5 Tips for Building a Morning Routine That Will Last Even After The Lockdown

Early-bird, night owl or permanently exhausted pigeon, regardless of your sleep routine preferences there's no denying the importance of a good start to the day. Pull out any lifestyle magazine of your choice, or visit whichever content website you'd like, you're destined to stumble across some advice about building and maintaining a morning routine and the various perks it introduces your life to. Which make sense, considering what you to do in the morning, and the way it makes you feel, is likely to spill-over to your behaviour, productivity, and feelings for the rest of the day. 

The first one or two hours, after you wake up and before you start catering to your responsibilities, are immensely important in setting a tone for the hours that follow, and for gaining a sense of control over your schedule. It's also important to organise your thoughts, and plan, albeit mentally, all the things you plan on getting done. Without an organised morning schedule, you're likely to make mistakes like devoting more time to low-priority tasks, not meeting your agenda for the day or just feeling overwhelmed in the middle of chaos. 

Right now that the pandemic-induced lockdown is supplying us with more hours than we know what to do with, it's the ideal time to establish habits you've always wanted to, especially a fixed schedule for your mornings. And for that, we've curated a list of 5 important tips for building a morning routine, that will prove to be helpful even after this lockdown ends. 

1. No Screen Time Till A Certain Time 

One of the hard to shake off habits most of us grapple with is checking social media, e-mails or texts first thing after opening our eyes. But what happens when we do that is, we start our day thinking about what other people said, what other people posted about or what other people need us to do. Going through your work mails right after you wake up is also likely to introduce you to stress and anxiety about work, first thing in the morning. So needless to say, that's the zone you're going to be in for the rest of the day. Instead, fix a specific time before which you're not allowed to engage in any screen time at all, thus first, giving your mind and body the time to tackle whatever awaits. 

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2. Give Your Body Some Physical Activity 

Not only is an early morning workout excellent for all your fitness goals and general health condition, but it also helps your body to get into motion, shake off the remains of sleep and get active to take on the day. Since exercise also improves blood circulation in your body, physical movement in the morning will lead to a more focused and alert brain right at the beginning of the day. Lastly, a morning workout jumpstarts your energy and helps you leave any traces of laziness, in your bed where it belongs. So, yoga, power walking or just playing ball with your dog, sneak in some physical activity before your day officially begins. 

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3. Devote Time To Organising Your Surroundings 

Waking up to your dirty laundry on the floor, empty coffee mugs all over your bedside table, or a desk strewn with files and papers is not going to put you in the mood to get stuff done. As most of us already know, it's highly difficult to stay organised and productive when your surroundings are cluttered and messy. Instead, set out a time period in your morning when your sole task would be to tidy your room and workspace and get rid of any junk that might have accumulated. It will also help you gain a sense of control and accomplishment, which is a great note to start your day on! 

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4. Practice Priority Order Goal-Setting 

Now you can choose to write it down, or simply run a list through your head (we'd recommend the former). But spending some time in the morning, thinking about the things you need to finish that day, and deciding which ones you'll start with on the basis of criticality, will help you stay much more productive throughout the rest of the day. It also mentally prepares you for what you can expect in the upcoming hours and helps you in making a note of all the goals you want to achieve that day of the week. 

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5. Eat Breakfast Mindfully 

First things first, if a breakfast isn't a part of your morning schedule, you need to adopt this habit STAT. There's a reason it's been universally deemed as the most important meal of the day. If you don't have the time to prepare a meal first thing in the morning, go for easy, minimal-ingredient breakfast recipes with a prep time of 15 mins or less, like these. Now once you start having breakfast, or in case you already have the habit, make it a point to eat your breakfast and do nothing else while you're at it. This means, no reading the newspaper, no solving the crossword, and no attending phone calls. Just 20 minutes of you and you eating your breakfast mindfully, can be tremendously calming and therapeutic. And that's a wonderful way to start your day! 

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While the day will bring what it has to, at least you will be off to a great start!