Morning routines for creatives

Do you have a morning routine?

For the longest time, I didn’t. I’d roll out of bed at the last possible minute, throw on clothes, brush my teeth, slap on some SPF, and rush out the door. In my head, the few extra minutes of sleep was well worth starting the day off on a harried note. However, I work an extremely creative job, and when I arrived at the office at nine I found that I wasn’t quite ready to dive into my creative projects, despite the fact that typically mornings are my most productive, creative time of day.

I finally decided I couldn’t keep hitting the snooze button and I needed at least some semblance of a morning routine. I think all creatives need a morning routine, regardless of if you wake up at 5 am or 1 pm. So let’s talk about morning routines for creatives and designing a routine that works for you personally. I’m not here to tell you that you have to fit in a workout and elaborate breakfast and journaling session before you get started for the day, although if that works for you, that’s amazing. I’m here to illustrate the way that even five extra minutes can make your mornings feel calmer and prep you to feel more creative throughout the day.

I’m a morning person, but I’m a weird morning person. Actually waking up and getting out of bed often feels like the hardest thing I’ll do all day. I always joke that “morning Molly” is a fully different person than “night Molly.” I’ll go to bed with great intentions (in bed early, no screen time before sleeping, fully intending to wake up as soon as my alarm goes off) and then once the morning rolls around all of that motivation is completely and totally gone. Despite all of that, I actually love being awake and getting my day started early. As I already mentioned, the morning is when I feel the most creative and productive. This is an extremely long winded way of saying that if you struggle with a morning routine, I totally feel you, so let’s talk about some options.

Here’s what my morning routine looks like now. When I wake up, I immediately let my dogs out, get dressed, quickly do my makeup, and make coffee and a smoothie. I do everything I can to make this as quick and easy as possible. I set myself up for success by choosing my outfit the night before, also making sure I always go to bed with the kitchen clean so that breakfast prep is as quick and easy as possible. Then I have about ten minutes of chill time. On nice days, I sit outside in my yard and soak up a little sunshine. When it’s less nice out, I sit on my couch and reflect on my upcoming day for a few minutes. Depending on how I’m feeling, I might do a quick meditation or tarot pull to get the day started. 

These few minutes where you do something for yourself–even if it’s literally just sitting in the sun for ten minutes–is the ticket to morning routines for creatives. It doesn’t matter if you do a whole workout, shower, meditation, and sit-down breakfast, or if you sit there for a few minutes and sip your coffee before it’s time to leave for work. What matters is that, in some small way, you’re prioritizing yourself before your day gets started. When I was working as a teacher, I would wake up at five to go run or lift weights before work, and then I’d eat my breakfast in a quiet classroom before my students arrive. That no longer works for me, and that’s okay. The ten minutes where I prioritize myself is a perfect morning routine for my needs now, and helps me get my day started on the right foot.

Here are some ideas of things you could include in your morning routine for creatives. If you currently have no morning routine, maybe pick just one thing and see if you can stick with it for a while before you commit to anything else.

• Gratitude journaling (here’s a link to a 5 minute journal that I like!)
• Five minutes of stretching
• Listening to a song that makes you smile
• Drinking your morning beverage sitting down and actually savoring it
• Spending a few minutes cuddling with your kids or pets (if they allow it)
• Spending a few minutes reading
• Going for a short walk around the block
• Doing a quick meditation
• Doing a quick tarot or oracle pull
• Doing a short yoga video (I like Yoga With Adrienne)
• Doing a soothing skincare routine or facial massage

The great thing about a morning routine is that you can always tweak it. If you want or need something more elaborate than what I’ve suggested, you can practice waking up ten minutes earlier each week and adding in something new. If you’re already awake but don’t know what to do with yourself, you can add in one or more of these activities to make your morning routine feel more peaceful and better prepare you for the day ahead.

Do you have ideas for morning routines for creatives? If so, drop it in the comments below!

Good luck, and happy creating!