+ Yay! It’s the last Friday of the month which means a new monthly habit and a recap of last month’s! This post got a little long so my February Habit: Love Notes recap will come next week! Thanks ;)

I like my mornings calm, nourishing and productive.

For March, I'm going to renew my commitment to follow my Morning Routine daily! My days are inspired and productive and amazing on days that I stick to it. On days that I don’t, habits start to slip and my creativity does as well.

THE VALUE OF MY MORNING ROUTINE:
1. It’s calm and begins silent and unplugged. I don’t check email or my phone until I’m done.
2. It’s very light on decision-making. Breakfast was planned earlier in the week, dressing is easy with only 33 items, the calendar was already set.
3. I try to stay present (single-tasking) and make it mindful. Meditation helps me remove the focus from thoughts and anxieties in my head.
4. It’s meaningful. Rituals help to give small things meaning. Plus I spend the time with Greg.
5. I’m starting the day how I really want to, taking responsibility for my time and energy. It doesn’t begin in reaction to someone else.

My Morning Routine involves two hours (!!) of waking up, nourishing myself, learning, going through my day and sharing time with Greg. It’s luxurious and I feel so grateful to have the time and space available. (I’ve done the 20-minute rushed one before an early gym appointment and a big morning meeting at work. Not so fun.) The time does have to be created (I wake up earlier than I would otherwise) and the routine is a daily practice but I’m a much better person when I’ve followed through!

+ Unless I can’t sleep, I wake at the same time every morning.
+ I hop out of bed and start to oil pull and read while I wait for Greg. We then meditate for ten minutes and I down a glass of water.
+ On my lucky days, Greg makes breakfast for us but on a normal day, we cook or make a smoothie together and spend some time hanging out.
+ I open my laptop and read my list of daily intentions. This includes a review of my monthly habit, some rules I like to follow, and some reminders of who I can be when I’m my best self.
+ We sit at the table with breakfast and our computers and go through our day, reviewing the calendar and our to-do list in Asana. (Calendar and Asana are essential to our productivity and staying on top of things... upcoming post ideas!)
+ I set the most important task (MIT) of the day. We tackle it first-thing, though it’s not always a shared task. It’s usually something related to a big priority in our lives or a big project going on. If only one thing gets accomplished all day, I’m happy to know it was this.
+ I then make the bed (do it!) and hang out with Greg as he showers, dresses and packs up to leave.

My days after this are creative and unpredictable. I usually get dressed right away and either have meetings or write or pick up the house. There’s work involved and exercise and showering and taking care of our life. Structure first-thing creates a healthier atmosphere for the rest of the day. Sometimes the details change but I’ve been practicing something like this for four years and it’s been life-changing.

Do you have a Morning Routine? Any similarities?

+ More on the morning being the most productive time of day from thewirecutter.com: ”Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics Dan Ariely believes many of us are making a big mistake each morning, wasting the first 2 hours of the day on low-level cognitive capacity tasks—a.k.a. email and social media—and what we really should be doing is getting $&!% done as soon as we wake up.”