Simplify Your Morning Routine with These Powerful Tips

Picture your dream morning routine. Does it involve a slow wake-up, stretching, a latte, or maybe a morning walk? Ever watch a tv show or movie and see someone enjoying the most luxe morning routine ever? The ideal simple morning routine isn’t out of reach for you! The key is starting simple and building from there. Your morning habits have the potential to set you up for a well-rounded, productive day! So keep reading if you want to learn how to simplify your morning routine.

After this post, you’ll learn how to build and implement a simple morning routine with consistency which will allow you to set your day up for productivity while feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day!

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My Morning Routine

My AM habits have come together nicely to create my ideal morning routine. I know that slowness is important for me to feel ready to start my day. I need stillness and an un-rushed morning to set myself up for success.

It’s important for you to understand how you want to feel and what types of activities fit into your morning routine that will allow you to get out of it what you need.

Here’s my simple morning routine:

Wake Up

My favorite way to wake up is when I set my Alexa to wake me up to music. It’s a gentler wake-up than a blaring alarm.

Sip Water

Before I do anything, I drink about 28 ounces of water. 

The night before, I always fill up my tumbler and set it on my nightstand so it’s waiting for me when I wake up.

This helps me work toward my daily water intake much easier with a big headstart for the day.

Get Cozy

Then I put my slippers and robe on to feel cozy before I have to slip into my work clothes.

I want my morning to feel cozy and comfy. I like to ease into waking up, so I don’t always get dressed right away.

Skin Care

Next, slip on my spa headband (one of my favorite inventions ever!) and I splash my face with warm water and use a facial dry brush to minimize puffiness and wake my face up! This also helps drain your lymphatic system! 

Then I use a toner to brighten my face and remove oil and impurities from my face.

I keep my skincare routine to just 2 simple steps in the morning and use a few additional products in my night routine.

Pilates for 10 Minutes

After my skincare routine, I do 10 minutes of Pilates or stretching to wake my body up. This is the newest addition to my morning routine, and I’ve been loving how it makes me feel. I look forward to it in the mornings now!

I am blessed to have a workout room in my home, but you can even do some stretching right next to your bed. You don’t need a lot of space at all to wake your body up.

I’ve been loving my gym flooring and workout mat for some extra cushion for my body that’s still waking up.

Get Dressed

Next, I get dressed. I always pick out my outfit the night before to make my mornings easier.

I love closet organization to keep things easy to find and streamlined!

Feed My Pets

At this point, it’s time to feed my animals. I feed our kitties, then head to the kitchen to feed our sweet Mona-Lisa girl (I’ve been loving her dog bowl stand and mat to keep things clean).

Pack My Lunch

I prep my lunch the night before. I cut fruit, portion snacks and lunches into containers, and fill up my 2 big waterbottles(Yeti and Larq) for the next day so that the morning is just about packing up my extra large lunchbox!

Eat Breakfast

Breakfast is quick and easy. I prep my overnight protein oats or hardboiled eggs (which I make in the air fryer– the best hack ever!) in the evening and pack them with my lunch to eat at work.

My simple morning routine consists of toast with peanut butter, banana slices, and honey, and an iced chai latte in my fancy glasses with a glass straw!

Shop the routine: toaster,  fancy glasses, tea

It’s about elevating the mundane sometimes to make your dreary Monday morning special with a delish drink!

Devotional and Hammock Time

I round out the morning with some quiet time laying in my hammock, doing a devotional using the Bible app.

Make Your Morning Routine YOURS

Before I give ya all the tips on how to turn your morning habits into a successful and enjoyable morning routine, I have an important reminder for you.

My routine works for me and how I want to feel. This exact routine won’t work for you! There isn’t a hard and fast ONE way to put together and execute a morning routine!

Like I said in the beginning, you have to figure out what’s important to you for your morning. Do you value movement? Or maybe a little extra sleep? Do you place importance on time to read or journal? Know what fuels you and what will get you excited to get out of bed.

And make an effort to understand what your goals are. If your goal right now is to write a book, maybe you set aside 20 or 30 minutes each morning to write. Maybe your goal right now is to help your pup lose those extra few pounds, so you prioritize a morning walk. 

I can’t say it enough: Make your morning routine YOUR OWN. Fill it with things that work for you and feel lifegiving. There’s no sense in creating a routine you think is healthy or what you “should” be doing if it’s something you dread and don’t stay consistent with.

Tips to Simplify Your Morning Routine

Tips to Make Your Morning Routine Stick

1. Build a Routine You Look Forward to

If you like a certain type of tea or coffee, indulge and get it for the mornings so when you’re laying in bed not wanting to get up, you have that extra little nudge to crawl out of those cozy sheets and make your special drink.

Curate AM habits that you actually like. I know my body can’t handle intense movement in the morning, so that’s why I choose Pilates. I love and enjoy it so I can’t wait to get up and do it!

2. Add Things that Fuel You and Fit YOU

Again, there’s no one size fits all routine. Just because your best friend goes for a 2 mile jog doesn’t mean you have to. If the idea of jogging in the morning make you want to crawl deeper into bed, don’t do it! It’s as simple as that. 

If you get more energy in the morning from sitting outside in the sunlight than exercise or journaling, DO THAT!

3. Build it Slow

The key to making your morning routine stick is to build it super slowly. You can simplify your morning routine and make it stick by building it from the ground up. 

If you’re really looking for a change, I’d even challenge you to scrap whatever routine you have going now, especially if you’re not consistent with it, and create a new one with one morning habit at a time!

Maybe you start by drinking water before getting out of bed. Do that for a few weeks until you do it easily! Then once you are consistent with the water, add one more thing. Then maybe you add making a filling breakfast. Then for a few weeks, only do those two AM habits until they feel ingrained. And so on.

This is how I’ve created a simple morning routine with only the morning habits that feel lifegiving to me.

4. Keep it Consistent with a Habit Tracker

When it comes to making a morning routine stick, consistency is KEY. When you get on a roll and engage in ceratin morning habits for a handful of days, the momentum grows and you won’t want to loose your streak! 

This is where a habit tracker comes in! I’ve created a habit tracker that’s specific for building morning routines! Get it below and mark your progress as you build your morning routine!

CONTENT UPGRADE: Habit Tracker to Simplify Your Morning Routine

Don’t miss this free download! Get your morning routine habit tracker and elevate your routine today!

Be sure to check your spam and promotional folder in your email for the download.

If you want to actually put these things into practice, you’ll want this extra bonus content!

Tips to Make Your Morning Routine Simple

5. Incorporate things from Various Areas of Wellness into Your Routine

I learned this concept from the book The Joy of Missing Out. She discusses the value of incorporating morning habits that fulfil or touch on areas like your mental health, physical health, and emotional health. 

Try to incorporate all of these areas into your morning. For example:

Physical– you stretch or take a walk

Emotional– you chat with your significant other over coffee

Mental– you journal about your intentions for the day or progress toward goals, or jot down the things that are weighing on you.

6. Don’t Shoot for Perfection

When you’re building and trying to simplify your morning routine, aiming for perfection could be your downfall. 

I like to engage in my morning routine 5 out of the 7 days of the week. I have a looser, less structured morning routine on the weekends. This is just what works for me since I work on weekdays. 

Do what works for your schedule. Maybe you have college classes three days a week and you create a school morning routine that you stick to on the days you have school. AM routines are flexible and should flex with your life! 

When it comes to morning routines, the goal isn’t to do the same exact thing every day. The goal is to set yourself up for a successful day and lean into habits that make you feel the way you want to feel.

| Related Reading: How to Change Your Life Completely: 57 Powerful Tips to Inspire You

So when building your morning routine and using your habit tracker, shoot for a few days a week to engage in it. Don’t go into it thinking that you’ll be able to master your routine and do it consistently 365 days a year.

Tips to Make Your AM Routine Unhurried and Relaxed

7. Wake Up 20 Minutes Earlier

If you love your sleep, this may sound cringe-worthy. But I’ve been doing this consistently for years, and it adds such a pleasant aspect to my morning because I never have to rush around.

In the grand scheme of things, setting your alarm for 20 minutes earlier isn’t the end of the world, and you’ll get used to it. I always leave myself time to sip my coffee or tea and lounge around for a bit before heading out the door. The unhurried-ness of my morning grounds me and makes me feel calm for the rest of the day.

8. Your Routine Doesn’t have to be all About Productivity

It’s totally okay if your routine doesn’t include tidying up or reading a chapter of your book, or doing anything “productive” at all.

This is me giving you permission to not focus on productivity in your morning routine. This is my favorite way to simplify your morning routine because you have the whole day to be productive. You don’t need to put a heavy focus on “getting things done” right when you wake up (unless that works for you).

Action Steps

Pick ONE of the action steps below and focus on that one until you feel comfy with it!

• Pick a word or phrase that embodies how you want to feel in the morning. Ask yourself: What do I want to cultivate more of in my morning routine?
• Implement one thing you can look forward to in your AM routine.
• List a handful of habits you’d like to compile and implement to create a morning routine. Then put them in order of which one you’ll implement first, then second and so on.
• Download the habit tracker and start using it!
• Start with one habit/activity that engages one of the following: your physical, mental, or emotional health. Let this be the jumping off point as you build and simplify your morning routine.
• Engage in one morning habit at least 3 days a week for a whole month (use the habit tracker to keep track!).
• Wake up 20 minutes earlier to allow for a slower morning.

Let’s Bring it Home

My morning routine won’t be your morning routine. I’ve collected a handful of habits that allow me to feel relaxed, calm, and unhurried. You’ll collect and build on morning habits that will allow you to feel exactly how you want to feel at the start of the day.

I’ve given you tips to simplify your morning routine so it sticks, so it stays simple, and makes you feel unhurried. It’s really not complicated. Start small and build on it. You’ve got this! Feel free to use my morning routine as a starting point, but don’t feel like you have to copy it exactly. Fill your mornings with just a handful of activities that breathe life into your sleepy body.