My Complete Morning Routine Checklist To Help You Feel Better and Get More Out of Your Day.
Own your morning to elevate your life.
Start your day how you want to finish it.
The first 3 to 4 hours of my day are sacred. They have a disproportional impact on the success of my day.
For the past 5 years, I’ve been optimizing my morning routine to what makes me feel the best and most productive.
I’ve tried waking up a 5:00 am, cold showers, meditation, everything. You name a morning routine trend and I’ve probably tried it.
I want to share what’s worked really well for me.
Before people sh*t on my routine, understand that while works for me, I can’t guarantee this will work for you. But I am hopeful that you can steal from me what I’ve learned the hard way.
I’ve experimented with the most high-leverage morning routines and activities and distilled them into principles I use.
Principles I use that Elevate My Life
Scalable
You can do these habits for 1 minute or 1 hour. Do whatever suits your life and context. I’ll provide some guidance on the time required but it is completely up to you how you want to do them. Just remember that 1 minute of mindfulness is better than no time spent improving your mind.
Stackable
Many of these habits you can do simultaneously or as separate activities. For instance, I often stretch and read in the morning or exercise and listen to a podcast. You can combine habits or use one as a cue for another habit. Make your habits work for you.
Flexible
Chop, change and remove whatever doesn’t work for you. But at least try them out first.
Free
I love free life hacks. Everything in this morning routine checklist doesn’t cost $0. You can borrow books from the library and work out in your own home, using the furniture and equipment you already have.
High-leverage morning routines
I aim for 7–8 hours of sleep.
Any less and I don’t feel sharp. Any more and I start to feel groggy. I’ve noticed my peak performance comes from sleeping within this range of time.
I drink warm water.
My body hasn’t had any fluids for close to 8–9 hours. I tend not to drink fluids an hour before bed to avoid nighttime pee. I wake it up with the sweet elixir of warm H2O and then I am ready to go. Why warm water? Because drinking cold or even room-temperature water in the morning is like torture. Time required: 10–20 seconds
I meditate for 15 minutes.
I’ve tried shorter and longer meditations. 15 mins for me seems like the sweet spot. I focus on breathing in for 5 seconds, holding for 5 seconds, and exhaling for 5 seconds. I always tend to think of inhaling positive words and exhaling negative words. Time required: 15 minutes
Wim Hof breathing protocol.
This involves taking deep and active inhalation (4–5 seconds) through my nose followed by a passive exhalation through my mouth. I’ll aim for 40–50 breaths and hold my breath as long as possible after the last inhalation. Time required: 5–8 minutes
Stretching.
Light neck and stretches really help to wake my body up. I spend most of my day sitting and looking at a computer screen so these stretches help prevent a tight upper back. Time required: 5–10 minutes
Daily affirmation.
I stole this from Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic. I repeat to myself ten times: ‘I will be successful and wealthy’ over and over again. It sounds so corny but it really does help get my mindset right for the day. Time required: 10 seconds.
Reading.
The highest leverage activity you can do in the morning. Instead of filling your mind with pointless social media content, read a book and expose yourself to interesting ideas. Time required: 20-30 minutes
Making my bed.
This daily ritual creates my first ‘win’ of the day. Small wins gradually build into bigger and bigger wins. It’s also great to come to a neat and tidy bed after a long day. Making my bed helps to build my momentum in a positive direction. Time required: 2–5 minutes.
Listen to a podcast.
I love listening to short podcasts. My favorite is the ‘Naval’ podcast by Naval Ravikant. It’s a series of short 1- 5 minute episodes ranging from personal finance to entrepreneurship. I’ll pop a podcast on while I make my bed and drink my green juice. Time required: 10–15 minutes.
Drink green juice.
Fill your body with the nutrients it needs. I know that without my Athletic Greens AGI shake, I won’t get all the nutrients I need for the day, it’s also a great probiotic for gut health (not sponsored, I just love the product). Time required: 5 minutes.
Light exposure.
After listening to Andrew Huberman, I always try to make sure I get enough light exposure in the morning to prime my body to wake up. If I can’t get outside, I’ll use my own blue light-emitting device (not an affiliate link) set to my periphery for 30 minutes in the morning. I can have it on in the background while I do my deep work. Time required: 20–30 minutes.
Eat breakfast.
Food + coffee = Michael very happy. Time required: 10–15 minutes
Deep work.
I eat the frog in the morning. Not literally, but I will focus on my most creative and challenging tasks in the morning. Often, this includes writing my Medium articles. In the morning, I am able to dedicate my full creative capacity to the task. Time required: 1–2 hours.
Exercise.
Once I can feel my energy waning, I’ll exercise with some sort of calisthenics or bodyweight movements. These days I enjoy doing drills for handstands or actually doing handstands. Make your body do first what you want your mind to do next. Time required: 30–60 minutes.
Summary
You first make your morning routine, and then your morning routine makes you.
Your mornings are special. Use them correctly and you can build the person you want to become.
Investment in building your morning routine pays the best dividends.
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