Before the world wakes up, before sitting down at a desk to work, or fielding through emails, many successful women have already had a productive morning.
Whether it is exercise, journaling, quiet reflection or just a nice breakfast in the morning before picking up work of the day, their morning routines help to create a pocket of peace in a world of chaos, which helps to set the tone for their entire day.
Success starts with mindset, so what do the lives of these successful women look like?
1. Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington, founder of online news aggregator and political blog, The Huffington Post, and founder and CEO of Thrive Global, an AI-powered behavior change technology company, starts her day without an alarm.
Huffington doesn’t check her phone in the morning and chooses not to respond to emails before her morning workout. Instead, she starts her morning by breathing deeply and setting intentions for the day.
She does 30 minutes of meditation, 30 minutes on her stationary bike and 5-10 minutes of yoga as a cool down, and picks up her work once she gets on the bike.
The key to her peaceful morning is a peaceful night routine.
After signing off from work for the day, Huffington takes her electronic devices out of her room, runs a bath, and drinks a glass of tea before climbing into bed at 11 p.m. In just enough time to “catch the midnight train,” she jokes.
She reads books (poetry, novels or anything that doesn’t have to do with work) to relax before bed, and when she gets her 8 hours, wakes up on her own without the help of an alarm clock.
2. Clauda Chan
Clauda Chan, founder of S.H.E. Globl Media, a female empowerment-focused professional coaching company, wakes up bright and early at 7 a.m. to feed her dog.
Chan avoids checking her email, social media or phone until after she has taken a shower and gotten dressed for the day. This is crucial for a calming and successful morning.
After that, it is 15-45 minutes of yoga or guided exercise and 5 minutes of meditation. She writes in detail everything she wants to accomplish in the mornings to guide her goals throughout the day.
Before she sits down at her desk at 9 a.m., Chan eats breakfast with the news playing in the background and reviews notes for the beginning of her workday.
3. Kim Kardashian
With her shining success in the spotlight, Kim Kardashian’s morning routine needs to be studied.
Kardashion wakes up at 5:45 a.m. every day to get ready for her 6 a.m. workout routine that lasts one hour. She picks out (pretty much the same) workout outfit each night before she goes to sleep.
She wakes her kids up at 7:05 a.m. for family breakfast before dropping them off at school to start her working day.
If she’s filming something or heading into meetings, Kardashian starts her makeup full-glam at 9:30 a.m. to be ready at 11 a.m.
The key to her successful morning is keeping everything organized in her house so little bumps in the morning routine do not throw her off her game.
What have we learned from the morning routines of others?
- The importance of staying away from social media and emails first thing in the morning
- Light exercise in the morning helps to ring in the day right (specifically meditation, yoga and mindfulness)
- Setting intentions and goals in the morning can help keep you productive throughout the day
- Choosing to wake up earlier and enjoy the morning to yourself can set the tone for a successful day
Steps for Creating Your Own Morning Routine
Everyone’s morning routines look different, as you can see from taking a look into the lives of some successful women who make the most of their mornings. Your routine should customize your lifestyle and your own needs.
It is important to identify what is important to you and what will start your day off right.
Step 1: Identify your Morning Essentials
What is it that you want to accomplish in the morning? Consider the morning essentials to pick and choose from:
- Drinking Water
- Going to the Gym/ Exercise
- Yoga / Meditation
- Setting Goals for the Day / Journaling
- Planning out a daily schedule
- Eating Breakfast
- Spending Quality Time with Loved Ones or Pets
Some tasks may be more helpful than others, and not all of them need to be a part of your morning, so experiment with what works for you.
Step 2: Set Your Ideal Wake-up Time
Are you the most productive in the morning before the sun is out? Or do you find yourself working hardest at night and need a later wake-up time to compensate?
Think about what time works best, how much time you need before work or school to accomplish what you want to achieve.
Step 3: Planning
Once you have the tasks you want to complete and the ideal start time for your morning, set aside a specific amount of time in sequential order to achieve your tasks.
Keeping a balanced schedule helps keep you on track with goals and time management for a productive morning. Create a simple step-by-step schedule for the morning like this:
7:30 a.m. – Wake up and drink a glass of water
8-8:45 a.m. – Workout at the gym (light exercise and yoga)
9- 9:30 a.m. – Journaling and setting goals for the day
9:30-10 a.m. – Shower and make breakfast
10 a.m. – Sit down at a desk and start work
Once you have a schedule, remember to be flexible with what works and what doesn’t.
Everyone has a method that works for them. You don’t have to copy the lives of others to be successful, but you can learn from some of their methods to customize your own routine.
The most important part of routine isn’t perfection, but consistency and adaptability. The goal is to carve out time for yourself, set goals and follow through. Because success doesn’t just happen, it’s created, one morning at a time.