Add something to your morning routine

New schedules offer a chance to build new habits

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to add something to your morning routine. September
is a great fresh start time for establishing new routines.

(00:27):
If you are getting everyone off to school and work
in the morning, Figuring out how to add something positive
to the regular run of show can make every day better.
So this episode is first airing on the Tuesday after
Labor Day in the United States. Lots of kids will
be going back to school today, but even if that

(00:49):
is not a part of your life, September can feel
like a new beginning. Summer has ended, things are perhaps
back to their usual pace. Many people use the occasion
to rethink their routines. If you've got kids starting in
new schools, or their schools have new start times, or

(01:11):
their buses are coming at different times, things are going
to have to change. As one example, my fifth grader
starts at middle school this year. Last year, the elementary
school day started at nine ten, which meant he didn't
really need to be up and moving until about eight twenty. Yep,
believe it or not, but this year, the middle school

(01:32):
starts at eight. If he takes the bus well, that
comes around seven twenty, which is a full hour before
when he even had to be up last year. Clearly,
the morning routine is going to shift, but as it does,
you can take the occasion to ask yourself if there
is anything you would like to add. The upside of

(01:54):
a morning routine is that we do it over and
over again. It becomes automatic. If you can consciously build
something fun or meaningful into your mourning, it will become
a part of your life, benefiting from the compounding that
comes from repetition. So if you build five minutes of

(02:17):
journal writing into your morning, most likely journal writing will
become a habit. If you do twenty pushups and twenty
setups each morning, you will get stronger. If you snuggle
with your kid or your partner first thing each morning,
you will probably feel closer. If you text a friend
each morning, maybe a different one each morning, but rotating

(02:38):
through a few, you will probably deepen these friendships through sheer,
repetitive connection. The addition doesn't have to be big. If
you are getting other people ready for the day, it
probably can't be. Most of us don't have the option
of doing three hour morning routines that involving ninety minute workout,
a cold plunge, sixty minutes of meta vitation, or what

(03:01):
have you. But a few minutes is fine. You can
do a lot in a few minutes. And if you
do whatever it is over and over again, you will
see results. So think about what you would like to
add to your life. Think about what might be meaningful
or feel like a good addition to your day. Think

(03:24):
about the logistics. Where could you find five minutes? Maybe
you could find ten, or maybe you can only find two.
But I think you can still find something, and morning
by morning, life will start to feel full of possibility.

(03:46):
In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for
listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

(04:07):
you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.