There can't be a good morning routine without a good sleep routine. I can't make my morning routine without the proper sleep time and sleep quality.
I agree 110%. I used to hate mornings, now I hate not having my me time. I've developed almost the same routine, except mine is two hours and I try to fit in yoga or walking the dog, interchangeably. I started to really value this alone, self nurturing time.
Rushing out the door is starting the day off in chaos. If I'm really short on time, then I choose between journaling, meditating and yoga, whichever I feel I could benefit the most. This routine works great for me when I'm working, but not so great for me when I'm in school, because I'm a late night studier. So I'm going to have to figure out what works while in medical school.
First off: I don't know what's making your content so sassy lately, but I dig it! Keep it up. It's awesome.
Over the years I started applying some these routine steps without thinking much about it. I'd realize that using my phone in the morning would fuck my mood up and just stopped doing that. Eating would make me feel bloated and uncomfortable, and since in Germany we had to work with corpses every morning for a couple of semesters, feeling the food in your stomach wasn't a great plan, so I automatically stopped eating breakfast. I would combine some stretching with mindfulness exercises and I'd feel like I could move mountains - which I did. Studying Medicine + rocking three jobs + experimenting with some YouTube videos + working out + making time for my hobbies and relationships.
And you know what?! I wouldn't be SHIT if I hadn't found your channel years ago, learning how to manage my time and work on my system to achieve my goals. Insane. Thank you for helping me (and many others!)
It’s no secret -- I love morning routines like how a fat kid loves cake, and maybe you should too.
In fact, I’m so weird that in medical school and residency. While doing plastic surgery, I often had to be in the hospital by 4:30AM Most of my colleagues would roll out of bed at 4:10, throw on some clothes, I would wake up at 3AM, take my time dropping the kids off at the pool with my strong orthoscopic reflex, brush my teeth, stretch, journal, meditate, make a meal replacement protein shake, wash my blender, and get out the door by 4AM so I could get to the workroom at least 10 minutes early. Am I really that nuts?
If you want to see what my current morning routine looks like, or what my morning routine in medical school and residency was like, I have videos of both on my Kevin Jubbal, M.D. channel. Links in the description below. First, drop the phone. Got an angry email from a colleague?What about a confusing comment on social media?
It starts with stopping the behaviors holding you back.” Chaos breeds chaos, and order breeds order. Start your day off with positive momentum with a small win b making your damn bed. Why should you make your bed?
As Admiral William H. McRaven said in his UT Austin commencement speech: “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. That you made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.” It doesn’t have to be perfect. I take no more than 60 seconds to make my bed, and that alone makes my sex dungeon, I mean bedroom, a much more pleasant place to be if it seems like a chore you’d rather not do, just practice doing it for a couple weeks and you’ll soon feel like it’s not a big deal because it really isn’t.
Take this opportunity to rehydrate and water is really all you need. Decreasing friction, even in small ways, is an underrated component in motivating yourself to perform certain behaviors. I know life is tough. I personally follow a 16/8 intermittent fasting schedule and start my feeding window at 12PM, several hours after waking up.
If you want to learn more about the science of nutrition optimization and intermittent fasting, make sure you’re subscribed as that’s a video I’m excited to release on our research explain series in the near future. I first roll out my thoracic spine on a Trigger Point foam roller which has Goldilocks firmness. Not too hard and not too soft. Given the compounding effects of starting your day off with such a simple yet profound habit, it’s silly not to do this every morning. Stick with it for a few weeks and reflect on how it makes you feel. You can thank me later.
Before looking at your phone and reacting to the feces flung your way by life’s proverbial misbehaving monkeys, take a quick moment to sit down and practice some mindfulness. I won’t go into the full details of how regular mindfulness practice will benefit you in multiple ways. Just remember that even Tim Ferris notes that over 80% of his guests of world class performers start their days with some form of mindfulness practice. Coincidence? I think not. This morning template includes writing about three gratitude’s, three long term goals, today’s targets, and affirmations.
Sometimes my three targets for the day aren’t even work-related, like on vacation days or days where I’m intentionally trying to unwind and relax. If this all seems overwhelming, that’s totally normal. After over 10 years of intentional morning routine experimentation, I found that these are the key elements to a masterful morning routine, but let me know with a comment if yours are different!
When it comes to implementing any sort of meaningful change in your life, having the right systems and processes to facilitate those behavior changes is key. And that’s why I love Notion. Notion is one of the most exciting note-taking apps and as taking the productivity and study world by storm Not only is it a powerful and flexible note-taking app, but its flexible structure and clean interface makes it a joy to use across multiple domains. I use it daily in managing my team at Med School Insiders and it has largely replaced Ever note as my go-to app in organizing my life. You can make a customizable to-do list, a calendar or planner with added flexibility, or even take class notes with the advantage of active recall.