Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Finding the Perfect Morning Routine (Out of a Sea of Less-Than-Ideal Ones)

Coffee Break by Kenny Louie (Flickr)
Establishing some sort of morning routine is not new to me. Keeping it for more than a week is. Whatever I set up – whether it involves daily Bible reading, exercise, or chores – it all seems to fall apart pretty quickly. That can be attributed partly to laziness and partly to having an irregular schedule when it comes to sleep, meals, work, school, etc. pretty much all my life.

I suspect that the real problem is that I tend to be way too ambitious with my to-do lists. Or maybe I’m just not choosing things that really do energize and motivate me, but things I felt I “have to” do. As a participant in the “Create a Perfect Morning Routine” class with Skillshare, my goal is to create a plan that is not only manageable, even on a fully packed day, but is also filled with enjoyable activities that won’t leave me searching for an excuse not to do them. I need a routine that’s not about chores and things I need to get done, but one that prepares me for the stressful day ahead.

My Primary Focus
My primary focus is destressing my life. I want to begin my day feeling refreshed and optimistic about what lies ahead.

Positive Habits
Devotional Bible Reading, Exercise, Listening to Music, Journaling, Meditation, Prayer, Self Improvement, Staying Informed, To-Do List

Daily Focus
Option 1: Journaling
Option 2: Listening to Music (Pandora channels, Amazon Prime Music, or Classical KUSC FM 91.5 radio)
Option 3: Prayer
Option 4: Devotional Reading (Bible)
Option 6: Self Improvement (reading self help books)
Option 7: Staying Informed (BBC News, NYTimes, NPR, theSkimm)
Option 6: Creating a To-Do List

Ideal Morning Routine
7:00 a.m. – Wake Up
7:05 a.m. – Check Email and Text Messages (in case of anything important)
7:10 a.m. – Daily Focus (preferably with hot chocolate or a vanilla latte)
7:35 a.m. – Exercise (Daily Yoga app on Android phone)
7:50 a.m. – Meditation (Calm app on Android phone)
8:00 a.m. – Begin day

Note: This morning routine was created as the project for the “Create a Perfect Morning Routine” class on Skillshare, taught by freelance designer and illustrator Jeff Finley, author of Wake Up: The Morning Routine That Will Change Your Life. My review of the course: Sure, it needs some editing, and some slides with bullet-points would help. At times I even found the content a little dull. However, I was finally motivated to establish a workable morning routine, and for that reason I'm grateful for this course. Therefore, I recommend it.