Perfecting My Own Morning Routine: Starting your morning with a routine sets you up for success

I set a goal some months ago to start waking up early and starting my day with a routine.

Goal: Wake up every morning at 9 am

To Reach HelpThis Goal, I Started Reading Atomic Habits by James Clear

I decided the ultimate goal I needed to set myself was to build a disciplined morning routine. I realized that on the days that I wake up early and start my day a certain way, the rest of that day will be productive, and constantly being productive is a great way to not slip into depression. I continually feel drained and like every day is blurring into each other. With that, I can easily get to a place where I've ignored all my responsibilities to the point where I’m overwhelmed and slip into an unproductive routine, which isn't a good habit to make. So, I spent this semester building this routine that I am about to share :)

    I've noticed that on the days that I wake up earlier like 730 -8 am, I have a very productive day, and by the end of the day, I’m exhausted which means I sleep early which means I can create a routine that makes the most out of a day.

During my read of Atomic Habits, I gained a lot of good tips and motivation about healthy ways to build habits and how important having good habits is. I chose this book originally because I thought about which specific part of my life I needed help with, and it turned out it was the most basic part that sometimes need to be reevaluated.

I've heard of Atomic Habits, and the book is very well known, based on the ideas and what my goal is, I felt that Atomic Habits would be a good fit. I browsed the book and did some research this book aligned with what I focused on, which is building a new habit. The book has many good strategies to build habits and is a good read. The book is all about breaking habits, it speaks scientifically about how to make and break habits, explains why it's difficult to build a new habit, and gives a lot of information about habits in a form that is very easy for me to understand and pick and choose what I feel can be implemented into my life.

I Primarily focused on 3 strategies lets go through them and rate them 1-10

1. Making decisions based on what the best version of you would do -10/10

   a.     I found myself using this constantly for anything it could be down to deciding between two different pieces of bread at a grocery store some days, I overthink everything, so just take a step back and copy someone else, this being you.

2. Habit stacking-6/10

   a.     Choosing a habit that you already do and bundling it with something else to create a shortcut habit – 6/10 I've implemented this one by staking my need to check my phone first thing in the morning to go to the bathroom, this way, I can avoid spending an hour in bed scrolling on my phone. This one got a lower rating because it's easy to forget that your habit is stacking.

3. Environmental Design-9/10

   a.     - Designing your environment to encourage the habit 9/10. Keeping my room clean and organized is a reflection of my mental health my room being messy for long periods of time usually reflects on how I’m feeling. Ensuring my environment is tidy plays into Strategy 1, the best version of me wouldn’t have my room looking messy, and neither would I. I implement 15 minutes a day of cleaning my room.

Tracking A Habit- Habit tracking can be like a reward system for me. The more that I see I've completed the goal that I've set, the more I feel inclined to continue to do so

Major Takeaways

            Recently, I've been experiencing ups and downs, struggling with periods of depression and fighting to gather enough energy to complete the necessary tasks in life, like finishing assignments for college and getting to work on time. I haven’t truly been living. I wake up just in time for work, get ready, go, and come right back home. Have a class? I get up, make it just in time, complete the work, and go straight back home. I wasn’t waking up to embrace a new day; I’d been living on autopilot, doing just enough to get by, and even that felt like it used up all the energy I had. Changing takes time and a lot of effort. Taking it day by day and giving yourself grace is so important. Just because you make a mistake, one day doesn’t mean the next day isn’t a new one. After this challenging journey, I’ve realized a couple of things

a.     Treat yourself like you would a close friend; on the times I've slipped up and didn’t stick to my goal I felt disappointed, frustrated, and angry with myself. But I’m continuing to learn to stop when I’m having thoughts like this and speak to myself with sympathy and empathy.

b. Sleep is very important and you can't have a good morning routine without a good night one as well

c.Keep trying no matter what when you don't feel motivated, reach out to a friend; it is amazing what kind and encouraging words can do.