Morning/Evening Routine

THE 3 MINUTE READ

I've found that the first 30 minutes of my day have the biggest impact on how I feel for the rest of my waking hours.

- Molli Sullivan

One day you will wake up and there won't be any more time to do the THINGS you've always wanted. Do it now.

- Paulo Coelho

I don't recommend my routine, but I do recommend evaluating your routine and developing one that supports the THINGS you love the most.

- George Foreman III

IS A MORNING/EVENING ROUTINE YOUR NEXT THING?

One really incredible aspect of the internet is that we have instantaneous access to all information at all times. One potentially frustrating aspect of the internet is that we have instantaneous access to all information at all times.

This can be a good thing if you are curious how old Lizzo is or if you want to know the net worth of the Naked Cowboy ($4 million by the way. Did you also know he has a political science degree and ran for President?). These are questions the internet is perfectly well-equipped to answer. But try asking something slightly more ambiguous, like “How can I get rid of fruit flies in my apartment” or even “best restaurants in [name your city]” and you know how difficult it can be to filter through the opinions of the internet writ-large to find a single good answer. That is the exact problem you will bump into if you search “best evening routine” or “how to develop a morning routine”.

The problem with the internet in this case is that most of the information you find on the topic of evening/morning routines is from people who seem to live a completely different lifestyle than me and 95% of the people I know. It’s just not possible for me to meditate for an hour, run a 10k, make a kale smoothie, do a full-body medicinal salt soak, and read the New Yorker all before 8 am. Most of the evening/morning routines on the internet are practiced and preached about by people who:

1) work for themselves from home

2) seem to have a lot more money than I do

3) like going to bed early and waking up at 5 am

If that is the kind of evening/morning routine advice you’re looking for, you’re actually really lucky because the internet is full of it already.

I have a hunch that most of us are looking for an evening or morning routine that is:

1) realistic

2) fairly quick

3) something we’ll stick with

In my experience, you’re not going to find that easily by Googling. For this THING, I’m taking a different approach than any of the evening/morning routine guides I came across on the internet this month.

WHAT YOU'LL GET

Think of your evening/morning routine like a Lego set. Your job is to imagine the finished product. My job is to write the instruction manual and hand you the pieces.

Step 1: Window Shopping

In Step 1 we’re going window shopping. I will provide a brief glance at the morning or evening routine for a variety of successful people, some you may know, others you may not. I’ll provide a worksheet to write your favorite ideas, but we’re not locking anything in right away. We're just gathering inspiration for our own routines.

Step 2: Take Control

In Step 2 you will take control of creating your own routine. This step will make that easy by providing all of the resources, materials, and inspiration you need to bring your routine to life. I started by doing a deep dive into the scientific literature on breakfast, caffeine, sleep, blue light, exercise, journaling, reading, meditation, and more. I condensed all of my findings into simple recommendations that you can use to build your routine with confidence that there is scientific evidence behind the routine you create. Then I scoured the internet for the instructions, resources, and tools you need for each component of your routine. This is going to be fun! Let's get started.

Make a Morning/Evening Routine Your Next THING