Doable One-hour morning routine

This is a short, doable one-hour morning routine for all the people out there who are struggling to create some morning time for themselves in peace.

I have written many posts on creating a morning routine and I always talk about the benefits of having a morning routine, but I know not many people have the privilege of having 2-3 hours of time to themselves in the morning.

However, this should not mean that you shouldn’t or can’t make time for your growth and self-care.

I truly believe that devoting at least one hour to ourselves out of the 24 hours given to us is the way to establish a relationship with self and balance in life.

And in this post, I am going to share my tips on how you can create this one-hour morning routine for yourself and also how to plan your one hour of time in the morning.

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How to create a one-hour morning routine

Table of Contents

1. Sleep early

To create a good morning routine, you have to take care of it the night before. So try sleeping in a bit early so you can wake up a bit early.

2. Wake up early

Wake up just a little early so you can devote at least one hour in the morning to yourself.

If you have to go to work by 8 am in the morning and you wake up at 7 am rushing to go to work, try waking up at 6 am and devoting the extra hour to yourself.

3. Quit checking your phone

The truth is most of us spend a good 30-40 minutes in our bed checking the phone even after waking up. Leave the phone aside and devote how much ever time you can to your creating your morning routine.

Here are other toxic morning habits to quit first

4. Remember your habit-order

Just remember the 3-4 things you are going to do each day and do them in the same order every day.

An easy way is to remember what you do after each activity

For example-

After applying cream and moisturiser- stretch and exercise for 15 mins
After exercise- journal for 10 mins
After journaling- make tea
After making tea- read for 15 minutes.

Remember what you do after each activity. This way it is much easier to build and stick to a routine.

5. Prepare the night before:

In order to create a little more time in the morning, it is helpful to prepare some things the night before such as

Taking out your workout clothes so you don’t have to keep looking the next day
Preparing for breakfast
Planning the day
Getting out the files
Taking out clothes and ironing for the next day
And anything that can make your morning a little lighter

What does a One-Hour Morning Routine look like?

Here is an overview of the one-hour morning routine

Make yourself tidy (3 mins)
Sit and drink warm water (3 mins)
Stretch and exercise (10 mins)
Sacred Rituals (12 mins)
Make tea/coffee (5 mins)
Read (10 mins)
Plan your day (5 mins)
Get ready and prepare for the day (10-14 mins)

Total time = One hour

I hope this one-hour morning routine gives you an idea of the morning you can create and inspire you to live it.

This year, just experiment with creating this short one-hour morning routine and see how it changes your life.

P.S but here is a disclaimer that this one-hour morning routine starts after you have finished your morning business after waking up like-

Brushing your teeth
Making your bed
Boil water
Opening up the blinds
Taking your dog out
etc

This might take around 10 minutes.

Since these are the things that you have to do daily, do all the things that you do without rushing, but do them mindfully and slowly.

Most often we do these things with no thought, but you can change the whole mood of your morning, by just bringing a little mindfulness into your daily morning activities.

When you make your bed,

fold your blankets,

open the blinds,

do it with ease.

Say thank you for waking up

as you brush your teeth,

play some music

look in the mirror, and

Smile.

If you find yourself rushing, which has been your natural inclination for so long, notice it and do things slowly instead.

After you’ve done with your morning duties, check the time and devote the next one hour to yourself.

Here starts your One hour morning routine

Doable one-hour morning routine

1. Make yourself tidy (3 mins)

After you’ve done all your duties and freshened yourself up, make yourself tidy.

Often we have no care for how we look and feel while at home, but I like to start my day feeling tidy and fresh.

Look in the mirror and apply your moisturiser, again with thought and mindfulness instead of mindlessly applying your serum and cream without much thought.

Let this be your first self-love act of the day. Rub the cream gently as you look in the mirror.

Comb your hair, tie your hair and change into your Yoga or exercise clothes first thing in the morning and just make yourself feel nice.

This has such a nice impact on my mood and I feel instantly boosted and fresh to take care of my morning routine.

2. Sit and Drink warm water (3 mins)

Next, sit down and have your first drink of warm water. Don’t do anything else. Leave your phone aside for this one hour time.

Just drink your water mindfully. Hold your glass with two hands. Feel the warmth of the warm water and be with your sip.

When you’re taking your sip, know that you’re taking a sip.

When you’re keeping the glass down, know that you’re keeping the glass down.

When you’re taking another sip, know that you’re taking another sip.

This is a time to be with yourself. I only drink warm water for my first glass and don’t do anything else.

If drinking the entire glass mindfully feels like a lot of time, just enjoy the first three sips of warm water mindfully.

This takes around 3 minutes.

3. Stretch and exercise (10 mins)

After drinking your warm water, straight away get your yoga mat and do some stretching.

You might think 10 minutes is nothing, but how many of us never even raise our hands above our heads or touch our toes for days on end?

When you’re short on time, 10 minutes is more than enough to give your body a wonderful start.

I love to follow Mady Morrisson for Stretching and Yoga videos.

Here is a 10-minute miracle morning stretch by her. I simply love how graceful she is with each of her movements.

In just 10 minutes I end up feeling so much better and wonderful both in my energy and in my body.

Make it a ritual to always move your body in the morning.

You can stretch your body on some days or you can do simple home workouts or some days you can do dance workouts.

I love dancing and dance workouts by Pamela Reif is my aother favourite thing.

The point is just to move your body for at least 10 minutes in the morning.

P.S here is how I made myself love working out

4. Sacred rituals (10-12 mins)

Next, right after the exercise ritual, pick one of your sacred rituals and do it for the next 10 minutes.

I like to meditate and pray after finishing my workout because then, I am feeling so fresh and boosted in my body, and meditation and focusing on my breath calm both my body and mind wonderfully.

For you, it might be anything else. Just pick one thing. It can be:

Journaling
Breathwork
Listening to affirmations
Meditate
Dancing
Prayer
Or anything you would like.

Pick one thing to do every day for the next 21 days. Then you can try how another habit feels.

Or some days you can journal, some days you can listen to affirmations, some days you can dance, or anything.

Whatever you pick, just end your ritual with a short prayer and it should not take more than 12 minutes.

P.S. I have created a 21-Day Journaling Guide for Self-discovery, growth and healing.

If you haven’t taken any other challenge of mine, you can join this challenge.

You will receive journal prompts and guidance from me for the next 21 days to inspire you every day.

5. Take a 5-minute break

Next, take a short 5-minute break and during this time you can make your tea or coffee.

On my short break, I normally make my tea, cut fruits for myself and water my plants on the balcony.

If you have an instant coffee maker or have instant coffee, then it won’t make much time to prepare.

6. Read (10 mins)

After you’ve come from your short break and prepared tea/coffee, keep a timer and read for the next 10 minutes as you drink your tea/coffee.

Even reading 10 minutes a day is enough. With it, you can finish one or even two books each month.

That would mean 12-20 books a year.

Building the reading habit in the morning is how I started reading in the first place.

Now I can’t start my day without reading at least a few pages.

Here are my book recommendations for morning-read.

7. Plan your day (5 mins)

Next, plan your day. Write down your to-do lists and schedule time for them.

I put this planning the day in the end because mostly we end up taking a lot of planning and end up doing less.

To save yourself time, you can prepare your to-do list and plan your day the night before and go straight to getting ready for work.

Planner my day is easier as I already set a weekly planner and there I get an overview of what I intend to do each day.

I highly recommend having a weekly planner and setting it up every Sunday or Monday morning.

Here is a free weekly planner I made to set down my weekly goals. You can just print 4 of them to last you for a month.

8. Get ready for work

Lastly, get ready for work. Have quick-healthy breakfast recipes for busy mornings or have meal plans for your days to save time. But do them gently and without rushing.

This should not take more than 15 minutes.

So this was it!!

A short one-hour morning routine!

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I believe anybody can make time for this and with little tweaks, it can easily fix your schedule.

I hope you feel encouraged to start your morning routine this year.

It certainly leaves me feeling in a much better head space to start my day with the right mindset and attitude. And I guarantee it will be for you too.

No matter what time constraints you have, I believe all should at least try and experiment with what having even a short morning routine looks and feels like in our lives.

It has made a difference in mine.

I wish you a happy morning time!

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Hello, I'm Vishaka!

Doable One-hour morning routine