Mornings are crucial for me. I’m a morning person by nature, but for a long while, I was finding something missing as a part of my life. I am a regular subscriber to a blog/digital magazine called MichaelHyatt.com. His focus is on “winning at work and succeeding at life” like mine is “organizing your digital life,” and one of the (many) lessons that I took from reading through his various blog posts/podcasts etc., was all about having a morning routine. The Routines that we do first thing in the morning set the tone for the day (at least they do for me), and it’s because I decided to overhaul my morning routine I’ve become a much more productive person (Thank you, Michael!). To achieve this, I have (naturally) leveraged my technology and certain apps, which have allowed me to develop my morning ritual.
LEGAL MUMBOJUMBO; I’m not affiliated with any of these apps or programs; I’m just a user. I will put links to check them out, but I will not receive anything from them.
1) Meditating with Calm – I have been a frequent meditator, and I found that meditating every morning allows me to have better focus, and I find that I am way more balanced mentally when I meditate than when I don’t. I recently convinced a friend of mine to start meditating, and even he found that doing it once a day made his days go smoother. I know that there are other mindfulness apps out there that people swear by, but Calm is one of the things in my life that has kept me balanced and has made a real difference in my life.
2) Journaling with reMarkable – Show of hands. Who’s shocked that I use reMarkable for writing in a journal…..no one? I thought so. For some of my newer readers, all you have to do is type in “reMarkable” in the search bar on the right to find how much I love my reMarkable tablet. When I journal in the morning, I find that I’m writing about whatever happened the day before or just anything on the top of my mind. I find it helps clear out my mental cobwebs and makes it easier to focus on whatever I want to get through on a given day. I also find it helps me with my daily todo list, but I’ll get to that shortly.
3) Jamming with ITunes – I will admit that I like listening to a bit of music before I go to work after I’m done meditating. I have a couple of different playlists that I rely on, which will help me set my mood for the day. If I’m feeling emotionally low, I have an “inspiration” list which I like to play to buck myself up; If I need to knuckle down and get some work done, I have a “Focus” list. I even have a “Sunday Chill” list for Sundays when I can take my time and relax with my morning routine. Last week, I talked about how music is how I navigate my life and have it as a part of my morning routine. Of course, I also listen to music when I’m AT work….so those and other playlists get used in both places.
4) Waking up with Nespresso – Oh, you better believe that having coffee is a part of my morning routine. I have to admit that I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was in my late 20’s, but since then, I have to admit a slight addiction to having it in the morning. How does Nespresso figure into this morning routine App post? Well, for the most part, it doesn’t. But I do like that If I find that I’m a little low on Coffee pods for my morning cup, I can go on the Nespresso App on my phone and order some new ones just as easy as pie.
https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/
5) Getting organized with Notion – I Use Notion as a way to Organize my life. While I use Notion for a variety of things that help keep me on track, the one that I go through the most is my “daily wins” list. This is what I call my Todo List. I will, on occasion, after Meditation and journaling, go through whatever I have on my todo list for that day. There are days when I don’t do it as a part of my morning routine, but sometimes I do. I check it throughout the day as I get my tasks done anyway, so there is no pressing need for me to check in the morning. On Sunday, however, I do a Weekly Review as a part of my morning routine to see all of the tasks that I have set up for myself in the upcoming week. I like using Notion for this because I am easily able to move tasks around throughout my week. I have a terrible habit of front-loading my schedule, so I have EVERYTHING I need to do scheduled for Monday and nothing for the rest of the week. My Weekly Review allows me to spread out my less time-sensitive tasks so that I’m less overwhelmed on Mondays. Notion is also great for allowing me to quickly move tasks I didn’t get around to doing the week before to the following week.
Having a morning routine has been seriously beneficial to my health. I’m a routine guy by nature, so perhaps all the time that I spent NOT having a practice may have been bad for me in the first place. If you’re not a “ritual” person, the trick for you is this; having one thing in your life that sets you up for the day is never a bad thing. There is so much uncertainty in all of our lives that having one place to set up your day for success can be critical to that success. I want to be clear; what I am doing is not the only way. There are as many different ways to start your day as there are people who are doing it. Whether you spend a couple of minutes reading, writing in a journal or lacing up your shoes and going for a run, having something you do to start your morning is something that will set you up for a great day.
Do you have a morning ritual?
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