Well, we’ve made it. It’s the end of 2019 and we’re not just heading into a new year we’re heading into a new decade. It almost seems impossible.

I know I said last week that it was my last post of 2019 but I’ve heard a couple of people say that they’re stressed with last minute everything this week. I took this as a sign form the Universe to talk about the routine that keeps me stress free all year, especially during busy times.

The holidays are a wonderful time to catch up with the people you cherish but it can also me a hectic time: last minute parties, work deadlines, school concerts and a whole lot of other things that demand your time and attention.

Before you spend time addressing all those other tasks, I’d like to share with you a simple morning routine that has helped me to keep everything in my life in check.

This simple little shift can especially help you take care of yourself during the holidays and throughout the rest of the year as well. All it takes is a little consistency and I guarantee that you’ll see a difference within a couple of days. Let’s get into How I create a magic morning so I can get stuff done.

In my opinion, mornings are the best time to get motivated to take on the day. It’s the time to focus on you without the usual distractions. There’s no one else to answer to, nothing else to do. It’s just a time for you to be awake and to get yourself in a in a very positive mindset.

I treat the morning like my special re-charging time. I set my alarm each morning for 5 AM. I know that’s early but, I find that time of the day to be the best for getting my thoughts and intentions aligned. This is because the time is still and quiet. It’s literally the magic hour. Nothing else is going on and it’s so peaceful. In order to do this consistently, I go to bed by 10 PM most nights. There has to be some balance to this equation and I’ll get more into that in a moment..

Get Up, Stay Up

When my alarm goes off at 5 o’clock in the morning, I get up without hitting snooze. I literally sit up, get out of bed and start moving. This is the most important first step. Once I move, I keep moving. Some days I’m ready to go and some days I’m not but I get up and go regardless.

Next, I head into my office space, which is the next room over from my bedroom to meditate. I have a small meditation bench with a cushion that I sit on to do this. Once I sit on the bench, it’s a signal to my body to get into meditation mode. Sometimes I sit quietly focusing on my breath and other times I use a guided meditation app on my phone. It all depends on my mood. Sometimes I am calm and quiet and other times I might need a little help focusing my intentions.

The First Win of The Day

After my morning meditation, which usually lasts 5 minutes to 10 minutes, I stand up from my meditation bench and go back into my bedroom to make my bed. Making the bed is the first “task” I complete for myself in the day. It’s like a little win for me, one thing I can tick off the list right away. Plus, it’s so great to get into a nice made bed at the end of the day. It’s such a relaxing treat.

Hello God, It’s Me, Michael

After I make the bed I go back into my office and I sit in my reading chair to journal. I’ve been journaling for years and I have to say it’s led to the most profound changes in my life. It’s a wonderful way for me to get my thoughts down on paper to motivate myself to achieve what I want to achieve. It gets me into a head space that is focused on doing what I want to do and being who I want to be.

A lot of times I find that I write about things that are challenging to me. The simple act of writing things down and seeing the actual words helps me to converse with myself and work through stuff. Call it talking to God, call it tapping into intuition, whatever, it’s great for putting things into perspective so I don’t dwell on them.

I’m always careful to structure my journaling with language that isn’t critical. That means, I don’t write things out in a complaining way like “I can’t believe that _____ happened to me” Or “If only I had more or less____.” That kind of language triggers lack.

Instead, I write as if I’m a curious spectator of my thoughts. I leave the judgement out and I find that I can easily come up with a solution or a plan that motivates me to solve the challenge rather than get down about it.

when I get stuck on things or if I’m feeling unmotivated, I just got back in my journal to a time when I was feeling very creative or motivated. I will literally flip through randomly and re-read something I wrote and suddenly I seem to find the exact answer to the question I was struggling with. It’s a perpetual recording of insights from my higher self.

It’s All in the Plan, Man!

After I do my journaling, I move a couple of feet over to my desk where the list lives. It’s a notebook with the things I want to do. Things like business goals, blog topics, household to dos. It’s my brain dump of projects: things that need to happen, Things I want to happen, priorities and anything else I have on my mind.

It’s important to plan out my day before my phone starts ringing or buzzing with text messages and before the email fills up. Once that starts, I am no longer able to plan out the day because I’m in reaction mode, not proactive mode. So, before all that happens, I take about 15 minutes to rank my list in order of important so that when all the other things come at me, I can address them and keep moving in the direction I want to go throughout the day.

Timing is Everything

By now it’s around 6 Am. I am fully awake and ready to start doing things on my list. I will concentrate on the things I want to do at this time. It’s not the time for hammering out paying bills or putting out work fires. It’s all about the things that bring me joy. This can be different for everyone, but my joy is planning out blog posts, doing the graphics for my site or just plain being creative. These are the things that usually get pushed aside when I get busy and would probably not get done. This is typical for everybody, right? I find when I carve out the time before the rest of the word wakes up, I can get the things I want to do done and I’m a happier camper because of it.

I usually grab a cup of coffee and set my phone timer for an hour and start doing. The timer helps because I tend to get caught up in things I love doing. Time limitations keep me focused and when the alarm goes off, I am done. I also find that having a specific amount of time to do somethings works better for me than leaving the time wide open. Deadlines are great motivators and mini deadlines work in the same way.

At 7 o’clock, I will start making my list for the next day. I do this because I’m usually in a flow state: I’m in a mood to progress and that energy keeps me focused on what should happen next. This can be 15 or 30 minutes depending on the day.

I have often said that I don’t ever experience boredom because I always have a list of stuff to do and that is my happy place. Being productive with the things I want to do helps me immensely when it comes time to do the things that I have to do. It’s a balance, one side of the equation is equal to the other.

Now Feed the Body

After that are usually make a breakfast something healthy: fruits, cereals, grains proteins, more coffee. I’ll sit down and slowly eat my breakfast. It’s time for me it’s time to nourish myself before doing for anyone else. It’s the old “put your own oxygen mask on first”, scenario. This is about 15 to 20 minutes in total and it’s the final leg of my self-care morning routine. I might watch a little bit of YouTube, or listen to a motivational podcast, or read a chapter in a book. It’s like the cool down time after the workout.

To Summarize:

That’s my morning routine that helps me to energize myself and to up my creativity for that I can be more present for everybody else the rest of the day.

• Get Up, Stay Up: Means get up at the same time every day and go to bed at the same time every night.

• First Win of the Day: Make your bed to get the task flow going.

• Hello God, it’s Me, Michael: Spend some time journaling your intentions.

• It’s All in the Plan, Man: make your list of what makes you happy.

• Timing is Everything: Set time limitations to keep yourself on track.

• Now Feed the Body: eat a healthy breakfast so you have the energy to move on with the day.

This routine works great for me but it could be modified if you have more or less time. Once you start getting up at 5 AM it’s easy to do. It took e about 20 days to really get into the routine and now it’s just like clockwork. In fact, I find that I rarely even need my alarm to get me up anymore.

It’s important to take the time to re-charge, re-connect with and re-energize yourself. Try it out for a few weeks and I’ll bet you’ll see a huge difference in your mood and stress level.

Let me know in the comments below what you think and how you found this post. I’m curious to know if you’d like to see more content like this? Do you have a morning routine that lights you up? Tell me all about it below!

See you in 2020! Have an amazing holiday and New Year!

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Michael is Principal designer and blogger at Michael Helwig Interiors in beautiful Buffalo, New York. Since 2011, he’s a space planning expert, offering online interior e-design services for folks living in small homes, or for those with awkward and tricky layouts. He’s a frequent expert contributor to many National media publications and news outlets on topics related to decorating, interior design, diy projects, and more. Michael happily shares his experience to help folks avoid expensive mistakes and decorating disappointments. You can follow him on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook @interiorsmh.