What’s the best stress reliever? What is this powerful magic wand that will help us live more serenely? It’s the morning routine! We’d all like to have a calm day, but we don’t usually get it off to a good start. So it’s time to change things.

1 – What is a morning routine?

The principle is simple: get up earlier than usual, so you have time to do the things that make you happy.

A morning routine has many benefits. It improves our :

mental health (being more serene)
physical health
general culture
self-confidence
mood
knowledge of ourselves: our qualities, strengths, faults and weaknesses
sense of happiness
our whole life
When we read the list of benefits, the idea of getting up earlier immediately seems less “unnatural”…

A little clarification: getting up earlier means going to bed earlier. It would be a big mistake to sleep less. Sleep deprivation stresses us out and puts us in a bad mood. That’s not the point of a morning routine at all: happiness and a good mood are the only things on the agenda.

2 – Why do it in the morning and not in the evening?

Why in the morning and not in the evening? We’re tempted to do the important things in the evening, because we dread the idea of getting up earlier in the morning.

However, we know that urgent things are just as present in the evening as they are in the morning. What’s more, in the evening, we find ourselves tired and stressed from our day. That’s why the idea of relaxing in front of the TV is so tempting.

Mornings are therefore the ideal time to do the things that make us happy, because by getting up earlier, we find ourselves alone in our living room and can enjoy it. The laptop is on silent mode and the computer and TV are switched off.

In the morning, there’s no rush. We just have to work on our happiness.

You’ll find that once you’ve taken some time for yourself in the morning, your day will have a completely different flavour.

3 – The morning routine: the best stress-reliever, why?

The best stress-reliever is the morning routine, because it’s all about personalization. It’s made-to-measure time for you.

First of all, in terms of duration. It can last from 5 minutes to 1 hour. It all depends on what you need right now and how much time you have.

What’s more, its content can also change as your moods and possibilities change.

But if we’re free of everything, how do we know what to do?

To ensure that your morning routine is as effective as possible, and that you benefit from the best stress-reliever every day, here are the questions you need to ask yourself every morning:

Right now: What makes me tick? What makes me smile? And what’s important to me?

Important things are different from person to person. For example:

Reading
Writing
Drawing
Meditating
Doing yoga
Gardening
Go running
Learning a foreign language
Have a good breakfast
Take a bath
Listening to music
Singing
Or simply preparing a delicious breakfast…
Once we’ve figured out which actions will nourish us with joy and happiness, let’s program them into our morning routine!

Our program can change over time, either because we feel like doing something new, or because our tastes change.

Find out more:

I invite you to read these 2 complementary articles:

Discover Don’t feel like getting up in the morning, what can you do? 4 powerful tips
Discover Morning meditation: 4 texts for a good start to the day

In addition, I recommend this inspiring book on the subject:

Be Calm: Proven Techniques to Stop Anxiety Now by Jill Weber

As a keen reader of various self-help books, I found Be Calm to be a fantastic, succinct and helpful guide to overcoming anxiety. Relying on the best tips, the author gives excellent advice and achievable exercises.

In this book, you can count on finding insights into the nature of anxiety, as well as a range of techniques and routines designed to help you manage anxious thoughts and feelings. All with the aim of fostering a calmer, more balanced state of mind.
I’ve highlighted the whole book and I’m sure I’ll be referring to it from time to time to refresh my memory.

Thank you very much for reading this article.
If you liked it, let me know in the comments.

Take care of yourself.