How I make the most of my mornings: building a productive routine
As a busy mother of three boys who runs a seven figure business by myself the morning is the most productive and successful part of my day by far!
I know, you're probably thinking "here she goes again, bragging about her success" but that's not what this is about. My goal is to get you to understand how transformative the morning can be, especially for those of us who are striving for success in all aspects of our lives.
And honestly, my mornings are a game changer and the key to my daily productivity.
I've crafted a morning routine that allows me to tackle all my important tasks by lunchtime, leaving the rest of the day free for anything I choose.
In this post I’ll share my current routine with you and explain why I'm so intentional about the things I do in the morning.
Why you need a morning routine
If you spend any time on the internet you’ll see people talking about the benefits of morning routines everywhere.
The problem I used to have with some of this content is that the people who were sharing their routines just weren’t like me.
They were either men who didn’t seem to have kids or perhaps weren’t that engaged with their kids in the mornings or they were younger people who didn’t yet have a family so could spend their morning hours however they wanted - without the pressure of having to fit a lot in before their kids wake up :)
But I’m a Mum of 3 and lead an exceptionally busy life.
If I am going to get up super early in the morning then I’m going to use that time to work on something that helps move my business and life forward. And if you look around on the internet you’ll see lots of reasons (many of them backed by science) for why putting together a proactive morning routine is good for you.
These reasons include:
increasing your productivity
reducing stress
starting your day with intention
the morning is generally when your brain is most clear - so it’s the best time to work on your most challenging tasks
starting your day proactively (rather than reacting to what other people want from you)
giving you more structure and discipline
getting some focused work done before your family wakes up
allowing you to free up your evenings for relaxation (when your brain is normally tired anyway)
helping you build momentum with difficult projects
giving you a chance to spend time hobbies that are important to you
helping you build healthy habits (e.g. exercise or meditation)
giving structure to your morning so it runs more smoothly (which is great for your family and kids if you otherwise find mornings very stressful)
allowing you to feel in control of your day
My morning routine is a massive part of my success, in fact I very much doubt I would have achieved so much without it. So let me share my current routine with you and what’s working for me at the moment.
Hopefully by sharing my morning routine it will give you some ideas for what you could add to yours.
My current morning routine
My morning routine changes quite often depending on whether I have new habits I’m trying out or if I want to focus on specific things, but a good part of it has stayed the same for many years now.
Here’s what it looks like as of writing this post:
⏰ Wake up 4am
I get up around 4am every morning.
Although I sometimes set my alarm clock my body actually wakes every morning at pretty much 3.57am (isn’t it crazy how the body works!) and so the alarm rarely goes off unless I haven’t had a good sleep or I’m extremely tired.
Lots of people ask me what time I go to bed…
And the answer is EARLY! I am usually asleep by about 9pm each night and normally go to bed at the same time as my youngest son. My husband is a night owl so he tends to work later at night and my eldest son is in high school now so he often is still doing some homework or up later doing other things.
People also ask how I get up without waking up my husband…
They tell me that if they tried to get up super early their husband or partner would be cranky at them for waking them up. But my husband is a deep sleeper so I tend not to wake him up when I get up. But he’s also extremely supportive and knows that the mornings are a very important time for me.
If you have a partner who isn’t enjoying your early morning wake ups then perhaps you need to sit down and explain to him/her what your goals are and why you’re trying getting up early. Hopefully if they understand what you’re trying to achieve they will be more supportive.
🧘♀️ Meditation (10 mins)
The first thing I do when I wake up is reach for my phone and my ear pods and turn on a daily meditation on the Calm app, which is what I use for meditation.
[If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know I used Headspace for a few years for this, but I’ve recently switched to Calm because I was getting a bit bored with Headspace].
When I first started my meditation habit, a number of years ago now, I would get up and sit in the chair in my office to meditate. But then winter came and it was soooo cold at 4am sitting in my cold office so I decided to stay in bed to meditate for 10 minutes while it is warm. And that habit has stuck ever since.
If you’re the sort of person who could fall back to sleep while you’re meditating lying in your bed then getting up and sitting in a chair may suit you better :)
☕️ Make a cup of tea (7 mins)
Once I’ve done my meditation I get out of bed and come downstairs. I turn on the kettle to make a cup of tea and while I’m pottering around waiting for the kettle to boil I will:
go to the toilet (sorry if TMI but I’m sharing everything I do!).
drink 2 large glasses of water
listen to something motivating - e.g. a podcast or something. I really hate wasting time and I enjoy getting started with my day by listening to something helpful, positive and motivating.
✅ Plan my day (3-5 mins)
When I’ve made my tea I head to my office and spend a few minutes planning my day in Notion.
This doesn’t take me long as I plan all my tasks and things I need to do during the week on a Sunday afternoon during my Sunday Planning Session (which I talk about in this video). So this only takes me a few minutes each morning to just go over what I have assigned myself for the day and check that everything is on track.
💻 Writing session (60 mins)
By now it’s about 4.30am and it’s time to get in to my one hour writing session.
I give myself one hour to write a blog post (like the one you are reading here!) and I have to be very disciplined about this writing session to make sure I actually write the blog post, edit it and post it all within that hour. So it takes quite a bit of focus to achieve that!
I am not publishing blog posts every day right now, so if I don’t have a blog post due I’ll use the time to write my weekly newsletter or draft some Instagram content.
But the great news about the session is that by the end of it I have written and posted a piece of content for my community - all before 5.30am!
💪🏻Training - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday (90 mins)
At the end of my writing session it’s now 5.30am and what I do next depends on which day it is.
If it’s a Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday then these are my morning training days at TRX Group Training. So I now head upstairs to get dressed and ready for training and head over there for a 60 minute strength or circuit session. We train in the park (unless it’s raining) and there’s nothing better than getting outside during the early hours of the day for some exercise. I absolutely love it and have been doing this for more than 4 years now and have barely missed a session.
If you want to build an exercise habit into your routine I would highly recommend you find something you love to do and have some built in accountability in it as well.
I know that if I weren’t to show up my trainer would ask questions about where I am and this is enough to make sure I don’t skip sessions, even on the days when I’m tired or not super motivated to go. As a result I’m extremely consistent with this and have almost never missed a session.
⏳Working Sprint Session - Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday (90 mins)
On the days when I don’t train in the early morning (which are Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) the next thing in my routine is a focused working sprint session for 90 minutes.
Again I have talked about this in this video so I won’t bother going into what that is - but I highly recommend that you build working sprints into your day as it’s a massive productivity hack for me. During my working sprint I work on one of my difficult projects for the week (as mapped out during my Sunday Planning Session). I try and get the most difficult thing done first as then it’s over and done with for the day!
And at the end of the working sprint I have already achieved more than a lot of people get done in a day and it’s still only 7am!
🥰 Family time (60 mins) - from 7-7.30am
From 7am, when I’m home from training or finished my working sprint, it’s time to focus on my boys.
They are normally up by now and getting ready for school (the routine for them is obviously different in school holidays and if it’s school holidays then I will continue working from 7-8am). During this hour I help them with various things to get ready for school. My boys are older now so don’t really need much help - they more just need continuous coaxing to keep them moving! 🤯
Once they are ready a bit before 8 they head off for school.
You might be wondering where breakfast fits into all of this but I actually don’t eat breakfast. I have never really been a breakfast person, right back to childhood, so I’ve really been doing ‘intermittent fasting’ before it was even a popular thing! My first meal of the day normally comes around 11.30am-12pm (see below).
And that’s basically the end of my morning routine!
🤩 Quick overview of the rest of my day
The rest of my day continues pretty much like how it has started. Here’s a quick overview of how that looks at the moment (but this changes all the time):
7.30-8.30am: I do my daily non-negotiables
8.30am -12.30pm: I use this time to do some more exercise and/or get some more project work done (depending on what day it is).
12.30-3pm: at 12.30 I go for a walk each day. I listen to a podcast or audiobook and walk the same 5.5km route each day. Once I get back I will shower, have some lunch and run any errands that I need to get done.
3pm onwards: the boys are back from school around now and we head into afternoon activities time. So during this time we drive the boys around to their various sporting things, help with homework and music practice and have dinner - all the normal after school things that go on in a busy household. During the afternoon I often get time to do some other bits and pieces of work if I need to - things that don’t take much brain power like emails, checking social media, editing video, whatever needs to be done that doesn’t require too much focused concentration.
7-8.30pm: after we’ve had dinner and packed everything up I will normally head up to bed around 8.30pm. I read on my kindle for about 20 minutes (if I’m being good) or watch Netflix (if I’m not being good - more often!) and I’m normally asleep by about 9pm ready to do it all again the next day :)
So that’s my morning routine for you and a bit of an overview of the rest of my day as well.
I actually plan all of this out in a structured way using my ideal week calendar planning system, which I teach you how to put together in my short course called ‘Plan your Perfect Week’. If you are keen to get a bit more organised in how you run your time then that course may be of interest.
Here’s how my calendar looks at the moment and this is what you’ll learn how to put together yourself in my short course:
So I hope some of that has been helpful and gives you a few ideas for things you may like to include in your morning routine.
I absolutely love the morning hours and as you can see I get so much done before my kids are even awake. So if you’re a busy parent trying to find some more time then I would strongly encourage you to get up a bit earlier and make the most of those early morning hours! 🌅☀️
Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
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