The Morning Routine that’s Kept me Motivated and Sane in 2020
We’ve all felt it, as lockdowns continued and the pandemic dragged on, it became harder and harder to tackle our mornings.
The appeal of staying in sweatpants all day or dialling into our 9 am call from bed was sometimes too much to resist.
As a grad student during the first half of 2020, this appeal was amplified. I didn’t need to logged onto my computer by any certain hour, sometimes I would have an entire week with no meetings, classes or assignments and my usual productivity hack of going to a coffee shop was eliminated.
I noticed myself pushing the sleep button more and more, sometimes not even realizing I was doing it.
At one point, I realized that I was consistently waking up around 11:00 am.
I was starting my day with half the day gone and would be in a ‘weekend mindset,’ lethargic and unmotivated.
After a bit of research, I found a few articles, YouTube videos and blogs about a morning routine called The Miracle Morning. I was intrigued.
The Miracle Morning is a one-hour routine that combines best practices for mindfulness and motivation. Hal Elrod developed and popularized it through his book, The Miracle Morning.
The premise is relatively simple; you wake up an hour earlier than usual, make your bed, drink a glass of water, then follow the S.A.V.E.R.S. method for the next 60 minutes with 10 minutes each for:
Silence
Affirmations
Visualization
Exercise
Reading
Scribing
How you choose to do each of these is your choice, but the Miracle Morning book lays out great advice and action plans for building your Miracle Morning routine.
I decided to give it a try for two weeks, every day, no exceptions. In the book, Hal encourages a trial of 30 days, reasoning that’s what it takes to build a habit so if you’re all in, perhaps go for that! Fourteen days seemed right for me to do a little trial run.
I also decided to wake up at 7 am. The book and many of the blogs/videos/articles all encourage a 5 am start time, but let’s be realistic here: I was switching from an 11 am wake up time, I’m not a mom juggling a million things, and we were in the middle of a lockdown. With nowhere to go except an occasional walk in the park, 5 am seemed like it was setting me up for a very long day of meandering around the house. 7 am was a more realistic goal.
Alarms went off at 7 am the next morning, and out of my bed, I jumped, ready to go! It’s always exciting to start incorporating something new and positive into your day.
I LOVED it. I loved going through each of the steps, knowing precisely what came next, and I loved that by about 8 am every morning, I had accomplished each part of the S.A.V.E.R.S. method. Not only had I checked a few key things off my list so early in the day, but I had a clear direction for the day ahead. I knew what I needed to accomplish, what key actions were on my mind, and I had a schedule laid out ahead of me.
Instead of rolling out of bed and zombie walking to the coffee machine, I charged into my day with a clear vision for success.
Here’s my Miracle Morning Routine:
First 15 minutes: wake up (No sleep button allowed!), make the bed, brush teeth drink a big glass of water and start brewing coffee. I use a cafetiere, so I let it brew while I start my SAVERS routine.
Silence: I use this time to meditate with guided morning meditations on the Insights Timer app.
Affirmations: I grab my coffee and say my affirmations out loud to myself for 10 minutes —The Miracle Morning book has excellent resources on how to create powerful morning affirmations. Mine focus on current goals in my life and overall mindset shifts I’m working towards.
Visualization: I like to use this time to go through my day, step by step, and what I need to accomplish at each point. At the end of this, I have a very clear idea of my schedule and I’ve visualized myself successfully completing each part of my day. I’ll use the last few minutes to visualize myself achieving my biggest goals.
Exercise: Yoga! I spend my 10 exercise minutes doing a bit of stretching and usually go through a few sun salutations. I don’t use this time to work up a sweat, but merely to get moving and get my blood flowing.
Reading: You can spend this time reading anything, but it’s recommended to read something related to personal development so you can walk away from your 10 minutes having learned something already. I currently use this time to read my Bible. My faith is important to me, so being able to spend a few minutes every morning focused and centred on this has genuinely helped with my sanity throughout this year.
Scribing: journaling, writing, whatever you choose to call it, getting a few thoughts onto paper early in the morning has helped me walk into the day with a clear headspace. I use a regular notebook, but I follow the model of the 5-minute journal. Every day I write three things I’m grateful for and three things that would make today great. It’s a clear commitment to look at the positives in my life and to focus on what’s important in the day ahead.
And that’s it, my miracle morning routine!
What I truly love about the miracle morning is that it’s incredibly flexible and you can design it to work best for you. As I’ve gone through the past few months, I’ve shifted my routine a bit.
I meditate for 5 minutes instead of 10. I’m new to meditating regularly and have found that any longer than 5 minutes and my mind starts to wander.
While I usually always do a little bit of stretching, I’m trying to incorporate a midday workout break, so sometimes I’ll skip the exercise in favour of a bigger workout later in the day.
I’m five months into regularly doing the Miracle Morning, and it’s helped me in so many ways. I regularly wake up at 6:30 without using the sleep button. By the time 8 am rolls around, I’ve had a peaceful, but productive morning and am ready to tackle the challenges of the day ahead. I have a clear vision of what a successful day will look like, and I know how to take on the most important or pressing challenges.
I’ve had a few days where I miss the routine. I had drinks with friends (COVID safe style!) the night before or stayed up a bit too late binging my favourite show. That’s OK, I’m human, and I can’t expect myself to be on top of it every day, but I do notice a difference in the days I don’t do my miracle morning routine. My brain is scattered, I don’t have a clear agenda for the day, I’m more anxious and stressed, and I find myself drifting from one task to the next. I lose motivation sometime mid-afternoon.
It’s astounding the difference this routine has made in my mindset and sanity across this year. It helps me stay focused on my goals, stay positive during a challenging season and renew my motivation each morning in 2020.
I can’t recommend this routine enough as we’re heading into second waves and lockdowns as a way to stay motivated.
Here are a few tips to get started:
- Plan each section of the SAVERS the night before. You don’t want to wake up and have no direction, spending more time thinking about what to do than actually doing it. Having a plan adds to the peace of the morning.
- Put your phone across the room. Not only did this help me get out of bed in the morning, but it also helped me to stop looking at my phone before going to sleep. I’ve been sleeping better and waking up more rested.
- Use an App. I use Insight Timer for guided meditations. I’ve found a few great morning meditations without needing to pay for premium access. I also use T.M.M. timer, which guides me through each stage of the routine and sets a 10 minute (though it’s customizable) timer.
- Practice self-forgiveness. You’re human, you can’t be on top of it every single day, and it’s OK to miss a few days here and there. When you do miss a day, take notice of how you feel. Just knowing how less productive I am when I miss a day is motivation enough to try again tomorrow.
I encourage you to try it for 14 days, see if it’s working for you and then dive into Hal Elrod’s book to make the most out of the first hour of your day!
