Do you ever wish your mornings ran smoothly… every day?
Sometimes, it feels impossible to get everything done and keep everyone happy every morning.
People are always asking me how I’m able to do everything I do – I work full time, run a business on the side, eat a vegan diet, stick to a budget, read, listen to podcasts, journal, maintain fulfilling relationships, and practice my faith.
I am not perfect, and I make mistakes often! But the way I manage to have the success I have is by living intentionally in the mornings and evenings.
The key is to understand that you do have a morning routine and you can shape it to get anything done you want.
What is a Morning Routine?
Your morning routine is what you do from the moment you wake up until the moment you start your work for the day (whether that’s inside or outside the home).
Examples of things you may do in your morning routine are: make your bed, drink coffee, work out, shower, pray, get your kids ready, or check your email or social media accounts.
Right now, you may or may not intentionally plan your morning routine, but one way or another you have one.
What is an Evening Routine?
Your evening routine is what you do in between your work and when you go to sleep. Your evening routine may include anything from cooking and eating dinner to reading a book or watching T.V.
It’s easy to let your evening routine just happen. But the more you plan your evening routine, the more you will be in control of your time (which is something you probably wish you had more of).
How to Create a Better Morning and Evening Routine
To get more time back and live intentionally (with meaning and purpose), you need to plan your morning and evening routines.
Here’s how you can plan your morning and evening routines.
1. Write down what your ideal morning and evening look like.
The first step to reworking your morning and evening routines is to know what your “ideal” looks like.
Ask yourself important questions, like whether you want to use this time for 1) personal growth and development, 2) cleaning and doing house work, 3) rest and relaxation, 4) health and wellness (or something else).
Think hard about what you want out of this time. Decide what habits you would like in place that would make you happy to have done them. It’s up to you what you want to use this time for in the morning and evening. The point is to be very intentional about it so the days don’t pass you by without you noticing. Also, make sure you actually write down these visions – it’s not enough to think about it alone.
I recommend using the following resources for this:
- Use a journal and planner from this list of 8 amazing journals and planners
- Read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod (bestselling book)
- You also get a morning routine worksheet when you grab Dream Year, my goal-setting workbook
2. Evaluate what your mornings and evenings look like now.
Write down what you do during your morning and evening routines right now. List your activities hour by hour (or in even small increments like half hour by half hour). Do this for yourself and anyone else you help get ready in the morning (e.g.: kids).
Once you know what you’re up against, you’ll have an easier time changing your current routine to match what your ideal routine is.
3. Create an outline of what you want your mornings and evenings to be like in the future.
Write out an ideal schedule for yourself. Humans work really well on a scheduled routine, so make it easy for yourself and plan it out ahead of time. This won’t be realistic for you to do every day, but it will keep you on track most days. It will also keep you away from easy temptations and time sucks like TV and social media! 🙂
For example, it might look something like this:
Morning Routine:
- 5:30am: Wake Up
- 6:00am: Run
- 6:30am: Shower and get ready
- 7:30am: Coffee and breakfast
- 8:00am: Read and do misc work
- 8:45am: Leave for work
Evening routine:
- 6:00pm: Get home, change, pack lunch for next day
- 7:00pm: Eat dinner
- 8:00pm: Clean and do house work
- 9:00pm: Journal
- 10:00pm: Bed
Decide on a plan that works for you. Everyone will have different wants and needs. The key is to plan ahead of time so you’re prepared and following a schedule.
You can use Dream Year to figure out exactly how you want to set goals for your own morning and evening routine if you don’t know how to set goals yet.
4. Implement your plan and monitor how it’s going.
Once you know where you are now and where you want to be in the future, the key to successful habits is implementation. You planned, you prepared, now it’s time to implement. I like starting cold turkey and just going for it. Otherwise, you will fall into the “trying trap” of saying you’ll “try to do this tomorrow”. There is no try, there is only do and do not. So, don’t try it. Just do it! Also, it’s really important that you evaluate how it’s going for you after some time. Is it meeting the expectations that you set for yourself? Are you happier, more fulfilled, and better off? If not, then adjust your plan.
When you create a plan for your morning and evening routines, you will accomplish more of your goals and live a life in line with what you want.
Why Planning Morning and Evening Routines is a Game Changer
If you want to change your life, start by changing your day. It’s the little habits repeated over time that will be the difference between failure and success.
Your morning and evening routines are perfect times for you to implement habits to promote your success.
For example, if you plan to read for 2 hours tomorrow night, you will be much more likely to do it if you plan it ahead of time. If you don’t plan it, you could easily get side tracked and end up watching two hours of T.V. instead.
No matter what stage in life you’re in, improving a small thing like your morning and evening routines can be enough to reenergize you and help you accomplish your goals. I know you can do it!! 🙂
A Final Note!
Creating a solid morning and evening routine can change the course of your life. You can become happier, less stressed, and live better.
You can take it a step further and use tools to help you accomplish this more successfully. I use The Five Minute Journal, the Productivity Planner, and Dream Year during my morning and evening routines to accomplish this, but there are tons of options out there. Another absolute fave of mine is The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, where you can learn a specific strategy for how to create the perfect morning routine for you.
Whatever you do, do something! It’s worth it. 🙂
For more on designing your dream life, sign up for my free course below.
I am currently active duty military so having a routine idea does not have to be sold to me. I get it and live by it. I get so much done with my rountine. When I slip away from the routine, everything is thrown off and most of the time I then have to play catch up for the rest of the day.
Petrish @ Debt Free Martini recently posted…Debt Sneaking Up Behind – Humor
Wow, I didn’t know that Perish. Thank you for your service! I think you said it well for all of us though – when your morning routine is off, everything is off. That’s how it is for me. It definitely sets my day up for success.
As a working mom of two kids, I can respect how important routines become. My problem comes in implementation. Mornings for sure. I’ve never been much of a morning person – my mom and husband will vouch there! Getting out of bed is so tough for me. This morning I ended up out of bed 45 minutes later than planned. And that was just because the baby was crying. So obviously my morning looks much different now than it could have. Definitely worthy of attention for the new year!!
Mrs. Maroon recently posted…Best Gift Ever
Yes, I think with little children and babies it’s going to be harder to stick to your plan. That said, when it’s just up to you and the kids aren’t a factor, I know something that helps me is to not give myself an option whether to get out of bed – I just say to myself “just do it and don’t think about it!” This actually helps!
Mr. FW and I are very routine-oriented (as is Frugal Hound). Our mornings and evenings run pretty much like clockwork, because we do the same thing everyday, which works really well for us.
Our biggest challenge is getting to sleep on time because we both love to read in bed before falling asleep and if we’re reading good books, we stay up too late. One of our goals in 2015 is to get more sleep and to be better about turning off the lights on time :)!
Mrs. Frugalwoods recently posted…Our Festive and Frugal $100 Christmas
I love that goal. You are definitely not the only one with that problem. I try to think about how sleepy I’ll be the next day if I don’t turn out the light. I really love my sleep!
I love routines. They may sound boring but I’d be lost without mine. Mine is similar to yours but add in getting kids up, dressed, fed and out the door in the morning. Then homework done, fed, bathed, and in bed (with a little fun time too!). It’s hard for me to meditate at home, so I actually take 5 minutes at work over lunch to just sit quietly. It helps recharge me and power through my afternoon. Wishing you a Merry Christmas, Natalie!
Shannon @ The Heavy Purse recently posted…Happy Holidays from The Heavy Purse
I think both meditation and routines are definitely underrated. While routines may not sound sexy, they certainly are the difference between failure and success for me. Additionally, meditation helps me internally so that I’m a better person to everyone else. I cannot recommend these things enough.
I’ve always enjoyed my morning and evening routines, because I think they are pretty healthy ones. The one things I might want to add in the evening is more constant stretching, and the one thing in the morning is don’t check my email on my phone the second I open my eyes! I’ll bet a lot of people do that one!
[email protected] and the Beach recently posted…Merry Relaxing Lazy Christmas!
Yes, I bet you’re right, Tonya! I, too, could implement stretching into my routine. I think that would be helpful. It’s just hard to find the time sometimes!
I like routines because they help me stay grounded. I have a very chaotic job and a busy life. Things are unpredictable for me all the time, but my routine is always something I can come back to. Thank you for sharing your routine! I have been feeling like I need to tweak mine a little bit…
It’s nice when you are intentional about your routine because then tweaking it is possible and effective. I may be doing that for 2015, too!
I tend to have an erratic schedule based on client meetings, so I don’t really have great morning or evening routines. The one thing I always do in the mornings is enjoy a cup of coffee at home.
Shannon @ Financially Blonde recently posted…Music Mondays – Man in the Mirror
Life without that cup of coffee would be tough for me! I hear ya!
Your evening routine is much better than mine, I’m going to have to use some of your ideas to adjust so that I get more done before the real tired starts to hit me. My morning routine does have a huge, positive impact on my day if I do it right. Power to the routine!!
Brittany @ Fun on a budget blog recently posted…Saturday Morning Hustle: Links we Loved this Week
I am very intentional with my evening routine now, but it wasn’t always that way. Planning it out and NOT turning on the TV helps a lot.
I really like the idea of sticking to a routine. I find when I get up on time and follow my morning routine, I feel so much better and more ready for the day. I don’t currently have any sort of intentional evening routine though – that’s something that I think I’ll add to my goals list for 2015!
Alex @Two Broke newlyweds recently posted…Weekly Review – December 20
Yes, I think the little productive actions we make into habits in our routines propels us up the success curve and keeps us on track.
Sometimes we get in such a rut in life that we get to the end of the year and look back and wonder what we have accomplished besides just going to work and coming home. This is where goals really come in handy. If you don’t put something new on your list to do or learn then we generally don’t accomplish anything new. This last year I wanted to start a blog/website. I wanted to run 500 miles this year. If you don’t put it down you just stay in the same routine every single day.
lance @ Healthy wealthy income recently posted…Are You Taking Enough Risk To Make Money?
I couldn’t have said that better, Lance! Goals are the key to getting things done. I’m looking forward to writing down my 2015 goals in the next couple of days.
I do tend to follow a morning routine that always includes the same wake-up time and my little chat with God. It’s more the evenings that are less structured but I plan to work on this to incorporate more me time by the way of adding fitness sessions and less social media check-ins.
Kassandra recently posted…Sunday Sweetness Volume 9 – Anniversary Edition
The evenings tend to get away from me if I don’t make an evening to-do list, too. I tend to be very successful in the evenings when I plan my night out, however.
Loved this post Natalie. I really need to work on my morning routine. I have such a hard time getting out of bed that it leaves me little time to do anything before getting ready and rushing off to work. My night routine is usually a little better: I usually eat, take ruby out for a w-a-l-k , load/unload dishes, make lunch for the next day, get ready for bed. Some weeks I am really good at sticking to the routine, other weeks it doesn’t happen. I definitely feel more calm and productive when I stick to a routine.
Liz recently posted…My Student Loan Debt Reveal
This is something I should work to improve. I am pretty set on my morning routine, and it always flows better when I prep the evening before. But sometimes when I finally make it home from work all I want to do is make dinner and watch Netflix. If I blow my evening routine, my morning suffers. I need to be a little more disciplined and a new year is the perfect excuse to get back on track.
Jessica recently posted…Finally Friday: 12/19/14
My husband and I are definitely very routine oriented. If we’re going to vary from the routine, we talk about it ahead of time. I’m looking forward to making a new routine for myself for after I move into my new job. I’m already visualizing it!
This is great and I’m usually one for routines! Except now, I’m working full time as a nurse on shift schedule.. It’s been a year and I haven’t found a routine that works for me and my schedule.. So I either need to come up with one or change my job situation 😛
I have been trying ti go to bed ealier but I can’t turn my brain off.
Preaching to the choir. The evening and morning get away from us so quickly we don’t even think about it as a routine, I have tested a few different routines and taking even 15 minutes for myself each morning made a difference in my day! Love your post. Miracle Morning is also a great read (or listen on Audible) about the importance of Morning Rituals.