How To Create A Morning Routine For A Healthy Mindset

Like almost everyone else, my anxiety skyrocketed last March when we all went into lockdown. I had just become a parent to two pre-teens, bought a house a few months prior, and was already struggling to find my footing in this seemingly new life when everything shut down. 

For a few months I woke up every day really struggling to find the energy and will to be a good parent, homeschool my kids, work from home, and find time for fun. 

So why create a morning routine?

Around the time I was feeling most defeated, someone I follow on Instagram posted a story about her morning routine and how it sets her whole mood for a good day. I saw her list of things she did all before 9am and thought “Well that’s easy for her, she doesn’t have kids at home during a pandemic!” and “She must be unemployed with all of that free time!” and a whole lot of other negative thoughts. 

It wasn’t until a couple weeks later when I had a really bad day (like, close to hopping in my car and driving away for a few days BAD) when I knew I needed to do something to manage my anxiety. That night I brainstormed what I needed to work on the most, and created my first morning routine for the next day. I’ve been doing my morning routine (or a variation of it) almost every day since. 

It started out as a strict, sit down and focus routine, now it’s almost intuitive and I do it on my own because I know how good it makes me feel. I can now tell when I need a little more self care, or when I feel ok and can get straight into my to-do list. 

The goal here isn’t to do exactly what I do, because we probably don’t have the same needs. But I do suggest trying something new! When I heard about affirmations I thought “I am NOT doing that” but now it makes such a difference in my day when I do!

If you don’t know where to start, snag my free printable morning mindset planner set when you sign up to receive my emails!

Affirmations:

Yep, the thing I thought I would never ever do. It felt so ridiculous the first time I said my affirmations out loud to myself. I truly thought lockdown was getting to my head, because here I was, talking to myself. 

I still remember my first affirmation. It was when I was really struggling with perfection – I needed to be the perfect mother, I needed to grow my business ASAP, needed to eat perfectly healthy meals, and needed to balance it all perfectly every day. So, my first affirmation was born – 

“The world will not end if I fail at something today.”

Like I said, saying those words out loud really made me feel like a crazy person. But I really, really tried to take it in. Instead of just saying it, I focused on keeping that little promise to myself for one day. A promise to not beat myself up if I wasn’t perfect that day. 

Guess what? It worked.

I try to be done working at 4pm, but usually I feel like I’ve failed if I don’t work as much as possible. That day at 4 pm when my kids wanted me, I put my computer down and spent time with them. I reminded myself, the world will not end if my business doesn’t grow THAT DAY. At the end of the day I actually felt better for quitting work at a decent hour. 

My affirmations change daily. Sometimes I have one, sometimes I have three. Sometimes I know my affirmations, and other days I google them (don’t worry, that’s not cheating!) 

I write them down, say them outloud, and really try my hardest to keep the promise to myself. 

To come up with your affirmations, think about what you’re struggling with the most. My daughter now thinks of her own, which makes me really proud. Affirmations are great for kids and teens to ensure they have confidence in themselves. My daughter realized she struggles with worrying about how others perceive her, so now she has a sticky note in her room that says “My worth is not based on how desirable you find me.” 

At the bottom of this post I have a list of affirmations that have helped me!

To Do Lists + Schedule:

If you have a million little thoughts running through your head everyday saying “Don’t forget this, don’t forget that!”

MAKE LISTS.

You need to get it all down in list form, so you know exactly what you need to do  that day / week. It avoids the added stress of wondering what you’re forgetting.

Next, set a schedule. If you can, schedule in some of your to-do list items into your schedule. We’re multitasking here, folks! This planner is my favorite, but you can always print off my free planner pages as well.

As someone who has my eggs in too many baskets (that’s the saying, right?) I get hyper-focused on one project at a time and completely neglect everything else. That was until I started a schedule. I personally do weekly schedules, but daily schedules might be best for you if your days are usually pretty similar.

Now, Mondays and Tuesdays are my blog days, Wednesdays and Thursdays are my Etsy days, and Fridays are my tech / tying up loose ends days. 

Then, I schedule those days by the hour as well. I even schedule breaks now (thanks to my “I deserve to relax sometimes too, damn!” affirmation) 

You might be thinking “Umm this sounds like a lot of work for something that’s supposed to help me relax” and I’ll admit, it took me almost a whole day to set up my schedule to fit in everything I need to do, but now I do nothing! Nothing at all! I just flip to the day in my planner, and I know what I need to do that day. 

Self care isn’t all bubble baths and naps (ugh). Sometimes it’s forcing yourself to get some shit done so you don’t stress out about not getting anything done. 

Simple Tasks Routine: 

Before I do my affirmations or even think about my schedule, I do my simple tasks. For me, this is making my coffee or matcha, making my bed (ok, throwing the blanket back on), picking up around the house, washing my face, getting some fresh air, and sometimes eating breakfast. If I’m feeling really insta-influencer-girl I’ll even stretch for 10 minutes. 

These “simple tasks” are the things I used to think only people with all the time in the world did. Now, I wake up 20 minutes earlier and get all of this done.

Your simple tasks might be different than mine, but the goal is to just spend a short amount of time doing the things that make you feel good. For me that’s picking up my house (I work from home and can’t work with dishes in my sink), making a drink, and doing basic hygiene. What makes you feel good might differ from mine!

Extra tip- limit technology:

Did you know your phone tracks how much you’re on it? Go ahead and take a look. Is it way more time than you thought?

Not only is that much technology and social media just straight up bad for your brain, but it also takes up so much time! I would find myself feeling like I never had enough time to get everything done during the day, but I would spend 2 hours on my phone during my work hours. 

Personally, I now block all social media and non-necessary apps on my phone from 9am-3pm every week day. If you don’t want to go that extreme, just be more mindful of how much you’re on your phone. Try to not look at it first thing in the morning, before you’ve done your routine. I think you’ll find that doing a morning mindset routine will make you feel much better throughout your day than scrolling on Instagram will. 

Overall, the goal with creating any kind of morning mindset routine is to just be mindful of how you’re treating yourself. Do I think affirmations are my own personal miracle worker making me a better person? No, but I do think being aware of the growth that needs to happen can only help. 

If you’re like me, you might be thinking you don’t have time for all of this. Although I just gave you a lot of information and it seems like a lot, my morning routine takes me 30 minutes a day at the most. 

• Small tasks routine: 10-15 minutes.
• Journal / Mindfullness: 10 minutes.
• To-do list for the day: 5 minutes.

That’s it! I know we all have pretty busy lives, but making time to focus on yourself is important. If you can cut out 30 minutes of scrolling or wake up 30 minutes earlier, stick with this for a month and you will see a difference. 

I’ve created a printable planner + mindset journal pages to get your started. Opt in to emails down below and get instant access to your digital (and printable) morning routine!

Don’t forget to pin for later!