You Don’t Need a Morning Routine — You Need a Rhythm
After my recent article about a Sunday Reset, a friend and client, let’s call her Betty, restarted a conversation about routines.
Specifically, she asked “Do I really need a morning routine to be productive?”
And the answer is, Yes. And also No. (Sorry). But let me explain!
Including my recent article and episode about a Sunday Reset though not necessarily on a Sunday, I talk a lot about routines!
Routines are helpful tools for getting regular tasks done so we can get on with our important non-routine work. Our daily or weekly routines help us to manage ourselves and our lives, consistently and competently and with ease, so we can get on with the rest of our day!
And as I discussed with this recent client, Betty, the shift in seasons and schedules are a great time to consider a refresh. That may be the case for you, as well. I know it is for me.
Perhaps, with warmer weather, you want to add to your morning routine time in your garden, or a daily walk now that the weather is nice. Perhaps you get to subtract tasks for a little while, for example, if you have school aged children who are out of school for the summer. Maybe you all can start your days a little later, or head to camp instead of school. A shift in seasons provides an opportunity and even an invitation to figure out what is essential and discover what our survival needs are. You can use this more flexible schedule time to pare down the tasks, put them in a good order so that you're not repeating your steps or causing yourself undue frustration, or just change things up a little bit and see how it goes.
That was the recap, now we’re caught up on routines and using season and schedule shifts to make them work for us. At least caught up enough.
Back to the question: Betty asked “Do I really need a morning routine to be productive?”, and the answer is both Yes and No.
What Betty was asking was about timing. She acknowledges that routines help us consistently take care of survival and maintenance tasks. Over the past year, she has steadily crafted useful routines for her hygiene, self care, menu planning, household tasks, etc. Betty understands the value in routines. That is why she came to me for coaching. However, Betty has a problem specifically with the “morning” part of “Morning Routines”.
And maybe you do, too.
Let’s consider, When might a morning routine not work for someone:
They’re not naturally a morning person. And that is good to know about yourself.
They have other people or pets or roles they are responsible for, that pull focus from their own routines at certain times of the day.
They have an atypical work schedule, like 2 am to 10 am shifts in construction, or 12 hour shifts for health care workers, or 24 hour work shifts for firefighters.
They just don’t like morning routines.
Yep, all of these are valid reasons to resist the “morning” part of “morning routines. But the tasks still need to be completed.
So here is the full answer: Yes, you need a routine around your productivity at different times of the day or week. But, No, it doesn't need to be in the morning. Not to be rude, but I really don’t need to care about when you do your routine. It's not up to me. Once you have determined your essential survival and maintenance task for yourself, then it’s a question of timing - for yourself!
One suggestion I had for Betty was to look at her daily routine (see, I didn’t call it a Morning Routine!) as two distinct lists. A batch of essential-to-living tasks, and then some life maintenance tasks at a different time.
For example, I start out most of my presentations talking about routines because they really are the foundation for getting organized, whether I am talking about time management, obviously, but also clearing clutter to paper management to menu planning. And as I talk about routines, I usually mention one of my sons. He’s amazing, accomplished professionally and an all around great person (I mean, not to brag, but they all are!). HOWEVER, he is not a fan of early mornings. Not that anyone needs to be. But in presentations, I mention that by the time he graduated high school, his morning routine was “get up, take shower, get dressed, go to school”. That’s it.
He tends to be a night owl, which works well for him and for his chosen profession. And he gets the other routine tasks done consistently, just not in the morning.
There is a short list, shorter for some of us than others, of things you will need to do as soon as you get up, routine or not. Use the washroom, take vitamins or medication, shower, drink coffee (maybe that’s just me!). Maybe the list is really short for you when you wake, and that’s fine.
You could need to leave the house in the morning, or maybe not. Maybe you're retired, or maybe you start your work day much later, and that's fine too. There are other daily tasks for survival and maintenance that still need to be done, but you get to choose the “when”. They can be at a different time of day.
Survival tasks like eating food, taking supplements or medications, basic personal hygiene like bathing and brushing your teeth - yep, daily and most likely soon after you wake.
But the rest - morning, afternoon, evening - is your choice. And, upon reflection, you may decide not every maintenance task needs to be done every day. And if that's the case for you, great.
I have home maintenance tasks that, when my sons were little, I got in the habit of tackling in the morning. Start a load of laundry, wipe down the bathroom counter and mirror every day, put shoes away at the back door. Those are maintenance tasks, but they can be done anytime. I like them in the morning, but that’s just me.
Let’s call it something else if Morning Routine doesn’t work for you. The “short list”, the “taking care of you” tasks, the “5 things I do when I wake up” tasks, whatever. You do you.
Then choose to do the life maintenance tasks whenever you like to do them, or have the opportunity to do them. If that time happens to be right after the “first 5 things list”, cool. Go for it. If that time is the last 20 minutes before you go to bed, also cool.
And that's the point. So my client Betty is not really a morning person and doesn't really want to do all those maintenance tasks in the morning. She has her “Take Care of Me” Tasks, and her “Take Care of My Life” Tasks, and when she wants to make those work is completely up to her.
And as I told Betty, and will tell you, too: don’t worry when you think other people do things, or “normal people”, per a different client. I talk to many people about routines, and I think that the only normal thing about their routines is that they are all different.
You get to choose. You always get to choose, to do it or not, and then also when to do it or not. So my suggestion is that you have those tasks in mind, and then explore some ideas on how your routines might work better for you.
And truly, check in with yourself - Maybe you hit your stride midday, or maybe you work a really busy day but like to take care of life tasks while you warm up dinner, or start laundry after you change out of your work clothes for the evening.
So, morning versus afternoon versus evening versus some things don't have to happen every day. All your choice.
Isn't that a nice feeling? I hope so.
To sum up, Betty and also all of you:
“Do I really need a morning routine to be productive?” Yes and No.
This is a great question to ask for yourself at this change of season, to consider updates to your routines and an opportunity to rethink yours to make it work better for you.
Be intentional.
Identify the survival tasks, accept you likely have to knock those out upon waking. Be international with your list, name it something that works for you.
Identify the maintenance tasks. Accept that they need done, perhaps daily, and then… you get to choose the when. Be intentional with that list, too, name that something that works for you, and choose the when.
Ignore expectations of others (even me!), listen to yourself and your preferences, and choose. For you!
If it is time for you to rethink your routines and productivity, I am ready to help!
