As the Covid-19 pandemic comes to an end, working remotely is the new normal for a lot of people and establishing a working from home morning routine is key for your mental and physical well-being as otherwise, you could go days without leaving the house.
The key benefit of a working from home routine is that you have the whole morning, no commuter traffic, or packing your lunch and office bag. As someone without kids, my morning is my own and I like to make the most of it.
We all love planning a productive morning routine, but in practice, you will only stick to it if you enjoy it. I have tried and failed many morning routines but over the past year, I have created one for remote work that I love. I feel more fulfilled and happier in myself than I ever have as a result – and you can too!
Establishing a routine working from home needs to suit your lifestyle. 6am-9am is an optimal time to enjoy a consistent and productive routine. A 5am morning routine might work for you, but this is difficult to consistently stick to for a lot of lifestyles. Whether it ends up being a 1 hour morning routine, or 3 hours, the key is consistency. If you follow a ‘millionaire morning routine’, they all say the same, wake up at the same time each day and have a plan. By sticking to your morning routine for work, this will become a habit that you complete on autopilot, reducing decision fatigue as the day progresses.
The key to adopting a morning routine working from home is to set your alarm for the same time each day. I recommend 6:00am but sometimes that snooze button is too tempting! Create a morning routine that can be flexible if you do miss your alarm. Pick and choose from the 10 tasks below to enjoy before you start your working day.
Key Steps to a Productive and Happy Morning Routine
Time needed: 3 hours
All the steps listed are productive and enjoyable morning habits. Complete the tasks below in the timeframes that work for your lifestyle to help you feel accomplished and ready for the day – just don’t roll out of bed at 9am!
- Prepare the Night Before
- Kick-Start Your Body
- Exercise
- Perform Your Beauty Routine
- Get Dressed
- Practise Mindfulness
- Develop a Creative Passion
- Clean your House
- Eat Breakfast
- Prepare for Work
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1. Prepare the Night Before
Adopting a morning routine for successful people includes laying your clothes out the night before because this is one less decision you need to make in the morning. Decision fatigue can hit you hard as the day progresses so the fewer unnecessary decisions you can make in the morning the better!
Go to bed early! Don’t waste hours in the evening watching TV, time that could be spent enjoying your morning and developing yourself. I recommend going to bed at 9:30pm, asleep at 10pm to wake up at 6am.
2. Kick-Start Your Body
The very first task of this daily routine at home is to splash your face with cold water. Trust me – it instantly wakes you up and is a lot more appealing than taking a cold shower that I’m sure you’ve heard about!
Next, drink a full glass of cold water. Don’t forget this step – your body is dehydrated!
If you can find little moments to enjoy as part of your morning routine, you’ll be far more likely to stick to it. For example, I feel happy pouring ice-cold fridge water into a glass tumbler and stepping outside to breathe in the fresh air.
Finally, brush your teeth if you’re leaving the house and you’re ready to start the day ahead!
3. Exercise
Put on your workout clothes, grab a water bottle and head out of the door!
Whether you go to the gym, on a morning run or dog walk, it is important to get out of the house in the morning when you’re stuck at a desk or your dining room table all day.
Exercising first thing is a key part of a healthy morning routine. It kick-starts your metabolism, reduces stress and improved decision-making skills. Check out some additional benefits of working out in the morning at Any Where Works.
I personally love to swim. Your whole body gets a workout and you feel refreshed.
If you prefer following a working-out routine at home, let in some fresh air and create a space where you can fully move and stretch out your body.
Tip: If you struggle for motivation, give yourself a conditional reward. Mine’s coffee! If I don’t go for a swim, I don’t get the Starbucks cappuccino that my gym offer.
4. Perform Your Beauty Routine
Take a few minutes of ‘me’ time each morning. Create a quick skincare routine to feel cleansed and refreshed for the day. I like to use a facial spray, SPF oil, and moisturizer for dry skin. I also find the gua-sha practice therapeutic for facial sculpting.
5. Get Dressed
Put on some comfortable clothes! I opt for drawstring or elasticated trousers and shorts with a t-shirt. This look works if you’re going to the gym or on your morning walk and also sitting comfortably at your desk. Going to the gym forces you to dress for the day.
Tip: one of my work from home hacks is to wear a crew-neck t-shirt and pop your hair in a low bun so you look smart and professional at Microsoft Teams meetings. Fill in your eyebrows to shape your face for an easy, put-together look for virtual client meetings!
6. Practice Mindfulness
My Mindfulness Morning Routine
It’s important to start the day with a positive mindset. I recommend storing affirmations on your notes app. Whether you want to improve your health, wealth, relationships or a skill, spending 2 minutes reading affirmations to encourage these daily habits will remind you of your long-term goals and, in turn, increase your daily happiness.
Meditation is also a great mindfulness practice. The mind is always busy. Take 5 minutes to train your mind to be able to focus on one task at a time and help will the feeling of being overwhelmed.
Tip: If you complete your meditation morning routine in a set place, you’re more likely to remember to practice.
Mine’s the steam room at my gym! Take some deep breaths and quieten your mind.
Journalling, and documenting your thoughts and goals for the day, can also be a relaxing and therapeutic practice to free up space in your mind for the day ahead.
7. Develop a Creative Passion
I have found that creativity and focus are highest just after exercising in the early morning. Having only made a few decisions today, now is the time to develop a side-hustle idea, a creative passion, or a skill you want to pursue. This is when I work on my blog!
Include this passion in your morning routine and benefit from your creative energy flowing.
Grab a cup of tea or coffee and spend a good hour developing this skill!
8. Clean Your House
Spend 5-10 minutes cleaning and tidying your house and workspace. Having your workspace feel fresh and decluttered prepares you for the day.
My home routine includes making the bed and unloading the dishwasher ready for the day ahead – easy and satisfying!
9. Eat Breakfast
You may find your body doesn’t require much fuel when you’re sitting at a desk all morning so preparing a large breakfast isn’t necessary.
As part of your work from home routine, you could have some fruit or oats that you can easily prepare at the beginning of the week.
My favorite recipe to easily prepare the night before is overnight oats: 1 coconut yogurt, fruit, oats, a dash of milk, cinnamon and sweetener – and enjoy!
10. Prepare for Work
Before you start working, set up a focus setting on your phone to stop notifications coming through so you can’t be easily distracted scrolling through social media. I allow calls but no messages between my 9am-5pm work schedule as part of my morning routine.
Listen to a ‘deep focus’ or ‘progressive house’ playlist on Spotify in your home office. These playlists without lyrics really help with concentration!
I find setting goals for the day a bit time-consuming. Firstly, go through your emails and flag them to complete either today, tomorrow, this week, or next week.
Kamelia from Hackerette has some great tips for being productive whilst working remotely.
Tip: If you ever feel overwhelmed, just walk away and take a big gulp of cold water. Splash your face and breathe in some fresh air to reset your mind for the business day ahead.
Adapt these tips to design a remote daily routine that you can consistently stick to. Complete as many tasks as you can each morning to set you up for the day.
Now, relax in the evening guilt-free knowing that you’ve accomplished a lot through creating a morning routine!