Hello! Welcome to the first lesson of your course on building a morning routine.
This course is designed to provide you with practical, actionable techniques to create a morning practice that boosts your health and enhances your mental skills. I know your time is limited, so we'll focus on efficient methods that deliver tangible results.
Today's goal is to design a personalized and flexible structure for your morning routine. Instead of jumping straight into specific exercises, we'll first build a resilient framework. Think of it like designing the architecture for a software system before writing the code. A solid structure can handle variable conditions—like your daily energy levels and available time—without failing. This approach will help you avoid the common trap of setting a rigid routine that's difficult to maintain.
By the end of this lesson, you will have a draft of your own three-tiered routine structure that fits within your 20-minute time frame.
Why Rigid Routines Often Fail
You've probably seen influencers with "perfect" 5 AM routines that involve an hour of meditation, a gourmet breakfast, and a full workout, all before sunrise. While inspiring, trying to copy-paste such a rigid schedule into a busy life often leads to frustration and inconsistency. You mentioned that you've struggled to stick with mindfulness practices in the past, and this is a very common experience.
The key is to create a system that works for you, acknowledging that your energy, motivation, and circumstances will not be the same every single day. A routine should reduce decision fatigue, not add to the pressure.
To understand this better, let's look at the concept of a more flexible and realistic approach to mornings.
how using a morning menu can completely change your day | morning routine for type b girlies
This video from the channel 'victoria harder | hot mess habits' introduces the idea of a 'morning menu.' It explains why the one-size-fits-all, perfect routines we see online are often unrealistic and can be discouraging. This will set the stage for building a more forgiving and personalized system.
Please watch the segment from 01:54 to 03:45. Pay attention to the discussion on why comparing our mornings to idealized online versions can be counterproductive.
The Three-Tiered Routine: A Structure for Real Life
The most effective way to build a sustainable routine is to plan for variability from the start. We will use a three-tiered approach: the Ideal, the Average, and the Minimum routine. This method ensures you always have a plan that fits your energy level for the day, which keeps you consistent without demanding perfection.
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The Ideal Routine: This is your "best-case scenario" routine for days when you wake up with high energy and motivation. It includes all the practices you want to do to feel your absolute best. It serves as your North Star.
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The Average Routine: This is your "most likely" or standard-day routine. It’s a realistic, scaled-down version of your ideal routine that you can comfortably perform on most days. This will likely be your go-to routine for about 80% of the time.
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The Minimum Routine: This is the bare-bones, non-negotiable version for days when you're low on time, energy, or motivation. It might only be 2-3 minutes long. Its sole purpose is to maintain the habit and keep the momentum going. Completing your minimum routine is a win.
The following video explains this powerful method in detail.
Routines for ADHD that ACTUALLY WORK! 🌛☀️ (Morning/Night routines)
In this video, 'Routines for ADHD that ACTUALLY WORK!', Hayley Honeyman introduces what she calls the 'Honeyman method,' which is a practical framework for building Ideal, Most Likely, and Minimum routines. Her approach is designed for neurodivergent individuals but is incredibly effective for anyone who experiences fluctuating energy levels.
Please watch the following three segments to understand how to construct each tier of your routine: Ideal Routine (04:09 - 06:04): Learn how to build out your high-energy day routine. Most Likely Routine (06:04 - 08:30): See how to adapt the ideal routine for an average day. Minimum Routine (08:30 - 10:06): Understand how to create a simple routine for low-energy days to ensure consistency.
Brainstorming Your Activities: The "Morning Menu"
Now that you have a structure, you need a list of potential activities to populate it. This is where the "Morning Menu" concept comes in. The idea is to brainstorm a list of activities that align with your goals and then pick from this menu each morning according to the routine tier you've chosen for the day.
Based on your goals of enhancing physical health, mental health, and cognitive development, a helpful way to organize your menu is around three core pillars:
- Body: Practices for energy and physical well-being.
- Mind: Practices for focus, clarity, and emotional regulation.
- Productivity: Practices for strategic planning and learning.
To get started, let's brainstorm some ideas. Think about the practices you're already doing (physical exercises), those you're interested in learning (Kapalabhati breathing, journaling), and other simple activities that might support your goals.
This checklist can give you some inspiration for activities to add to your menu.
Now, let's return to the "morning menu" video to see how to create and organize your list of activities.
how using a morning menu can completely change your day | morning routine for type b girlies
This segment of the 'morning menu' video demonstrates how to brainstorm a comprehensive list of potential morning activities and then organize them based on your mood or energy level.
Watch from 04:52 to 09:23. The first part covers brainstorming different activities across categories (self-care, journaling, movement, etc.). The second part explains how to group them by energy level (e.g., 'productive,' 'chill,' 'anxious'), which aligns perfectly with our Ideal, Average, and Minimum structure.
Test your understanding!
You wake up feeling tired and unmotivated, with only about 10 minutes before you need to get ready for work. According to the three-tiered structure, what is the primary goal for your routine this morning, and what might it look like?
Show answer
The primary goal is consistency. You should opt for your Minimum routine. The aim is not to have a 'productive' session but simply to maintain the habit. It might consist of just one or two simple actions, such as drinking a glass of water and doing one minute of deep breathing or a few simple stretches. This small win prevents the feeling of failure and makes it easier to get back to your Average or Ideal routine the next day.
Your Turn: Draft Your Morning Routine Structure
It's time to create the first draft of your personalized routine. Remember, this is a starting point. We will refine the specific exercises and timings in future lessons as you learn new techniques. For now, focus on creating the structure.
Instructions:
Use the template below to draft your three-tiered routine.
- Brainstorm Your Menu: List a few potential activities for each category. Don't worry about the "how-to" for now; just list things that seem interesting or beneficial.
- Structure Your Routines: Select activities from your menu to create an Ideal, Average, and Minimum routine. Assign an estimated time for each activity, keeping the total under your 20-minute goal.
My Morning Menu (Brainstormed Activities)
- Body:
- Drink water
- Dynamic stretching
- Kapalabhati breathing
- Facial massage
- Simple physical exercises (e.g., push-ups, squats)
- Mind:
- 'Brain dump' journaling
- RULER emotional check-in
- Mindfulness/Breathing exercise (e.g., 4-7-8, box breathing)
- Spaced repetition review (e.g., French vocabulary)
- Dual n-back training
- Productivity:
- Identify the single most important task for the day
- Quickly review calendar/to-do list
- Tidy up desk space
My Routine Structure (Draft 1)
- Ideal Routine (High Energy, ~20 mins):
- Example: Hydrate (1 min) → Kapalabhati breathing (3 mins) → Dynamic stretching (5 mins) → Brain dump (5 mins) → Identify top task (2 mins) → Spaced repetition (4 mins)
- Your Ideal Routine:
- Average Routine (Most Days, ~15-20 mins):
- Example: Hydrate (1 min) → Dynamic stretching (5 mins) → Brain dump (5 mins) → Identify top task (4 mins)
- Your Average Routine:
- Minimum Routine (Low Energy, ~2-5 mins):
- Example: Hydrate (1 min) → Three deep, conscious breaths (1 min)
- Your Minimum Routine:
Take about 10 minutes to fill this out. Having this structure is the most critical first step toward building a routine that lasts.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we laid the essential foundation for your morning routine. Instead of aiming for a "perfect" but brittle routine, you've designed a resilient, three-tiered structure that adapts to you.
Here are the key takeaways:
- Flexibility over Rigidity: A sustainable routine must account for daily fluctuations in energy and time.
- The Three-Tiered Structure: Designing an Ideal, Average, and Minimum version of your routine is key to maintaining consistency.
- The Morning Menu: Brainstorming a list of potential activities organized by your goals (Body, Mind, Productivity) gives you options and reduces decision fatigue.
- The Power of the Minimum: Your shortest routine is your most important one for habit formation. Its purpose is to ensure you never have a "zero" day.
You now have a personalized architectural plan for your routine. In our next lesson, we'll explore how to apply the habit stacking technique to anchor these new practices to your existing behaviors, making it much easier to integrate them seamlessly into your morning.