In 2021, the “that girl” trend took the internet by storm.
“That girl” is someone who wakes up early before 8 a.m., meditates, drinks smoothies, writes in a journal, exercises, eats healthy food, and takes vitamins.
Although this trend has died down, there’s still plenty of advice to cram as many “good” habits into your morning hours as possible.
We’ve all been obsessed with the perfect morning routine list on Pinterest and thought, “If only I followed that list, my life would be so much better.”
In fact, many times I’ve written an ambitious list of things I want to accomplish the next morning in the middle of the night, imagining myself tomorrow as a completely different person.
But when you wake up in the morning, you realize that you are the same person as always, the alarm clock has already gone to sleep, and you do not even have time to read the “list”.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to have the habits of “that kid.” After all, these activities themselves are good for you.
However, it is unrealistic to expect yourself to follow such a routine every day.
The more you let endless checklists control your life, the less you will focus on actually completing those tasks.
Of course, I’m all for spending time on things that are important, but you don’t have to be completely fulfilled to have a fulfilling life.
So what are the alternatives? What would a more realistic routine look like?
Review of routine
The way I think about routines and habits has changed a lot as I’ve gotten older, and I no longer try to do everything at once.
These days, I feel more comfortable taking things at my own pace and doing things the way I want. Essentially, don’t have unrealistic expectations.
My mornings are simple and repetitive.
I wake up and read 10 pages of the book I’m reading.
Then I take a shower, eat breakfast, and head out with my dog. The order depends on my needs at the time.
Sometimes I wake up and I’m hungry and I need to eat. Also, since you need to go somewhere, it makes the most sense to take a shower first. Sometimes my dog barks, so I take him right away.
After I do these things, I write for 30 minutes (you can read more about why I started this here).
That’s my very simple morning routine. Lose yourself in a book, get some fresh air with your dog, refuel with breakfast, or take a refreshing shower.
You don’t have to cram in all of these “good” habits to have a productive morning.
How to practice simple routines
Many of us think that if we can get lots of things done as part of our morning routine, we’ll feel better about ourselves. If you can develop “good” habits as early as possible, the rest of your day will go smoothly.
That’s true in a way, but if you keep telling yourself you’re going to do those things but don’t have the time or energy to do them, you won’t feel good about yourself.
It’s better to be realistic and add things slowly as you have the time.
At the end of the day, the key is to make time for small activities that bring peace of mind.
With that in mind, here are some things that have helped me create a simple routine that I feel is nurturing.
1. Keep it to a minimum
What I want to emphasize is don’t try to do a million things in the morning. If you don’t start small, you’ll end up overwhelming yourself. Start with your basic needs and then add one more thing that feels meaningful to you.
2. Keep things flexible
You don’t have to follow a specifically directed plan to be consistent. Feel free to rearrange the order of your tasks each morning as needed. If it helps you feel less overwhelmed in the morning, try writing down a “menu” of items to choose from.
3. Do what you want (and need) to do.
We tend to think that if we follow the exact same order that other people do their routines, we can be just as successful as them. Remember that you probably have different needs, different interests, and different responsibilities than other people. Success doesn’t come from a specific routine, but from your dedication to pursuing what’s important to you.
