10 minutes to a better morning

Morning routines don’t need to be elaborate. Ten minutes can change your life.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to create a morning routine
that even the busiest person can fit into his or
her life. This idea comes from Claudia Reuter, who's the

(00:23):
host of Critical Frequencies podcast. I was recently a guest
on this show, which talks about the varied career paths
that women in particular follow on the road to success.
While Claudia and I were chatting, we got to talking
about her morning routine. She likes to get up a
bit before the rest of her family. On a weekday,

(00:44):
that might mean between five thirty and six am. On
a weekend, it might be between seven and eight. Her
kids are teenagers, so they're self sufficient enough that they
don't need to bother her, but she finds it's helpful
if her house is quiet. After her showers, she stays
in her bathroom and locks the door. She sits on
the bath mat on the floor, sets the alarm on
her phone, and then meditates for five minutes. She focuses

(01:08):
on one word like blessed and on her breath. Five
minutes isn't a huge amount of time, but it turns
out to be enough to change how she feels. She
likens this to a computer processor needing to get cleaned
out from time to time. Once her head is cleared out,
she spends the next five minutes thinking about three things
that she's grateful for and visualizing what a great day

(01:30):
it will be. Then she heads into her kitchen for
her coffee. She writes down activities on her calendar, and
she journals about things she's working toward. What does she
intend to do during the day. When she looks at
her calendar, does her time align with her goals? Then
she goes about her business. All this meditating and setting
intentions takes just ten minutes or so of her morning.

(01:52):
But when she does this, she says, she knows it's
going to be a great day. I think this is
a wonderful idea. Often when we think of morning routines,
we picture multi hour sagas. Someone like Claudia, who has
a job, a podcast, two boys, a spouse, a house,
and a dog will likely find it challenging to meditate
for forty five minutes or do an hour long boot

(02:15):
camp every morning. But that's Okay, even a few moments
can set the tone for everything that comes. I was
reminded of this a few years ago when I saw
a time log from a woman whose mornings could have
been quite miserable. This particular woman lived in the Chicago
area and had a long commute that involved driving and
taking the train. The week she tracked was snowy, which

(02:37):
made the whole thing worse and adding to the misery.
Due to some challenges with her husband's job, she was
always responsible for daycare drop off for their two young children.
Any parents who do drop off will shut her at
this particular detail. Their daycare only head street parking. It
had become parking roulette every morning, will I get a
spot close by? Or will I be hauling two children

(02:57):
and their stuff in the snow for several blocks. In
any case, it made for some grueling mornings. She started
getting her boys coats on at seven in order to
be at her desk at eight thirty. But as I
looked at her log, I noticed the most curious thing.
She always got her boys fed and dressed by seven am.

(03:17):
The coat process started at seven ten, So what did
she do with those intervening ten minutes? It turns out
she spent seven to seven ten each morning playing with
her kids. They'd snuggle, tell stories, play with toys, all
that good stuff. I thought this was so profound. I mean,
she could have easily lost those ten minutes to checking

(03:40):
email or puttering around the house or standing there thinking
woe is me, I have this horrible commute coming up.
But instead she used those ten minutes for something to
add a little element of joy to her day before
they braved the traffic and the cold. Maybe you can't
have an elaborate morning routine right now, either, but could
you find ten minutes in ten minutes? What could you do?

(04:03):
Like Claudia? You could meditate and set your intentions for
the day, or you could lift weights, play with your
kids like the lady in Chicago, or write in a
journal or read something important. It doesn't have to be much,
but small things done repeatedly truly do add up. So
what can you build into your mornings today? In the meantime,

(04:25):
this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

(04:47):
and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the
number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i
heart media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out
with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

(05:13):
I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.