We’ve all heard the stories. The highest performers and leaders in every industry talk about how they wake up 2 hours before the crack of dawn, do yoga and meditation, workout twice, and have an optimal breakfast to get their day going. It seems almost magical. And while they’re starting to work, we’re still trying to get up out of bed. A morning routine is likely one of the most effective ways to maximize your day’s productivity. And I’m going to show you how to get the most benefit out of it.

“But wait, I can’t magically start waking up at 2AM to be able to do all this. I have a life. There’s no way this is for me.” Early rising is the most misunderstood thing about developing a morning routine. Yes, it might be true that most people you probably hear about wake up early. But that’s not the point of a morning routine. You could wake up at 2 P.M. for all I care. [I actually do care for health reasons but that’s for another time (: ].

Imagine for a second that you had just quiet time for yourself all day. You don’t have to worry about work, school, or e-mails. You can just focus on what’s essential to you. How would you use that time, whether it’s to relax, learn or spend time with close ones?

Your morning routine provides that for you, even if for just a short time per day. That’s my idea of a CEO morning: one that you own. You gain a sense of control in your life. And that feeling lasts. Doing that first thing in the morning gives you tremendous momentum for the rest of the day. The routine is independent of what time it starts. What matters is consistency to what you want to do.

So how do you start to develop a morning routine?

Step 1: Wake up at the same time. Every. Day.

This is probably the most important thing about a morning routine. You have to actually have a start time. There are numerous health reasons to do this already to maximize your sleep. But at the end of the day, your routine really works when you have a fixed point to actually start it. By doing this, sticking to it becomes magically easy.

This may seem obvious. But let me really emphasize the “everyday” part. That means weekends too. Your morning routine isn’t so you can get ready for work faster on some parts of the week. It’s meant to be a way to kickstart any one of your days so you can put your own needs first and have the energy for whatever other tasks emerge, weekday or weekend. As you can see from my own schedule, I make no exceptions.

 

In my experience, switching around your routine start time like that only makes it tougher to stick to the rest of your schedule. Having a set time without any conditions allows your mind to instantly feel ready to do whatever is needed. Remember, your body has no concept of a weekday or weekend. Don’t try to force one on it.

Make sure that whatever time you pick though, you can get an adequate amount of sleep each night. If you’re jumping between 4 and 6 hours of sleep, this morning routine won’t nearly benefit you as much as getting a full night’s rest every day.

Step 2: Properly Decide Timings And Activities

This is my personal list of priorities in the morning:

• 5:15 AM: Wake up
• Meditate for about 20-30 minutes
• Brush Teeth
• Head to Gym and Workout
• Be Back Home around 7:30
• Shower, Get Ready, Eat
• Start working at 8:30

You might be wondering where are the exact timings that other CEO schedules have. At what time do I head to the gym? At what point in my shower do I soap? What two minutes do I use to floss?

While I’m sure schedules can be a powerful tool in certain contexts, I’ve never really grown fond of them. Using them, I’m constantly looking at the clock to time everything perfectly. Having to make sure I’m getting everything by the minute makes my mornings feel rushed, exactly the opposite effect of what I want. I just like having a general idea of what I’m going to do. And as long as you follow Step 3 below, I don’t think you should have too much of an issue doing everything on time.

But be specific and conscientious about what you’re doing. The time before you start your normal day is likely the most free time you’ll have. Mornings are really just an amazing and easy opportunity to invest in yourself. For example, if you want to meditate more but can’t find time, just wake up 15 minutes earlier and make it the first thing you do.

Making a list that’s easy for you to follow is more important than a complete schedule. Not having to feel anxious about timing is what keeps me relaxed for the first 3 hours of the day so I’m ready to go afterwards. Don’t think the CEO mornings are about squeezing every last second out. Even if it is, is that how you want to wake up every morning? Doesn’t sound nice to me personally.

Step 3: Avoid Your Phone (And/or similar distractions)

This is probably the biggest killer of any type of routine, but especially for morning routines. You can schedule out the perfect morning, but none of it matters if you end up scrolling through Facebook or Instagram without thinking. And before you know it, you were supposed to be at the gym 20 minutes ago. Sure, you could make it a part of your schedule. But I doubt many people are trying to build a solid morning routine to check up on social media. Most of the time, we check it out of habit and don’t control our time on it.

I had to learn this the hard way. For the past three years I had this old Samsung Galaxy S5. Worked great for what I needed, but it was so slow it would take maybe 10 seconds to open up an app. That wait time basically ensured I wasn’t mindlessly browsing any apps. But this year I got a brand new flagship phone. And I’m sure you could tell where that left me.

However, I did learn some techniques to make sure that I stuck to my schedule.

 

• 1. Make it difficult: You can see how I designed the apps on my phone to make it harder to find. They’re not on my home screen and I put them in folders in a random location. This means I really have to make an effort to open them so that way I won’t be mindless about it.
• 2. Do Not Disturb: Most of us don’t have something urgent to attend to on our phone in the morning. I don’t mean important. I mean urgent. There’s a difference. When was the last time you had to respond to something ASAP when you woke up that you literally were unable to do later? With no notifications too, this is a quick and simple method to keep your mind off your phone.
• 3. Delete Your Apps: If you really have no control over yourself, I’d recommend deleting your apps. This goes beyond your morning routine. You should be able to live without it. I had to do this when I realized I’d keep going on YouTube, realize I shouldn’t be in it, and still watch some random video. As soon as it was off my phone, I wasn’t missing it that much.

(Optional, but Recommended) Step 4: Wake Up Early

I know I said this wasn’t necessary. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. There’s a reason you hear so many top performers liking to wake up so early. Being able to start your tasks before everyone else has even woken up gives you a huge boost in productivity and mood. Your days feel much more complete and whole, even though all you did was shift your sleep timing. And it’s an overall healthier mechanism for your circadian rhythm (assuming you don’t take this to an extreme).

I’ll make a post soon about how you can schedule your sleep to wake up earlier. But understand that it is very likely that you’re capable of doing this, even if you think you can’t. Look into bumping your wake-up time even an hour or so. If it doesn’t seem to be contributing much to your day, forget about it. It’s certainly not for everyone. But if it does, consider what you earliest and optimal wake-up time could be to really reap the benefits.

I hope you find having a morning routine beneficial for your daily life and productivity. It’s certainly helped me the past few years. Don’t think you have to stick to it perfectly and that it can’t change. The point is just to have some time that you truly have control over and you can use for yourself. That’s how you can get a CEO morning.

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