How to Spice Up Your Morning If You Are Not A Morning Person

Confession time: I feel anxious and negative when I get up. I am not a morning person, so I do not start my days with high energy. I want to crawl under the blanket and go back to sleep even when I know I slept well. At the same time, I hate articles that tell me to wake up at 5 a.m.

I find myself lying in bed dreading the day ahead of me:

• I have so much to do today, and I will never get it all done.
• I have a lot of teaching and meetings so I should worry about preparing for them.
• What if I am late for everything?
• I do not have enough courage and energy in my bones for the big day.
• What will I do? How will I ever be ready?

To distract my mind and escape from these thoughts, I spend time on TikTok, which is the worst thing possible you can do in the morning.

There should be a way to start your morning that is graceful but not dependent on superhuman habits. I want to be able to start my morning in a relaxed and intentional way. I want to be proactive and solve problems if I can, but I do not want to beat myself up.

So how do you spice up your mornings if you are not a morning person?

You need some routines that will fire you up, bring you joy, and provide you with much-needed courage and inspiration.

Hal Elrod suggests your morning routine should consist of six components:

• Silence: You practice meditation, prayer, or slow breathing exercises to calm your mind.
• Affirmations: You anchor and encourage yourself through powerful positive words.
• Visualization: You imagine yourself living your best life and actualizing your full potential.
• Exercise: You move your body and increase your metabolism for your wellbeing.
• Reading: You get some inspiration and fill your brain with useful and positive messages.
• Scribing: You keep a journal and write down your thoughts to capture your stream of consciousness.

A Simple Morning Routine To Spice Up Your Morning

I do not exactly follow these steps, but I have created my own unique practices to foster my own creativity and productivity. Below are the things that I do consistently and the principles I try to follow every morning:

1. I never exercise or have breakfast first thing in the morning. These actually suck my energy and make me feel tired or sluggish. I already feel sluggish, so I need to find inventive ways to ramp up my energy. Making coffee, listening to music, reading something inspiring, and writing in my journal do wonders for me.
2. I read, learn, or watch something exciting. I need my inspiration well full. For example, I have watched Sara Blakely’s masterclass this morning and read two articles by Michael Simmons and Benjamin Hardy.
3. I write in my journal for 10 minutes to capture my stream of consciousness. All those thoughts, worries, anxieties… I put them on paper and this liberates me for the day ahead of me. This is the initial phase of emptying my emotional baggage.
4. I continue to write for 10 more minutes to clarify my goals. If I am lucky, I get some clarity and focus for my day through my writing. I write about my dreams, desires, or goals for the day ahead of me — what is the big picture? What is the top one thing that I want to accomplish today?
5. I specify my priorities for the day and jump into my number 1 priority. I try to eat the frog — jump into a tiny-miny action related to my top priority. I try to achieve deep work with no distractions. I work on my top priority, whether that is preparing my class or writing an article. I try to be smart and strategic in my work — I shoot for peak performance and creativity.
6. I kickstart a short but intensive writing session on Medium. Perhaps half an hour maximum. I do not scare myself, but try to turn this into a game for myself. I always follow the intensive writing activity with a high-quality break where I can do whatever I wish.
7. When my mind is ready for a break, I go for a walk. Perhaps a walk in nature or in the neighborhood. I might do some shopping or talk to people I care about. I completely detach myself from work. I also change places inside the house. I have a new book in each room in the house and keep reading these books whenever I go to that room. I read just one or two pages at a time. I call this ‘micro-reading’ and it has changed my life. Read more here.
8. After the break, I will work a few more hours. Whenever I am tired of writing, I turn to doodling for fun. If I feel too tired, I just open my camera and record some YouTube videos. I improvise and share the lessons I have learned that morning. I love doing this, so I can do this even when I am tired. It helps me to record my memories and best ideas for that day. I try to have fun, be open to fresh ideas, and incorporate play into whatever I do.

Two Powerful Mindsets To Spice Up Your Morning

1. Your mornings are for self-care, positive thinking, gratitude, and reflection.

• Stop saying how you hate mornings. Change your perspective and cultivate a more positive mindset for yourself.
• Do not rush in the morning. Design a slow and calm morning for yourself. Full of some writing, reflection, gratitude, affirmations, yoga, exercise… Whatever works for you best.
• Wake up 20 minutes earlier and schedule some me time. Indulge yourself in your favorite music, podcast, and coffee. Be gentle with yourself.
• Keep away from emails and social media.
• Set yourself up for success with positive thoughts and affirmations.
• Make your preparation routines as enjoyable as possible.
• Make sure you give yourself ample time.
• Make sure you’ve had enough sleep. Go to bed early the night before. Know your body and how much sleep you need every night.
• Make your plans and preparations before you go to bed the night before. Prepare what you will pack in your bag, what you will wear, what you will eat, etc.
• You want to take control of your mind and avoid falling into vicious loops. For example, if you become obsessed with not getting enough sleep, it is likely that your mind will make it worse and prevent you from falling into sleep. Reversely, if you can trick your mind into gratitude, you can condition your body to have enough sleep even if you have only five hours. Your mind is where you make miracles. Your mind is also where you torture or prison yourself. Be aware.
• Do things that will provide your wellbeing. Foster your wellbeing by investing in activities to improve your mind, body, and soul (working out, running, visualizing, journaling, writing, reading, listening to music, spending time with your family, walking your dog, creating artwork, etc.) Find things that best work for you.
• Learn how to hack into your happiness chemicals: Dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphin.
• To unleash your dopamine, be curious, challenge yourself, develop new skills, and learn exciting things.
• To unleash your oxytocin, spend time with your family, pets, and friends.
• To unleash your serotonin, do wellness activities that will connect to your inner self and outer nature.
• To unleash your endorphin, increase your metabolism, take a relaxing bath, and apply self-care routines.

2. Your mornings are for things that will excite you. Things that you love doing. Things that you look forward to.

• Design your mornings in a way that you will actually enjoy them. What do you love doing? Schedule time in your morning calendar for these activities.
• What do you do in the mornings that you enjoy? Do more of these activities.
• Kick start the day with high-value activities such as writing, creating, learning, or reading.
• Add some fun, play, and curiosity to your morning activities. This might be listening to your favorite podcast or music, reading an exciting book, watching a TED talk, taking a lovely walk in nature, or catching up with Undercover Billionaire. If you incorporate funk into your morning routines, this will probably set a positive mood for you for the rest of the day.
• Use your brain, increase your metabolism, create new things, and come up with exciting ideas. Choose topics that fascinate you and keep reading exciting things about these topics.
• When your body feels happy, it will make a big difference to your mood. Start your day with a positive mood.
• Do quality activities to take care of your body and to make yourself feel good: Meditating, drinking water, having a healthy breakfast, exercising, deep breathing, taking a shower, applying self-care, walking along the river, or talking to friends.
• Enjoy some fresh air and go out to your garden or park. Stretch your muscles, legs, and arms after you wake up. Try to stretch different parts of your body, such as your shoulders or your stomach. First, make them tense and then allow them to relax.
• Get excited about your day. Write a list of what you would like to achieve, who you will meet etc.
• Boost up your confidence by dressing up and positive self-talk. Take a few extra minutes to be more presentable.
• Write down three positive things you believe to be true about yourself. These affirmations will be your compass especially when things get tough.
• Cultivate a positive mindset and be open to new ideas, opportunities, or connections.
• How much do you want to achieve something? Prioritize that thing and do it immediately. For example, if you want to be a better writer, jump into writing in your morning. If you are determined to write, you will make it happen. It is all in your mindset.
• Write your top 3 goals and priorities in your journal. Physically writing down these top priorities will add an extra level of accountability. Do not ever have more than 3 priorities at a time.
• Have a fresh cup of coffee, and make this routine enjoyable for yourself.
• You want to have at least one activity to look forward to on any day. One thing that will make you want to get out of bed. Specify what that activity will be. Write it down and put it in your daily schedule.
• Cut the clutter everywhere — on your desk, in your daily schedule, in your inbox, or on your mind. What is absolutely necessary? What is your top priority? Do it and forget the rest.
• Keep experimenting until you find what exactly works for you. Aim for small improvements and incremental progress each time. Tweak your habits until you feel happy, productive, creative, and comfortable.

Fahri Karakas is the author of Self-making Studio and If Life Gives You A Squash, Squash It! He is passionate about doodling, creativity, asset creation, and the future.