I wrote about habits in a previous post which you can read HERE. An easier (notice I didn’t say easy) way of implementing good habits is in the morning. It will also become a system for setting you up for the rest of the day by automating good habits you will get a lot done without thinking about it after a while. I am even writing this as part of my morning routine, so it seems to work.

How my morning routine looks:

6:30 Wake up, prepare coffee and take probiotics

6:35 Meditate for 10 minutes using Waking Up app

6:50 Journal and look at key tasks I have for the day

7:00 Duolingo German, as I’m trying to learn German right now, this is part of that.

7:15 Write (which I am doing now :) ) This could be a blog post which I am trying to write 2 a week, a newsletter or blurb for my website.

7:45 Workout, I have 3 HIIT routines I do in the week, one kettlebell, one pull ups and one just abs on the weekend this would be a 10k run.

8:55 Read, it could be a business book, fiction or The Economist, Courier or Wired magazine.

9:30 Start my day.

Of course some mornings the times slip a bit, as I am only human. Don’t sweat it. It’s a constant chipping away till you figure it out, maybe it has too many elements or you are just slower at getting ready that morning.

How to decide what to add

As with any habits, you need to look at what you want to achieve. For me my morning routine helps me focus on my goals and are things I actually enjoy and want to do regularly. It helps with my mental state and helps me get over my own inclination towards laziness and procrastination. It also adds some challenges like learning German which I would like to do as I go there nearly every year for seminars and only knew a handful of words.

As with the habits, it’s not easy to work out what will work and what won’t, the important part is that you get going and you can fine tune it as you go. This is like the 100th iteration of my routine, and it will most likely change again.

After the morning routine… The evening routine :)

You will also need an evening routine, as this will help you set up for the morning. This one I keep minimal as I have enough in the morning. It looks like this:

20:00 Yoga

21:00 Plan for tomorrow using journal;

21:10 Prepare bag for tomorrow

Other options

If you only have an hour in the morning, do less and allow 10 minutes for each. It could be

06:30 Wake up brush teeth and floss and shower

06:45 Meditate 

06:55 Journal

07:05 Quick Yoga

07:15 Duolingo

07:25 Go to work

It can be whatever you want it to be. It anchors your morning so you get used to getting up and get your brain ready for the day. It’s like a mental and physical boot up.

Adding Brazilian Jiu Jitsu related habits

You could add some BJJ solo drills to this routine, there are some quick workouts online that you could add. This would help you move better without even noticing you are doing much. 

It could even be as simple as 10 minutes of instructionals, choose one that you want to try that evening and go over it in the morning, then drill it in class that evening.

Tools to help you

Apps:

Morning Routine App:

iOS https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/morning-routine-focus-timer/id1050452180

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beside.miracle_routine&hl=en&gl=US

Habit tracking app:

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/momentum-habit-tracker-routines-goals-rituals/id946923599?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.przybylski.grow&hl=en_GB&gl=US

Duolingo

https://www.duolingo.com

Videos:


Journal

Bestself Journal, I love the simplicity of this and how it organizes and focuses on your goals. It has a great website with lots of free guides too.