck with it because it has been LIFE CHANGING. Today I’ll be chatting about why I decided to wake up earlier, what I do exactly for my morning routine (including my creative thinking process) and how it has impacted my everyday life. If you prefer to watch this in video format instead, click here!

Why

So first, I want to mention that I was not a morning person before. It was a quality that I’ve always admired, but that wasn't enough reason for me to sacrifice sleep over it. The real motivation for me was to have some me-time. I know that sounds so simple, but it’s actually been challenging since having a baby. From the moment I woke up until he fell asleep, my schedule would revolve around my baby. One hour would just bleed into the next and I felt frustrated for not getting the things I wanted to get done. Instead of having control over my day, the day had control over me and I knew I needed to change something.

That’s when I decided that mornings were the best time to create some space. Since the evening was spent watching tv, I decided that I could sacrifice some of that time to get to sleep earlier and therefore wake up earlier. Allocating that 1-2 hours from night routine to my morning routine was one of the smartest decisions I’ve made for myself and the results I’ve gotten are 100% worth waking up for.

What

So let’s chat through what I actually do for my morning routine. Since I’m a coffee drinker, I like to prep my coffee & beans the night before. That way, I just need to press “on” the next morning. I use a french press to make my coffee, so during the 4-minute wait time, I wash my face and do my morning skincare routine. Then I press my coffee and dive into my next activity, which is quiet time.

I’m currently going through the book of Psalms where I read 3 chapters each morning including the notes included in the ESV study bible. I find this really helpful to better understand the context and makes reading more enjoyable. After reading, I go right into journaling for about 20 minutes or so. The journal prompts change depending on what I’m focusing on, but some of the questions I rotate through are:

⁃ What I’m thankful for

⁃ What I’m feeling or learning

⁃ Who I want to be and how I can get there

⁃ Who God says I am

The past few weeks, I’ve been focusing on the last prompt and it has been so good to start the day with God led affirmations. After journaling, the coffee has kicked in and my mind is clear, which makes it the perfect time for some creative thinking. This looks a bit different each day, but the two categories I focus on are creating content or wearing my CEO hat. Here are some details:

Typically on Mondays and Wednesdays, I dedicate the mornings to content creation. This can include brainstorming ideas, planning out my content calendar and marketing materials for the quarter. If the content calendar is already set, I love spending this time writing while my mind is fresh. This could include newsletters, blog posts, Youtube video scripts, instagram captions and other creative projects.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, I wear my CEO hat and try to plan or problem solve for all things related to my business. Simply put, I set intentional time to have a birds eye view of my business and make sure I’m moving in the right direction. Practically speaking, the categories I review are:

Vision / Goals
Team / Departments
Sales / Marketing
Operations / Efficiency
Content / Projects

This is still a new practice, so I’m still working through how this serves me, but I learned this technique through one of my business mentors, Haley Burkhead.

How

In total, my entire morning routine takes 2 hours with the first hour spent in quiet time + journaling and second hour spent in creative thinking. This might sound like a lot, but it’s been quite simple because I’ve also eliminated previous habits that distracted me before.

So some of the rules I’ve set for myself are:

No screen time first thing in the morning: Outside of the alarm that goes off, I do my best to not look at my phone at all until I’ve had my coffee, read my bible and journaled.
Focus and create: I find my mind to be the most fresh in the mornings, so I try to use this time to focus on my top priorities for the day. Oftentimes that includes creating and planning content or writing newsletters or blog posts. It’s so much easier for me to have ideas that inspire me if I create BEFORE I consume any content. And that’s the reason why I set...
App limitations: Before my established morning routine, my normal habit would include consuming social media and checking my email first thing in the morning. Overtime, I realized how detrimental this was to my day. I would often get distracted, forget my priorities, or find myself comparing myself with others. The morning sets the tone for the rest of the day so it’s so important to keep this time sacred! That’s why I set up time limitations for certain apps on my phone such as email, instagram, youtube, etc. and it has been so helpful to help me stay focused.

This morning routine has truly been transformative for my mindset and mental health. Overall, I have more clarity and confidence knowing that I’ve started my day by doing the important things first. It’s like that phrase “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” We need to regularly practice self care to fill ourselves first, then give ourselves to others.

My morning routine isn’t perfect and I believe it will continue to change depending on the needs that I have in each season. Overall though, I truly believe that I’ve become a better mother, business owner, and person through my morning routine.

I hope this inspires you to take some time for yourself. Whether it’s the morning, during the day or in the evening, create margin in your day. You got this!