My Morning Routine as a Form of Self Care

And I know some of y’all are thinking, I like to recharge at night. But I want to push back a little bit. Is your recharge scrolling your phone and watching Netflix? That’s not a recharge. That’s checking out. These are two different things. I find it much easier to actually recharge and do the activities that help me be a better version of myself in the morning. And now that it’s a routine, I don’t even think about it.

And my morning routine is not all productivity. I like to add some other activities that I enjoy. I really consider this time self care. I think about self care as activities that help me feel better, whether that’s something my future self will thank me for or an activity that makes me feel rejuvenated.

So, I thought I’d share my morning routine and how it helps me set up my day and get some self care in as well.

Start the Night Before

I know you’ve heard this many times, but do what you can the night before! Before my kids go to bed, lunches are packed, coffee is prepped and the kitchen is cleaned. This way, when it is time to turn Netflix on, I don’t have to worry about tidying up downstairs.

I like to do things that future me will thank me for! Without fail, when I don’t pack lunches ahead of time, the morning is crazy. When the morning is crazy, I feel rushed and flustered at the beginning of the day until I can take a moment to breathe. I believe that children feel your energy and I want to send my kids to school with a positive energy to start their day. That starts with my getting it together the night before!

Try It Yourself

Add one more thing to your evening routine to set you up for success the night before. Try getting your water cup ready for the morning, setting up your coffee, packing lunches or loading and running the dishwasher. Find what works best for you and do it!

Morning Movement

When I was teaching middle and high school, I discovered that working out in the morning helped my stress levels. Since then, I notice a difference when I’m consistently working out first thing in the morning (4-5 times per week) and when I don’t. I am much more irritable and snappy when I haven’t been working out.

That is the first part of my routine. It has a couple of purposes. First, if I do it first, I don’t have to think about when I’m going to fit it in later. I typically will talk myself out of it later because there are so many other things to do! First thing in the morning is my time and the best time for me to take care of myself.

I used to be into barre, then cycling and strength classes at home and since my last pregnancy, I have really enjoyed yoga. The slowness and strength aspect is really working well for my life right now. I aim to do 20-30 minutes of yoga 3-4 times during the school week. I will normally skip a day if I am up later than I want to or if I’m on it, by Thursday I need a break!

At one point in my life, I would work out for at least an hour and have time to get ready and dressed afterwards. Right now, 20-30 minutes works well. And after having my third child, I started at 10 minutes for a long time.

And now, after years of going to group fitness classes, I work out at home. With three children who sometimes don’t sleep until they’re supposed to, it’s a lot easier to be in the house without the commute time to get a workout in. Plus, I get to enjoy my coffee right afterwards!

And speaking of coffee, the second reason I workout first is it postpones my first cup of coffee. I absolutely love coffee. I would drink it all day! But I know it’s good for my body to have water first. I have a cup of water set up in the room I workout so I don’t even have to go downstairs. Then, when I’m finish and have drank some water, I can go downstairs and start the coffee!

Try It Yourself

First, find a workout you enjoy. Do you like going for a run? Spin classes? Yoga? Pick a discipline that fits your personality and lifestyle right now. Then, start small, 10 minutes. Find a class on YouTube or peloton or wherever you like to find your workouts. You can always add time as you get into it more.

Something You Enjoy

So every morning, I talk time to drink my coffee slowly (while it’s hot) and read a book. I will do this even if I don’t workout that morning. This is most important part of my morning routine. It puts me in the best headspace for the day and I can handle all the day throws at me!

Try It Yourself

If you could choose one activity that you just enjoy so much, what would it be? Reading? Running on your own? A hot shower without an audience? Watching a TV show you enjoy? Find one thing you enjoy doing and get it done before you kids wake up!

Prepare for the Day

The last thing I do is make sure I’m ready. Ideally, all I need to do after my kids get ready is put on my shoes. I make sure I’m dressed for the day and any makeup is on if I want to.

Try It Yourself

What do you need to do to prepare for your day before your kids get up? Do y’all have to rush out the door like we do? If so, how can you get yourself completely ready? Do you have more time? What can you do while they’re awake and push to a later time? Or, would you like to be ready to go when they wake up? Decide what works best for you, your family and your schedule.

When the Kids Get Up

Many morning routines I read about last a long time and don’t involve getting kids ready. This is not my life. I am more of a morning person that my husband, so I take charge during the morning routine with kids (he handles all the post-bedtime situations – which if you know us, are many!). A part of my life is kids are part of my morning routine.

I used to consider my morning routine what I do before they get up, but I can’t always fit in what I need to. Sometimes, there are fights at 6:45 am (the boys share a room) and I hear “MOOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYY” many times and have to intervene. So recently, I started considering this part of my morning routine and it has shifted my mindset around everything. Sometimes, I need to get ready a little bit while they’re up, and that’s okay (to make things easier, I keep my makeup downstairs). And I considered what I can do to make my life easier in the morning. We just switched my daughter from a bottle to straw cup of formula in the morning so she can sit in her high chair and my hands are free.

At 7 am, my kids come downstairs and we work through their checklist until we are out the door by 7:30 am. For my daughter, I am doing everything for her because she is a baby. For my kindergartener, I am monitoring him and keeping him on task, but letting him take charge of his morning. For my three year old, it is in the middle. There are many things he can do on his own, but some he needs help on.

Try It Yourself (Or Have Your Kids Try It)

What do your kids need to get done from when they wake up until you’re out the door, childcare comes or whatever you consider the end of your morning? What can your kids do themselves? It will take time to teach them, but after they learn, you can hand off aspects of the morning to them and take off your plate!

If you need help with handing off some of the ownership of the morning to your children, check out my instagram highlights with information of my kids’ checklists for the morning and afternoon.

Morning Walk and Morning Light

The last piece I have started recently is a morning walk, either with kids or without, depending on the day. My two younger children only go to school three days a week, so on days they’re home, we all take a walk together (my husband takes my older son to school those days). If I’m lucky, I pop them in the stroller and get to walk at my pace. If not, my three year old rides some kind of vehicle and we move at a snail’s pace.

That’s okay. The whole goal of my morning walk is to expose my eyes to morning light. I try to go for about 30 minutes and listen to a podcast or a book. This helps my body wakeup more and makes sure I get outside for some time.

This is a new habit I’ve been incorporating for about a month. My three year old asks now if we can go on a walk on Tuesdays and Thursdays after his brother leaves for school. It is now part of his routine and gets us all outside first thing in the morning.

I am biologically a terrible sleeper. I am very prone to insomnia and have worked really hard on making sure my sleep is on point. I go to bed early and wake up early because that works best for my chronotype (Lion). Very rarely will I stay up past 9:30 pm, even on weekends. So, I am always looking for habits to improve my sleep. I feel like this has helped. I wish it would be light in the morning when I wake up, but it’s not. So I get outside when I can, which is either after breakfast or after dropping of the kids at school.

Try It Yourself

What is a habit you’d like to try? How can you incorporate it into your morning routine?

My next habit I want to incorporate is eating breakfast! I am someone who can look up at 2 pm and not eaten anything all day. So, I plan to incorporate breakfast at the start of my workday or with my kids. I want to take the time to sit down and eat. This will also add a breakfast prep to my meal prep because I know I will need to prep it ahead of time to actually implement the habit!