I’m so excited to have my friend, Emily, sharing here today all about how to jumpstart your day. Emily has a real knack for organization and systems and I wish I was even half as organized as she is. Especially living life with two littles now, my free time is rare and I keep falling asleep at night feeling like I accomplished nothing. So discouraging! I’m ready to conquer tomorrow with these new tips in mind to jumpstart my day. So take it away Emily…
Hey there, A Crafted Passion readers! I’m Emily from The Small Stuff Counts and I’m delighted that Amanda invited me over to chat with you today! If you visit my blog, it won’t take you long to figure out that I am obsessed with organization and time management. I’m always working to find ways to be more intentional with my time so I can spend more time on the things that I care about most.
Sometimes it feels like I spend the entire day putting out fires and reacting to things as they pop up. Do you feel that way? It’s exhausting to run nonstop all day long trying to be the perfect wife, mom, employee and friend. That’s why I try to start the day off on the right foot by following a morning routine. Having a routine in place is a great way to be more intentional with how you use your time, which is especially important in the morning because it can truly set the tone for the rest of your day.
Creating a morning routine will help you get a jumpstart so you feel energized and accomplished before your day even begins! Waking up consistently and following a thoughtful routine every morning is a worthwhile habit to cultivate. Ready to seize the day? Here’s how I suggest creating a morning routine:
1 |Â Brainstorm
Make a list of everything you would love to do right away in the morning. Some suggestions you may want to consider would be:
- Necessities like getting ready, packing lunches and having breakfast
- Things that prepare you for the day like packing bags, making a to-do list or starting dinner in the slow cooker
- Household chores like doing the dishes or tidying the living room
- Tasks that get you closer to achieving a big goal you have for yourself right now (my morning routine recently included time to write a book, which was one of my big goals for the year)
- Self care activities like exercising, reading, journaling or meditating (taking care of yourself is a spectacular way to start the day!)
2 | Be realistic
Decide on a realistic time you will wake up every morning to begin your new routine. It needs to be a time you can commit to in your current season of life and if that’s not at the crack of dawn, that’s okay! Choose a wake-up time that you can stick with day after day. Ideally it will be early enough that you can get through your morning routine before the demands of the day and everyone around you start vyng for your attention.
3 | Prioritize
Look through the list you brainstormed and circle the most important things. Think of the things that will make the biggest impact on the day. There will be a few necessities, such as getting ready and having breakfast. You should also choose at least one activity that is fulfilling and energizing, something that gets you closer to a goal you have or that helps you practice self care. Make sure there’s at least one thing on the list that you will look forward to, something that will be exciting enough to motivate you to get out of a bed in the morning instead of sleeping in.
4 | Write it down
Choose what you will do every morning when you wake up. Don’t go overboard here, only choose the number activities that you realistically have time to complete each day. Write them down in the order you want to tackle them, and post your list someplace where you’ll see it every day. I like to write a checklist of my routine on an index card and tuck in the front of my planner. Maybe you want to jot yours down on a sticky note to post on the bathroom mirror or type it up to hang on the fridge.
5 | Implement the plan
Now that you’ve created a morning routine, it’s time to put it into action! A well planned routine is a great start, but the real work happens when you follow through with it day after day. Be sure to share your new routine with your spouse and kids so they can participate and help hold you accountable. Commit to waking up at the target time each morning so you can fully complete your routine each day.
When you get to the end of the week, evaluate your morning routine and decide if there is anything that needs adjusting to make it work even better for you. Think about what’s working well and what’s not and find ways to tweak your routine accordingly. You may find it best to rearrange the order of things or maybe you don’t have as much time as you thought and you need to cut something out. Don’t be afraid to tweak things to make them work better for you!
*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosure here.
Having a morning routine in place is a fabulous way to get a leg up on the day before life gets crazy and starts pulling you in a million different directions. The way you begin your morning will set the tone for the rest of the day, so start it off intentionally rather than waking up at the last minute and scrambling to get going. Starting the morning off feeling relaxed and in control of your time is huge for keeping your sanity!
I could geek out about routines all day long, so I created an e-course to help you through the process. You can sign up for free here if you are interested in digging deeper. I also just published an entire ebook on the subject, Crush Your Week: The Complete Guide To Designing An Intentional Weekly Routine, and would love for you to check it out! It is a guide to creating a weekly schedule so your whole day runs smoothly. I think you’ll love all of the worksheets and exercises in it! And you already have a head start because having a morning routine in place is key component of a well-designed weekly routine.
What are your favorite ways to start the day? Let us know in the comments!
Thank you to Amanda for having me over today, and thank YOU for reading!
Emily Counts is the blogger behind The Small Stuff Counts, where she teaches her readers how to fuel their creativity, decorate their homes and organize their lives. When she’s not decorating and organizing everything in sight, she works as a marketing professional. She is a lifelong Iowan and currently resides in central Iowa with her husband.
Thanks so much Emily for sharing these great tips!! I can’t wait to get my hands on your new ebook and start being more intentional about my routines.
