Some people seem to be made for mornings. I am not one of them.
I can’t remember a time when I “bounced out of bed” eager to greet the day. It doesn’t seem to matter how many hours of sleep I’ve had — I typically wake up groggy and angry. It takes a while for me to get going.
Yet the history of my life has proven to me that I function best with a clearly structured morning routine. It’s better for my mental health, my energy, and my rhythms.
In high school, I left my house by 6:30 every morning. In college and law school, I had a variable schedule and my energy level fluctuated depending on what time I got up. As a lawyer, I went back to a morning routine, although I was inconsistent with it.
Once I started working for myself, I knew I needed a morning routine to help give me structure. Without it, my days would become black holes of reactivity and meeting everyone else’s demands.
My Consistent Morning Routine For The Past 12 Years
I’ve had a very consistent morning routine for the past 12 years, centered around the framework of “Fitness First.”
From the start, the “goal” was to get out of bed and get to the gym as soon as possible — no puttering, no social media, no email, no delays. , so I can start my day with a workout.
I have found that starting my day with a workout, or some form of movement, helps me start my day on the right foot, gives me an energy boost, and gives me my “me time” to fuel up before I start responding to other people’s demands.
In addition, my morning workout “plugs in” my ADHD brain by giving me a dopamine boost. And the structure of my morning routine helps me get out of the house and stay on track, both in the morning and beyond.
The “Fitness First” Framework
Generally the main routine includes these components:
- *Wake up*: I wake at a consistent time, no matter what time I went to sleep. Turn on lights, make the bed immediately, brush teeth, get dressed.
- *Fitness First*: I head to the gym for a workout. This “me time” is the core of my routine.
- *Meditation*: following my workout, I sit for a short meditation.
- *Writing and Creative work*: as soon as possible after my workout I sit down to do one writing task. This allows me to leverage peak dopamine and focus.
- *Nourishment*: Somewhere in the mix, I eat some breakfast. Usually I have something light on the way to the gym, and another snack after my workout.
Even more important than what’s included in my morning routine is what is intentionally omitted:
- No email.
- No social media.
- No internet.
- No calls or texts.
I try to keep myself off my phone, except as necessary for music, meditation apps, or logging workout notes.
Consistent, Not Rigid
To be clear, when I describe my morning routine as “consistent,” that doesn’t mean that is fixed or rigid.
To maintain consistency with a morning routine, it must be adaptable to changing circumstances. Life throws different demands at us in different seasons of life. Over the years my morning routine has adapted to those changing circumstances.
When I first started, I used to gamify my morning routine as “how quickly can I be out of the house,” because I know that when I linger I get stuck.
Sometimes that wasn’t an option. I don’t have kids, but sometimes if I was taking care of my nieces or nephews, I’d need to get them out of bed and off to school. In those cases, I’d get up and do a short movement practice and meditation before tending to the kids, then I’d continue with a full workout after.
Over the years, my wake-up time has varied. For many years I was consistent with 6 am wake-ups. A few years ago, when I started doing CrossFit, I made my wakeup time earlier because I liked getting to the gym for the 5:30 am class. When that stopped working for my body, I shifted my workout time a little later.
How I’ve Changed My Morning Routine in Perimenopause
Last year, I noticed that my ADHD meds started needing a little longer to kick in. My body seemed to need more space to adapt to the shifting hormones that come with perimenopause.
So I made some changes to my routine.
These days, I wake up at 5 am — even on weekends. I go through the same preliminary routine: I get dressed, make the bed, and take my meds. Then I generally get on the floor for a 20 minute yoga nidra meditation and 10 minute sound healing.
Yoga Nidra is a form of conscious sleep that gives the body deep rest. Knowing that there’s a risk I’ll fall asleep, I set a back-up alarm. When that goes off, I get up and continue my process of getting to the gym.
The spirit of Fitness First still holds, even with the “delay” in starting my workout. Rather than being a detour, this delay is an intentional delay that gives my meds time to kick in. By the time I get off the floor, I’m usually more alert. It’s resulted in a better workout.
My morning routine is still my sacred “me time” to fuel my spirit before I face the world.
If You’re Not a Morning Person
If you’re reading this and thinking “I could never do this because I’m not a morning person,” here’s what I want you to know:
First, I’m still not a “morning person.”
Generally, I start slow and my energy builds throughout the day. My normal rhythms are as a night owl.
That said, I’ve learned to love the quiet of mornings. Also, years of waking up early has helped me reset my circadian rhythm to function better in the mornings, and waking up consistently has helped me sleep better and helped my system stay regulated.
Second, you don’t need to be a “morning person.” The point of a morning routine is to have a structure that keeps you in flow when you wake up, no matter what time that is.
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