Whether the day is for writing, designing, or painting, the consistent practice of a morning routine is the doorway into it all. – Elle Luna

I’m a huge fan of habits – the good ones, that is (I have plenty of bad ones, but that’s for another post … or on second thought, maybe not… :-P). They keep my days organized, my mind focused, and my daily tasks humming along.

Good habits help me conserve mental energy for the things that matter most on any given day. The longer I stick with a habit, the more automatic it becomes, meaning I’m able to carry it out like clockwork without ever asking questions like, “What should do I do next?” or getting sucked into time-wasting rabbit holes disguised as cute-animal videos or shiny new shows on Netflix.

In a nutshell, good habits help me create more, and consume less.

Because I believe mornings can make or break one’s day, I thought I’d share 10 personal habits that help set me up for a productive day.

Before I begin, let me say that I’m not prescribing these habits for you to emulate; I want to share them in case there’s one or two you might like to try out. Every one of us is a special snowflake and thus require unique ways of doing things. However, I think one thing we all share is the need for solid habits, so if this post inspires you to think more about forming a few, then I’m a happy glamper! (I hate camping…)

Prayer

“Your first ritual that you do during the day is the highest leveraged ritual, by far, because it has the effect of setting your mind, and setting the context, for the rest of your day.”  – Eben Pagan

Starting my day with prayer puts me in my place, which is #3, to be exact: God first, others second, then me.

As an inherently selfish Homo sapien, my default mode is to do what’s best for me, serve myself, think small (because I, like all of us, am small), and fly off the handle when things don’t go my way.

Praying right after I open my eyes and greet the day aligns me with my Maker and reminds my soul that everything I do should be honoring not just to Him, but to others as well. It’s a peaceful practice that sets me up to conquer any obstacles that come my way, because I’ve invited God to fight for me, and to give me strength.

I also like to mediate on a Bible verse that speaks to a current area I’m struggling with, such as anxiety or fear. Meditating, like prayer, is incredibly powerful. It’s been shown to reduce stress, improve emotional stability and concentration, increase self-awareness, benefits cardiovascular and immune health, and slow aging.

 

“Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.” – Psalm 4:4

 

Drink My Greens

Some of you may have seen my beautiful green concoction pop up a time or two in my Instagram Stories. I personally love the G3 greens powder from Puori. Here’s the description, taken straight from the site:

“Puori G3 is made from the most nutrient rich leafy greens you can find. Being the science nerds we are, we analyzed data from more than 50 different types of vegetables. After we compared nutrient density scores we had our formula: powdered organic spinach, kale and parsley. This composition provides two servings of vegetables per serving of powder.”

I don’t think I have to spend any time trying to convince you that vegetables are healthy; we’ve been receiving the message since we were toddlers, for whom broccoli was the ultimate archnemesis of humanity. But it’s one thing to know something’s good for you and another thing to put that knowledge into practice.

Drinking my greens is quick and easy. Because the veggies are in powder form, there’s no dicing, chopping, juicing, or steaming. All I do is scoop out a serving, dump it into a glass, stir and sip.

While you don’t have to drink your greens first thing in the morning to get results (you can do so any time), I find it’s best to get it out of the way, as it’s an easy thing to forget as the day goes on and your micronutrient intake is the last thing on your mind.

According to Puori, you can add the powder “to a breakfast smoothie, muffin or omelet, to your lunch dish, your baked goods for snacks, to your sauce, lasagna, dip or meatballs for dinner — the possibilities are endless.” No excuses!

 

Make-Up

 

This one may seem silly, especially given that I work from home and typically don’t see anyone until 5 o’clock in the afternoon!

But…

There’s something invigorating about applying makeup, which is most likely due to the fact that it makes me look less like a zombie and more like a fully alert, nonhostile human being. I enjoy watching my face slowly transform from “ready to slip into my coffin” to “ready to conquer the day!”

I’ve heard other work-from-homers recommend donning business attire first thing in the morning, to which I enthusiastically say, “Do you, boo, but workout gear’s as fancy as I’m getting today!”

I’ll settle for makeup; it makes me feel more awake and put together, even when I’m wearing my pj’s and piggie slippers ;-).

 

I’ll be back soon with my next set of morning habits. Until then, let me know what your first morning habit is (besides visiting the restroom, please :-P). You can email me at diana.tyler86@gmail.com or tweet me @dandersontyler. I’d love to hear from you!