7 Steps to Build the Best Morning Routine

In my former life as a property lawyer, I was working 14-15 hour days, starting the day before 7.30am and finishing sometime after 10pm.

I’d squeeze in the gym and socializing where I could and use whatever time was left for sleeping.

Then in 2012, I decided to start my own cleaning business.

I quickly realised that I needed to switch up my game and utilize my time more effectively, so that I could focus on my business as well as working a day job, staying social and keeping fit!

On a 10-day business retreat in Guilin, China, I learned the importance of a morning routine to set your mind and body up to crush the rest of the day.

And so my own morning routine was born.

Over the last 8 years, my morning routine has evolved as I’ve tried different habits, methods, and rituals.

As I write this post, my morning routine is a 9 step process, which can take as long as 2 hours or as little as 30 minutes.

Through this experimentation, I’ve identified 7 steps to help you build the best morning, whether you’re just getting or want to enhance your own morning routine.

7 Steps to Build the Best Morning Routine

1. Start the night before
2. First, drink water
3. Define your Chronotype
4. Have a set routine
5. Meditate
6. Leave the phone alone
7. Focus on what’s important

1. Start the night before

“The perfect day begins with a good evening.”
- Ryan Holiday

Your morning starts the night before.

It’s easy to overlook the end of the day when all the focus is on starting the day in the right way.

I’ve only recently learned the importance of an evening shut-down routine to prepare for the next day.

“How we close out the day matters. The decisions we make. The reflection we encourage. The time we drift off to sleep. All of it is about finishing well…because then and only then can we start tomorrow better too.”
- Ryan Holiday

To help me prepare for tomorrow, today, my evening shut down routine consists of 3 steps:

1. Deciding on my most important tasks for tomorrow. I use the GTD Method to review my completed and outstanding tasks, clear my inbox and schedule my most important tasks for tomorrow.
   
   Preparing the night makes it as easy as possible to stick to your morning routine. Simple things like preparing your workout clothes to exercise in the morning and setting up your tea or coffee machine the night before help with executing your routine.
   
   Lastly, creating a To-Do List the night before is more time efficient and helps to reduce stress in the morning. It also marks a definitive end to your day.
   
2. Journaling and reflecting on the day. I write in my 5 Minute Journal to reflect on the highlights of the day and make a note of what I’ve learned. I also write in The Daily Stoic Journal, which prompts me to reflect on one question centered around the 4 Stoic virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice.
3. Organize my workout gear. My workout has already been decided as I plan these monthly in advance. Before I head to bed each night, I decide what podcast episode(s) I’m going to listen to while I exercise and lay out my workout gear for the morning.
   
   Spending time reflecting on the day, asking questions, and taking inventory of how you spent your day raises your awareness, impacts your happiness, and contributes to your personal development.
4. Go to bed at a set time. I keep a fixed bedtime (between 9.30/10pm) and waking up time (between 4.30/5am) during the week and at weekends.
   
   By having consistent bedtime and waking up time, you condition your body and make waking up less painful. Our circadian rhythm thrives off of consistency, which is why it’s important to stick to your sleep schedule even at the weekends.
   
   Remember, if you’re going to get up earlier for your morning routine, you need to go to bed earlier as well!

2. First, drink water

I place a bottle of water on my dining room table when I go to bed. This prompts me to have a glass of water shortly after waking up and before working out.

After going several hours without water during sleep, your body is dehydrated first thing in the morning.

Drinking a glass of water after waking up rehydrates the body, aids digestion, and increases your metabolism by as much as 25%.

It can also help with maintaining a healthy weight, improve mental focus and have a positive impact on mood.

The European Society of Cardiology published a report which confirmed that “drinking sufficient water could prevent heart failure”, so it makes sense to get into a habit of kick-starting your morning with a large glass of H2O.

Having a glass of water first thing in the morning is a simple habit to start and helps you get into a routine of drinking water throughout the rest of the day.

It requires little effort and offers lots of health benefits.

3. Define your Chronotype

Last year I watched this TedTalk by Dr. Michael Breus, better known as The Sleep Doctor, where I learned about chronotypes.

I found out that I am a Bear!

A chronotype is your body’s natural disposition to be awake or asleep at certain times during the day.

Chronotype is closely related to the body’s circadian rhythm, which controls the sleep-wake cycle and melatonin production.

Our circadian rhythm is primarily influenced by light exposure and tends to rise and set with the sun.

However, our specific chronotype isn’t influenced by anything other than genetics.

That’s why it’s important to work with your chronotype instead of against it, if you want to be rested and as productive as possible.

We all operate differently, with different biological rhythms, preferences, and productivity styles.

Knowing your chronotype helps you understand when you’re most active and alert during the day so that you can schedule work around your productivity windows.

There are 4 chronotypes that indicate a person's schedule according to their unique internal clock:

• Bears: The most common type of chronotype. Bears typically need eight hours of sleep between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
  Bears are most productive in the morning and should schedule the majority of their work to be completed before 2–4pm when they have an afternoon slump.
• Wolves: Wolves are happy to go to bed at midnight and wake up between 7- 9am.
  Wolves are most productive at night and snooze in the morning to get the energy they need to sustain two bursts of creative energy: the first around noon, and the  second around 6 p.m.
• Lions: Waking up early is easy for Lions. Their energy levels peak before noon, before slumping in the afternoon. By the evening, lions feel completely drained.
  It’s important for lions to have an evening wind-down routine to help them decompress from the day, before calling it an early night around 10 p.m.
• Dolphins: Dolphins have sporadic sleeping habits and sleep from midnight to 6am.
  They have trouble waking up in the morning, but once they get going, their productivity reaches its peak around mid-morning.

You can find out your own chronotype and its idiosyncrasies by taking this quiz.

Once you’ve determined what your chronotype is, not only will you have a better understanding of when you’re most productive, but you’ll also learn the most effective time to exercise, when to eat, the best times to drink coffee and alcohol, and the ideal sleep schedule.

4. Have a set routine

I currently have a 9 step process that sets up my morning routine.

It includes drinking water, exercising, meditating, and journaling.

Having a set routine to follow in the morning eliminates decision fatigue. Small decisions add up so the more you can operate on autopilot after waking up the better.

A good example of this is planning my workouts in advance. At the end of every month, I’ll spend a couple of hours on a Sunday planning the next month’s workout schedule.

This includes everything from warm-up routines, different types of workouts based on my objectives, cool-down routines, and active rest and recovery sessions.

Doing this means I don’t have to spend time thinking about the exercise I’m going to do every morning because it’s already pre-planned.

This process also allows me to track my progress and figure out which workouts had the most impact and what I need to change.

Having a set routine to follow in the morning might seem mundane, but it is one of the best morning routine success tips that I have learned.e

Eliminating unnecessary decisions keeps your brain focused and on task, significantly reducing stress at the start of your day.

5. Meditate

I’ve been meditating consistently for the last 8 years.

It’s something I started on the Guilin retreat and have practiced almost every day since.

I currently use a combination of Headspace and the 6-Phase Meditation.

On a regular day, I’ll sit for between 10-15minutes in after completing my workout. This helps my body to recover and reduces the cortisol levels in my blood, which are released during times of stress (exercising!).

Having a meditation practice is common in the morning routines of successful entrepreneurs and high achievers.

It helps to increase focus, reduce stress and anxiety, improve memory and stimulate creativity.

There are different types of meditation practices that can be accessed through a number of apps or by going to in-person meditation centers.

Mindfulness meditation helps clear the mind and has a significant impact on the areas of the brain involved with higher brain function.

Be open to trying a variety of styles until you find the right one for you.

The biggest benefit I’ve experienced with meditating is the time and space it allows me to get into the right mindset to attack the day.

6. Leave the phone alone

For the last 18 months, I’ve gotten into the habit of:

1. Not using my phone past 9.30pm in the evening;
2. Leaving my phone to charge outside the bedroom; and
3. Not touching my phone until at least midday (other than to use it for my health + fitness apps and listening to podcasts)

I’ve also taken an additional step and set my iPhone up for optimal productivity, focus and health after reading this Medium post. It takes some time to work through but the results are well worth it!

Nowadays, our phones are always with us - in our pockets, on the desk at work, and in the bedroom.

Your phone is an instant gratifier for boredom and discomfort. Whether it’s reading the news or scrolling on social, you’re never far away from your next dopamine hit when you stare at that small screen in your hand.

However, in the morning, try to resist the urge to instantly grab your phone to check emails, TikTok, and the latest headlines.

By checking your phone as soon as you open your eyes, you start your day on the back foot. It puts you under stress and into a reactive mode for the rest of the day.

That’s not a good way to start.

Instead, give yourself time to ease into the day by leaving your phone alone for the first few moments after you wake up.

Allowing time and space for focus in the morning is a much better way to set yourself up to crush the rest of the day.

Give yourself that time, whether that’s 30 minutes or 3 hours.

7. Focus on what’s important

I’ve been using timeboxing to schedule my day for a while now.

Unfortunately, for a long time, I was taking a haphazard approach to my schedule and hardly ever completed the work required to move me towards my goal.

After reviewing my schedule and learning my chronotype, I started using my mornings (between 8 and 1/2pm) to focus on the most important work, and gradually I started to gain some traction.

The lesson here is to do all the heavy lifting in the morning.

We’re better equipped to handle stress and challenges in the morning when the mind is fresh, willpower is strong and we’re not suffering from decision fatigue.

"We don’t want to squander our best energy reacting when we could be creating. May not sound like a big deal, but I can’t think of ANYTHING more powerful for super-high levels of productivity than consistently hammering out a solid Deep Work Time Block pre-inputs every day."

• Brian Johnson

Our bodies experience a morning cortisol awakening response which surges throughout our bodies 20-30 minutes after getting up. This gives us enough energy to tackle focused work at the start of the day.

Therefore it’s more effective to prioritize and complete your most creative and important tasks in the morning.

“When we don't purposely and deliberately choose where to focus our energies and time, other people—our bosses, our colleagues, our clients, and even our families—will choose for us, and before long we’ll have lost sight of everything that is meaningful and important.”
- Greg McKeown

I’ve found Robin Sharma’s 90/90/1 Rule super useful for focusing on your most important work and moving closer to my goals.

“For the next 90 days, devote the first 90 minutes of your work day to the one best opportunity in your life. Nothing else.”

Be creative before you’re reactive.

Final Thoughts: How to Create the Best Morning Routine for Success

If you type ‘morning routine’ into Google, you will find 717,000,000 search results, of which this post is one.

There’s a reason why having a morning routine is popular amongst successful entrepreneurs and high achievers.

“If you WIN the morning, you WIN the day.”
- Tim Ferriss

Starting the day on the right foot helps to increase your productivity, improve your health, enhance your personal development and get your mind right to face whatever challenges come up during the rest of the day.

My morning routine anchors in the rest of my day and sets me up in the best way that I know to crush the rest of the day.

It also helps me be successful at the start of the day, regardless of what happens for the rest of it.

Following these steps, you’ll be able to build the best morning routine that’s right for you to help you win your day, every day.

Remember, you can access my free 7 Steps to Build the Best Morning Routine guide with tips on how to create a morning routine to set you up for success - get my free guide.

Grab my free 7 Steps to Build the Best Morning Routine guide to create the best morning routine for success.