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You may remember at the end of 2018 when I shared about my morning routine on the blog.
Although I knew how important a morning routine was, it wasn't until I read The Power of Habit last year that I learned how beautifully automatic mornings could become.
Another example might be reaching for your house keys to unlock the door as you walk to the house when you get home.
​​These sequences of events are automatic. You don't even think about them. There's practically no thought necessary to get the mail from the mailbox or unlock your house. Did you know that humans are wired to make a specific amount of decisions each day? We each have a certain decision-making capacity and we often use a lot of our decisions on meaningless activities. (Sidenote: This is often why people make poor food choices late at night. They've hit their decision quota for the day, so they're unable to effectively decide "no ice cream" is the correct option.) By creating healthy habits in our morning routines (and in other areas of our lives), we create automatic sequences and cut out decisions. Make your morning routine a habit.
Here is my morning routine:
Now...in all honesty, over the last few months, my third and fourth steps have gone away. I injured my hip while training for a half-marathon back in the fall and I wasn't able to workout for several months. Now I'm healthy again and will need to re-train myself to include that working out habit in the mornings. For now, it's a daily decision. The beauty of the habit cue is that we have the power to change our habits. Last summer, I started experimented with habit loops. When my feet hit the floor every morning, I would turn around and make the bed. Within two minutes of my alarm going off, I have already accomplished something and now every time I walk by the bedroom through the day, I will remember that accomplishment. As part of my bedtime routine, I've laid out my workout clothes and my clothes for the day. Once the bed is made, I put on my workout clothes and head outside to run, to the basement to the treadmill, or to the living room to workout with a video. It is automatic and once those clothes & tennis shoes are on, it sure is easier to get that movement taken care of first thing in the morning instead of having to decide to fit it in later in the evening. After my workout, I start the coffee pot as I walk to the shower. When I'm out of the shower and ready for the day, I make coffee and do my Bible study. Cue (feet hit the floor)
Enjoying my mornings at the farmhouse,
Hannah
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One of the things that really helps me to stay on track during the stress of the school year is trying to be productive early on each day. I'm not a good "sleeper-inner", but there are also mornings that I get up early and do more sitting and wasting time than doing my best work. Because of this, I've developed a morning routine that is built on habits and not a lot of random time-consuming choices. My morning routine really starts the night before when we lay clothes out and prepare for the next day (more on that coming in another post).
However, in August of this year, I decided to make my bed every single morning and build the habit. It stuck. I don't even think about it anymore and when I leave my bedroom, I've already got a little bit of productivity under my belt. I used to shower and get dressed & ready for the day right after that, but I have realized that in the wintertime especially, I love drinking my coffee and doing my morning Bible reading and prayer time in my warm and cozy jammies. I just have to be sure to set a timer or I would sit there all day!
I have found that taking a nice chunk of time each morning for my coffee, Bible study, prayer time, and running through my day BEFORE THE GIRLS GET UP really starts my day off on the right foot. I am usually going through a few Bible studies at the same time on my YouVersion Bible app. You can see the ones I was working on this morning in the images below.
I have found that I HAVE to set a timer during the morning to keep myself on track or I will get carried away reading or during my prayer time and before I know it...I have forgotten to get the girls up and we are running late.
So by 5:45, I like to have the girls up and going before I jump in the shower. I get dressed, fix my hair, and occasionally whip up some eggs. A lot of the time I don't even eat breakfast...fancy people call it "intermittent fasting" and I call it "I'm just not hungry yet." My girls always grab something to eat...they are breakfast people. We are...er, really try to be, out the door by 6:30. Once the girls are up and running, I know that my day won't be quiet again until they all climb into bed that night. This is why that morning time in the peace and quiet of the farmhouse seems so valuable to me. I'm working hard to be centered and intentional with my time and getting up early is just another piece of that puzzle for me. My morning routine helps me to be the best version of myself, for Mr. Farmhouse, my girls, the rest of my family, my staff, and my students. Trying to "rise & shine" from the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️ |
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