An hour before work, you wake up and hastily get ready. You rush through the shower, grab an energy bar and a coffee, and then you’re out the door. You still feel confused and overburdened after work. You burn out long before the week is complete and are confident that you won’t accomplish this week’s objectives.
How do you escape this awful situation? Routines in a nutshell.
Routines in the morning and the evening set you up for success. They enable you to accomplish more, think clearly, and complete work that is truly important. They ensure that you complete the most crucial tasks and prevent you from fumbling through your day.
All it takes is a little bit of self-control and some successful routines. Here are 12 morning and evening routines you may use to have more ideal days, along with the what and why of routines.
The Science of Routines and Developing Habits
Let’s start by defining routine: A series of acts that you repeat frequently constitutes a routine.
It’s a habit to prepare for bed and brush your teeth each night. It’s a ritual to get up at 6:00 AM and work out every morning. It’s customary to get a bagel and read the news each morning before leaving for work. It’s routine to even munch chips while watching Netflix. They are all repetitive behaviors that form a rhythm in your day-to-day activities.
Even when they are performed on a daily basis, routines do not necessarily have to be beneficial. Every regimen is effective, helpful or not.
High achievers are made by routines
High achievers frequently attribute their success to their ability to establish routines that work for them and keep to them.
Routines Turn Our Brains into Automata
But why are great achievers’ routines so effective? It turns out that humans are creatures of habit, and we can use that to our advantage. Charles Duhigg describes how habits cause our brains to go into an automatic state where little to no effort is needed in The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business.
It operates as follows:
Step 1: Something occurs to trigger your brain into “automatic” mode and act as a cue. An easy illustration is waking awake. My brain instantly recognizes when I awaken that it is time to start the coffee maker. My brain has become accustomed to this behavior over time.
Step 2: Carry out the procedure. I actually start the coffee maker at this point, let it brew while I wait, pour some into my preferred cup, sit on a chair near the kitchen window, and then enjoy my coffee.
Step 3: Enjoy the benefits of your routine. The mouthwatering flavor and powerful caffeine strengthen the routine, causing me to do it again the following morning.
Even though making coffee is only a small part of my daily routine, its regularity keeps me going. Imagine if other, more important actions that could enable you to make significant progress were as simple as brewing a cup of coffee.
This is how routines have power. Small, repetitive actions can build exponentially. You may set yourself up for daily productivity at its peak by establishing morning and evening rituals.
Morning Routines to Get Your Day Off to a Good Start
You win the day if you prevail in the morning.
While many others begin the day with a hot cup of coffee, both Robbins and Ferris include meditation in their morning rituals. Here are some of the finest ways to start your day and set yourself up for success, regardless of your morning routine.
Get Up Early
Although there are some outliers, like Winston Churchill, who liked to stay in bed until 11:00 AM, many successful people get up early to get ready for the day. They can carry out their rituals in those early hours while the rest of the world is still asleep.
Think about these instances:
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square, gets up at 5:30 in order to exercise six miles.
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, awakens around 5:45 in order to workout and eat a healthy meal.
Between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m., GM CEO Dan Akerson gets up to speak with GE Asia.
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, rises around 4:30 in order to send emails and make it to the gym by 5:00.
Even though they aren’t naturally morning larks—the antithesis of night owls—they have trained themselves to get up early in order to reap the many advantages that can come from doing so. These benefits include more creativity since you can work when your mind is fresh, increased productivity with less interruptions in the morning, and decreased stress if you use the extra time for silent reflection or meditation. You might get happier as a result: In one study, researchers discovered that people with morning personalities expressed higher levels of happiness and wellbeing.
Getting up 20 minutes earlier each day and soaking in some sunlight as soon as you wake up will help you become a morning person, even if you’re naturally a night owl.
Make the bed.
Making your bed each day is the one habit you should start if you want to live a better life. Admiral William H. McCraven, a Navy Seal, offers the following recommendations, at least:
Making your bed in the morning will complete the first task for the day. You’ll feel a tiny bit of pride after completing it, which will motivate you to complete further tasks. And by the end of the day, that one assignment will have multiplied into a number of others.
Making your bed will further demonstrate how important the simple things are in life. You won’t ever be able to do the big things well if you can’t do the little things well. And if you do happen to have a bad day, you will return home to a bed that you made. Additionally, a made bed gives you hope for a better day ahead.
Everything is about the little things.
Your subconscious mind is immediately affected when you intentionally create and write out your affirmations so that they are in line with what you want to achieve and who you need to be to achieve it, and then commit to saying them every day (preferably aloud). Your affirmations help to change the way you feel and think so you may get rid of your limiting thoughts and actions and replace them with the productive ones you need.
You could utilize some basic affirmations like these:
I’ll accomplish a lot today.
This year I’ll earn XXX dollars.
I am a well-known [insert profession]
I’ve accomplished [significant objective].
Your goal is to affirm and picture the outcomes you desire. You start to believe that you can and will accomplish these things as you pay attention to them, which then empowers you to take action.
Although affirmations may seem New Age to others, they are effective tools for personal development. according to Dr. Carmen Harra, a professional psychologist. Similar to exercise, they increase our levels of feel-good hormones and encourage the formation of new “positive thought” neuron clusters in our brains.
Take a workout.
Exercise is one of the few things that can truly transform. Exercise in the morning strengthens your body, boosts blood flow, and releases endorphins. It helps you get ready for the day ahead, gives you more energy overall, and keeps you healthy. Numerous research have demonstrated the importance of exercise in battling sadness and anxiety, and a Finnish study even revealed a link between exercise and rising wealth.
Setting up a regular exercise schedule can position you for optimal success throughout the day. Additionally, it need not even be a full gym session to gain the rewards: You might get going with a fast yoga session, a 7-minute workout, or a brisk walk around your neighborhood.
Want even more inspiration to start moving? Utilize the app automation platform Zapier to try tracking your activity automatically. You may track your improvement and motivate yourself to continue working out by keeping a journal of your runs or exercises.
breakfast properly
Your performance throughout the day is greatly influenced by the gasoline you ingest in the morning, thus it should be the best fuel available.
Dietician Lisa De Fazio encourages avoiding high-fat, high-sugar meals in favor of something healthier, such as:
Oatmeal
breakfast sandwich with less fat
Smoothie
yogurt parfait with fruit
Think healthy carbs, fiber, and a little bit of protein. These foods will provide you energy and sate your appetite, enabling you to make wise choices the rest of the day.
a chilly shower
Although taking a cold shower every morning may seem a little extreme, many people swear by it. It is somewhat less chilly than the ice baths used by athletes.
Why take a cold shower? due to the fact that it can improve blood flow, eliminate harmful fat, and release dopamine. It gives your body a jump start, similar to exercising.
Tony Robbins jumps into 57 degree water every morning for this reason. He is certain that it is necessary for the highest level of production.
Wake up early, make your bed, repeat your affirmations, go for a walk, eat a healthy meal, and take a cold shower. These may seem like simple tasks, but when combined into a daily pattern, you’ll be ready for anything that comes your way. A morning ritual reduces stress at the beginning of the day and gives you the greatest start possible.
Naturally, adjust your morning routine to suit your preferences. You can keep in mind a few other activities you can incorporate into your morning routine by using the SAVERS graphic from James Altucher’s essay and podcast with Hal Elrod, which is seen above: silence, visualization, reading, and scribbling. My Morning Routine provides 200+ examples of morning routines that you may customize and use for more ideas.
Evening routines that influence the following day
Each day’s end is equally as significant as its beginning. By establishing evening routines, you may prepare for the next day, have a restful night’s sleep, and lessen resistance to getting things done.
Set objectives for the following day.
Choosing your goals for the day accomplishes two things. First of all, it enables you to prioritize your responsibilities before the pressures of the day hit you in the face. The best time to complete your most difficult task is in the early hours of the day. There are many names for this concept, including “eating the frog” and “slaying the dragon.”
Second, it enables your brain to start considering those activities while you nod off. Authors Jason Selk, Tom Bartow, and Rudy Matthew state in their book Organize Tomorrow Today: 8 Ways to Retrain Your Mind to Optimize Performance at Work and in Life:
Setting daily priorities may seem like a simple or trivial step to take, but making a list of your top priorities the night before lets your subconscious mind run wild while you sleep and relieves you of the stress of being unprepared. You’ll probably discover that you have brilliant ideas when you first wake up for jobs or conversations that you hadn’t even thought about!
Examine your day’s accomplishments.
After a hard day, it might be simple to forget about accomplishments. It puts things into the right perspective and provides you inspiration for the next day when you take just a few minutes at the end of the day to think back on and celebrate your victories. It aids in overcoming the despondency that is frequently brought on by disappointments.
Benjamin Franklin pondered “What good have I done today?” every evening in addition to “What good should I do this day?” at the beginning of each day.
Think clearly.
It’s simple to work through the night, making it challenging to get to sleep while you think about work-related issues. By clearing your mind before bed, you may put the difficulties of the day behind you and get your mind ready to go asleep. There are many approaches to accomplish this, including:
Meditation
minimal reading
Tetris game (for productivity!)
watching a calm TV program (The Walking Dead is probably not your best option)
Before going to bed, “brain dump” anything that is going through your mind in a notebook.
Get ready for tomorrow morning.
Spend some time planning ahead to reduce the amount of thinking you need to do in the morning. Choose your outfit, cook your breakfast, set up the coffee machine, and prepare any work-related supplies you need to bring. Set out your water bottle and workout attire if you plan to visit the gym.
You’ll have more time and mental energy for the things that matter if you spend less time and energy on the things that don’t matter.
Clean up
A cluttered home is not the most inspiring way to begin the day. You’ll rapidly discover your place in disorder if you don’t regularly clean up and put stuff away.
Fortunately, tidying up for 10 to 20 minutes each night will help you avoid marathon cleaning sessions on the weekends and lessen morning tension. If you just do one thing, clean and polish your sink. You’ll feel accomplished after doing this one activity, just like you do after making your bed in the morning.
Maintain good sleeping habits.
Very few people maintain good sleeping habits, and as a result, their sleep quality declines. In general, you ought to:
Maintain the same sleeping and waking hours.
Limit the amount of blue light from screens (this can be done using F.lux on your computer and “Night Mode” on your mobile device).
Your room’s temperature should be set to 60–65°F (15–18°C).
Make the space as dark as you can.
Although it is simple to downplay the significance of sleep, it is definitely necessary for peak performance. In fact, Arianna Huffington devoted an entire Ted Talk to the importance of sleep.
It can be very difficult to incorporate routines into your life. It necessitates discipline and intention. Sometimes it seems easier to just start the day, work all day, and then collapse into bed.
But the benefit of routines and habits is that they get easier the more you use them. You find it harder to avoid doing them as they get engrained in your daily routine.
So continue on. Even though it may seem monotonous at first, you’ll soon realize that having effective morning and evening routines will make your days run much more smoothly.
