Morning Routine for Moms in 7 Easy Steps
I have two quotes that I put on my vision board to help me enhance my morning routine:
“Morning is an important time of day because how you spend your morning can often tell what kind of day you are going to have. “ Lemony Snicket
“Wake up early everyday so that while others are still dreaming, you can make your dreams come true.” Hal Elrod
Mornings can make or break your day, so be intentional about how you spend your morning. I am right here, doing the work with you. My days have been chaotic and I’ve been feeling real crappy about myself, but when I start my morning off right, it makes all the difference!
What are Morning Routines?
Morning routines are habits that you’ve formed because you do them every morning. By following the same routine every morning, you are setting up the type of day you’re going to have.
Hitting the snooze button five times = Waking up grouchy and annoyed.
Getting up when you alarm first goes off = Starting the day off on your own terms.
Morning routines are only successful if you put time into your night routine. If you’re going to bed super late and want to wake up early, you’re going to be disappointed when the alarm goes off and you hit snooze button, yet again. Here is a night time routine for moms in 7 easy steps that you can use to set up your nights so your mornings run smoothly.
7 Steps to Create a Morning Routine for Moms
I am right here doing the work beside you to ensure that my mornings are setting me up to have amazing days. I have started looking forward to mornings because I have time to focus on myself first before my little kiddos need my attention.
My friend Andrea, over at Live Big Little Girl, created this amazing acronym L.I.V.E B.I.G to help you nail down your morning routine.
L – Literature
Reading personal development books has been so rewarding for me. I am constantly learning new things and implementing them to help me grow. I am hooked on reading personal development books.
I aim to read one chapter in the morning. Depending on the chapter length (and if kids wake up early/sick), sometimes I can’t read a whole chapter. Sometimes it’s only a couple of pages. But those pages have some golden nuggets in them. Just the thing I need to start off my day!
Create a reading list on your phone so the next time you’re looking for a good read, you already have a list to choose from. Currently, I’m reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, and I absolutely recommend it!
When we add literature to our morning routine, it wakes up the brain because we need to focus on the words we are reading. When we focus on the words we are reading, we can connect to what the author is saying and start your morning with a Boom!
I – Inspiration
It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle in the morning. BUT! It is so important to give yourself time to SLOW DOWN. Take time to tap into your own inspiration, however that looks like for you.
Here are some suggestions:
- Connect with God/Universe
- Prayer
- Breath Work
- Motivational quotes
When we tap into our own inspiration, we find purpose as an individual, as a wife, and as a mom. That purpose leads to joy and happiness in motherhood. But we have to take the time to slow down.
When we take the time to slow down, we can find inspiration to bless ourselves and those around us.
V – Visualization
Definition of Visualization: “The process of creating a mental image or intention of what you want to happen or feel, and then making it a reality.”
I love that Andrea included this in her morning routine because I would never have thought to visualize how I wanted to feel during my day. Sure, I schedule things I want/need to do, but I’ve never taken the time to visualize how I want to feel while I’m doing those tasks.
When I take time to visualize how I want to feel when my kids push my buttons, I can remain calm in those moments. I am not perfect and still yell at my kids, but it’s a working progress.
E – Exercise
There are so many benefits of exercise and why you should include it in your morning routine. It gets your blood pumping and releases endorphins right at the beginning of the day which, in return, sets you up to have a good day.
Andrea lists the benefits of working out specifically in the morning:
- It gets you up and moving in the morning to set up an efficient morning routine.
- Fewer distractions to get in your way – kids, phone, the rest of the world is still asleep so you can really focus
- You make healthier food choices throughout the day because you already got your workout in
- Overall better energy and focus for work, time with kids and family. When you feel better you treat others better.
- Improved sleep. Studies show that those that workout in the morning sleep better than those who workout at night.
If you can’t exercise in the morning, schedule a non negotiable time to exercise in your day and stick to it. Exercise does not have to be this big gym regimen. But if hitting the gym is what excites you, then go for it! Exercise is just movement of your body.
- I move my body by turning on some music and having dance parties with my kids in the kitchen while I’m making breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
- I move my body by chasing my kids around and tickling them.
- I move my body by doing laundry and going up and down the stairs to put the laundry away.
- I move my body by taking my kids on a walk in the stroller to go throw rocks in the water.
Moving your body does wonders to change your mood. So the next time you feel like you’re turning into a Mama Grizzly Bear, try putting on some workout clothes and sweating out some of that built up frustration.
B – Bless Others
I have always had a soft spot for helping out those in need. Something about serving others makes me feel happy. I think it’s because I am looking outside of myself and doing something uplifting for someone else.
I love that Andrea includes this in her morning routine. Take time to think about how you can serve someone that day. You don’t have to do it in the morning, but just think about it. Then when you have the time later in the day, you already thought of something you can go and do.
Service Ideas:
- Call or text telling them why you are thinking of them.
- Take over dinner.
- Volunteer to watch their kids so they can get things done or go out on a date.
- Luv Ya Gifts – send them a gift just because
- Handwritten letters (just think of how excited you get when you get a letter in the mail instead of junk mail or another bill).
- Marco Polo to check in on them and see how they’re doing.
I – “I am” Statements
The power of “I am” statements can change the way you view and talk to yourself. We all know that we are our worst critics and are extremely harsh on ourselves. What if we used that same energy to empower ourselves instead of being negative?
Welcome to adding “I am” statements to your morning routine. How we talk to ourselves manifests in ourselves. When I spend time talking negatively to myself, my husband picks up on it. He always asks, “Are you okay?”.
He may not know that I’m specifically saying negative, harsh things to myself, but it manifests itself in how I act. Why do we give so much time and power to speaking negatively towards ourselves? It’s time to break the cycle, and spend so much time and power speaking positively to ourselves.
Some “I am” statements suggestions:
- I am loved.
- I am smart.
- I am happy.
- I am strong.
- I am healthy.
- I am worthy.
- I am enough.
- I am beautiful.
- I am capable.
- I am unique.
- I am valuable.
- I am powerful.
- I am unstoppable.
- I am generous.
- I am blessed.
- I am an amazing mother.
- I am an awesome wife.
- I am successful at everything I do.
- I am living in total prosperity.
- I am worthy of a great life.
- I am wealthy, abundant and prosperous.
- I am active, fit, healthy and strong.
- I am divinely guided in all that I do.
- I am strong, mentally and physically.
- I am worthy of love and respect.
Pick “I am” statements that resonate with you. If they’re not on the list above, then do a quick Google search and find ones that do resonate with you. Once you got a list, start saying them to yourself, but then add your name at the end.
My “I am” Statement:
I got the idea to add my name from Andrea because this is an exercise she does with her daughter. It touched me so much that I just had to add it to my “I am” statement. I also want to start doing this with my toddlers.
There is so much power in how we talk to ourselves. If we take time to teach our kids how to positively talk to themselves, just think how much more confident they will be for life!
Affirmations can get a bad rap because we tell ourselves these things over and over, but we don’t truly believe them. I could say “I’m not an amazing wife” and then it would go into a negative state. But what if we asked ourselves the question “What would it feel like to _____________?”
“What would it feel like to be an amazing wife?” I would feel valued and loved. I would grow my relationship with my husband, and in return, my relationship with my kids would flourish.
When we focus on what it would feel like versus I am a good/bad wife, we enter a neutral state. The emotions are gone and you can focus on how you want to feel about yourself.
I have so much work to do in this area, but I am so excited to do the work. When you add this to your morning routine, you’ll be amazed at how powerful you feel. You feel like you can conquer anything, and that is just how us mothers need to feel.
Kristina Kuzmic sums this up perfectly in her video. Grab some tissues because if you’re anything like me, you’ll be bawling by the end.
G – Gratitude
I cannot tell you how many times my day has shifted from being a crappy day to a better day because I have focused on gratitude.
I don’t do this as part of my morning routine, but I do it in the middle of my day because it’s my gentle reminder to refocus on what’s important and not to focus on what buttons my kiddos are pushing that day.
I have this app, Presently, that reminds me to write down the things I’m grateful for each day and I love it! I set up the notification to ping my phone at 1:30 when I have all my kids down for a nap/quiet time, so I can focus and really think about what I was grateful for that morning or even things from the night before.
When I’m having a terrible day, being grateful is the last thing I want to do. On those days, finding five things to be grateful for is hard! But when I take time to focus on the positive things that happened, my crappy day almost always turns out better.
Mamas, You’ve Got Time for a Morning Routine
This morning routine will set you up for having a great day. Some might be saying there’s no way that I can do all of this every morning.
Andrea’s advice: When you put an excuse in place, your brain stops looking for a solution. So instead of “I can’t do (fill in the blank)” say, “How can I implement this in my life?”
Start small! Do each step for one minute. Now you have a seven minute morning routine. Then you can add time and build up your morning routine to be something that sets you up for success. That gets you excited to get out of the bed each day and start a new day.
Mamas, you’ve got time for a morning routine. Trust me, waking up early is worth it to set up your day. Something about having a little you time (even just for 5 minutes) before your kids or husband needs you in the morning makes all of the difference!
This third quote is also on my vision board. It helps remind me that I can do anything I put my mind to. I can achieve all my goals by implementing a morning routine that sets me up to win my day.
Go give Andrea some love for teaching us how to set up an awesome morning routine.
Andrea’s Website: https://livebiglittlegirl.com/
