7 easy ways to simplify your morning routine
There is something to be said for the poetry of mornings. They are like a fresh start - the wrongs of yesterday are in the past and we can look forward to new things to come. They are a blank slate because we don’t know what any given day will bring. The sun rises in the East and we remember that God’s mercy is new, just as the dawn of a new day bears hope and light along with it.
There is also something to be said for the chaos of mornings. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I dread the morning that seems to come too quickly, being jolted from my sleep by the aggravating clamor of my alarm. Sometimes I feel rushed and scurry from one thing to the next trying to get it all done and get out the door on time. Sometimes I stumble about, weary from another night of poor sleep, trying to manage throughout the day.
Making mornings as easy as possible is one of my favorite ways to streamline my week. Instead of dreading waking up and the instant rushing to get to work on time, I can take it slow and gradually ease into the day.
This week’s post is all about mornings! I’ve collected seven tips that help me simplify my morning routine.
Now, when I say morning routine, I don’t mean the way every single morning plays out without fail. I mean the brief hour between waking up and getting in my car to drive to work. These seven ways to simplify your morning are easy, they streamline the morning process, and they help me to feel less rushed in the morning so I can take my time with God, my tasks, and my husband.
Another note: If these hacks aren’t feasible for you at this stage in your life - that’s okay! In my current season, this is what is working for me. But if you have things that work better for you or the idea of adding another thing to your to-do list is making you shudder, please know that there is no judgement here. My only goal is to add value to your life by sharing things that have proven valuable for me, and if they are not feasible for you at this time, that’s okay! You are doing a good job, friend. Life is hard, and you are persevering despite it all.
If you don’t have time to read the full post, here’s one of the best ways I slow my morning down and feel less chaotic: spend a few minutes with God, no matter how short.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. (Psalm 143:8)
I definitely don’t do this perfectly or get to my devotions in the morning 100% of the time, but it sets the tone for my day when I do make time for it. As this Psalm says, spending time with God in the morning reminds us who we are and Whose we are. We are not alone in this lonely world. We are loved beyond measure by the Creator of the universe. He will direct us in the way we should go if we but seek Him.
Here are seven things that help me to simplify my mornings and enjoy them just a little bit more.
No. 1. Lay out your clothing the night before.
By choosing what you are going to wear in the morning and setting it out, you eliminate the decision process when you’re still trying to wake up and you can just start getting dressed without needing to think about it. It works wonders as a time saver! Just leave your clothing in a neatly folded pile, easy to grab when you wake up.
No. 2. Prep your coffee in the evening.
If you are a coffee or tea drinker, fill up the coffee maker or the kettle so that all you have to do in the morning is turn on the machine. We have a coffee grinder for our coffee beans, so this one saves us the hassle of using a loud machine in the morning as well. That way, the coffee can be brewing while you get more important things done.
No. 3. Pack your lunch after dinner.
Pack your lunch and any snacks you may want throughout the day when you’re cleaning up after dinner. This way, you don’t have to pull out the leftovers twice and you can just grab the prepared meal from the fridge in the morning. Some of my go-to snacks are peppers and hummus, fresh fruit, or yogurt and granola. I also like to take this time to fill up my water bottles or refrigerate any sparkling water I may be taking.
No. 4. Use a pill organizer for your supplements.
I have to take a lot of supplements at this stage in my health journey. Oftentimes, it’s easier to just not take the pills because sorting them all out in the morning and evening is a lot. About a month ago, I decided to buy one of those pill organizers from the Dollar Store, and I have to say that it has increased my supplement intake to almost 100% of the time. Before, I would often skip taking my supplements altogether, but now I take them regularly thanks to the time-saving and ease of the pill organizer!
No. 5. Don’t use your phone in the morning.
Checking my phone first thing in the morning had become somewhat of an addiction for me, so starting in December ‘23, I started to leave my phone in our bedroom while I was getting ready and doing my devotions. It’s amazing how much time I saved! Instead of feeling rushed to get everything ready in the morning, I often have a few extra moments to sit in our armchair and read my Bible or write a page on my legal pad.
Now, I still check my notifications before I leave the house, but it's often the last thing on my list in the morning, and I don’t spend time checking in on social media until later on in my day. I would highly recommend this simple tip!
No. 6. Breakfast meal prep.
During our Sunday Reset, Lars and I usually make breakfast for the remainder of the week. Our three main dishes are hashbrown casserole, egg muffins wrapped in bacon, and smoothies (we obviously don’t prep these in advance because they separate and that’s creepy). This saves so much time in the morning because we can just heat up a piece of casserole or warm up an egg muffin in the microwave instead of taking the time to prepare a fresh breakfast from scratch.
A lot of the things that simplify our morning routine are things that save us from having to think too hard about making decisions when we first get up. By having everything prepared in advance, we can simply wake up and get moving on our day without getting bogged down with a bunch of tasks first thing.
No. 7. Carve out a little time for devotions or reading.
Once I have my lunch packed and anything I’ll need for my day in my bag, I like to take time to sit down and read my Bible. This helps me to recenter my focus on Christ for the day ahead and also helps me to calm down after getting everything ready. By taking fifteen to twenty minutes to rest and ready my heart and mind for the day, I have found that I feel a lot more peace and joy as I head about my regular tasks.
To incorporate this as a priority in my morning routine, I had to start setting my alarm fifteen minutes earlier in the day, but it is well worth it if you can go to bed slightly earlier.
What are some of your favorite morning habits that make life easier for you?
