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January 6, 2016 by Joy Kincaid 25 Comments

The Secret to Successful Mornings

1.1K shares
  • 107

Wouldn’t it be nice if your mornings could go more smoothly? Wouldn’t you love a more productive start to your day? I finally learned the secret to successful mornings, and I’m excited to share it with you today!

secret to successful mornings

One of the most discouraging ways to start the day is to wake up knowing you’re already behind. You wake up late, the kids are already up, you don’t know what’s for breakfast, you don’t have a plan, and now you’ve got to play catch up for the rest of the day.
I know, I’ve been there. More times than I’d like to admit.
And sometimes there’s just not much you can do. The hard days are going to come, no matter how organized we are. Sickness (especially when Mom is sick) and various unforeseen events can hinder even our best-laid plans.
But here’s the good news—we can minimize the number of days like this that we have to experience! They can be fewer in number when we take time to plan ahead.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my disclosure here.

The Secret to Successful Mornings

In many cases, hectic and disorganized mornings are a direct result of what is not happening the night before. So revamping the night before is the necessary first step to revamping our mornings. ~Crystal Paine, Make Over Your Mornings
I first learned about “before bed” routines years ago from FlyLady. Here’s what she says about it:

[The ‘Before Bed’ Routine]…is one of our most powerful tools. This is the most important routine of the whole day! It is not the only one, but it starts you in the right direction every morning…The key to a calm morning is a Before Bed Routine.

Successful Mornings Start the Night Before

So, the secret to successful mornings is all the thought and preparation you put into the night before. Your bedtime routine is part of this.

Creating a before bed routine is one of the first steps in the Make Over Your Mornings course I’ve been going through. It’s such a key step for creating peaceful, productive mornings!

the secret to successful mornings

My Bedtime Routine

Here’s what my current bedtime routine looks like:

  1. Make sure the kitchen is clean and living room is picked up.
  2. Make a cup of herbal bedtime tea (this tea is my all-time favorite before-bed treat!).
  3. Wash face, brush teeth, dress for bed, apply lotion and lip balm (for some reason, ever since my teen years, I always have to have lotion and lip balm applied before bed!).
  4. Make to-do list for the following day.
  5. Get into bed and read something encouraging and peaceful.

More Ideas That Promote a Peaceful and Productive Day

  • Have a plan for the day.
  • Have meals planned and any necessary ingredients thawed and ready.
  • Set out items needed for breakfast.

The Importance of Getting to Bed on Time

This is such an important key to a successful day. Whenever I get to bed late I always regret it the next day.

I don’t think as clearly and I’m not prepared for what the day will bring. And often, going to bed late means getting up later, which means less productivity for the whole family.

Here’s some more wisdom from FlyLady:

You also have another attitude that is going to be the death of you: ‘I have no time for myself!’ So after everyone has gone to bed you stay up later and later, until you are barely getting enough sleep to function the next day. Then, in the morning, you hit the snooze button four or five times and by the time you finally drag yourself out of bed, you are already running late.

This makes for a stressed out, nasty attitude, yelling at your babies and running around like your head is cut off, not knowing where to turn or what to do next. The solution is so simple! GO TO BED AT A DECENT HOUR!

I am guilty of doing this very thing (the staying up too late part). Feeling like I can’t get everything done during the day and staying up too late working. This is why one of my main goals for 2016 is going to bed earlier. It truly makes a world of difference—and I’m actually a morning person. I love being up early in the morning!

Getting your rest will stop this downward spiral! With enough sleep you will be able to get up and spend some quiet time getting ready before you have to get the children up and dressed. Just fifteen minutes before the rest of the family will make a world of difference in your stress level. —FlyLady

Isn’t this encouraging? We can seriously decrease our stress levels and increase our productivity just by going to bed earlier, getting enough sleep, and doing a little bit of planning ahead for the coming day.

Related Post: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Homemakers

Pin This Post for Later

Why you need a bedtime routine for a successful morning!
And, if you’re ready to work on your evenings, I also highly recommend Crystal’s Make Over Your Evenings course:

Do you have a before bed routine? I’d love to hear about it!

The Secret to Successful Mornings

This post contains my affiliate link. Read my full disclosure here. Sharing here.
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Comments

  1. Ashley says

    July 25, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    Great tips and I love that you quoted others too! 3 cheers to smooth mornings. I also find perspective helps- what will happen if your late? Sometimes the worrying causes more stress than the actual consequences. I try to remind myself these tiny humans are still getting acquainted with following morning order.

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      July 25, 2017 at 6:19 pm

      That’s a great tip about perspective. Thanks for sharing, Ashley!

      Reply
  2. MIchelle Knight says

    July 24, 2017 at 10:22 am

    Having a definite morning and evening routine does work and helps the days more manageable. Starting out ahead instead of behind has helped me with four kids. I love the flylady and have followed her for years.

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      July 25, 2017 at 1:41 pm

      Thanks so much for stopping by, Michelle!

      Reply
  3. stephanieandthecookie says

    January 24, 2016 at 1:51 pm

    Thank you so much for the post ! It inspired mine today. By the way, I love your blog Joy !

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 25, 2016 at 4:28 am

      Thank you so much for your kind words, Stephanie! ♥

      Reply
  4. Sarah K says

    January 16, 2016 at 11:46 pm

    These kinds of things always make me sigh.. and laugh a bit too. My natural sleep cycle/rhythm is as a night owl. If I were to get up before 6 am, I'm dead tired by 3 pm and my house and kids are more out of control than ever! Ideally, my best sleep is between 1 and 8 am. Going to bed before 11 pm is a pointless exercise, because it doesn't matter how long I've been awake, I cannot sleep until closer to midnight. Unfortunately for me, I have morning birds for children. Which brings me to the other reason I do not get up before 8 am: the minute I'm up, so are my kids. So trying to get up before them is pointless.

    Ah well. A bedtime routine helps with the chaos of 5 young kids in the morning, and I cherish my alone time at night.

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 17, 2016 at 12:45 am

      I can totally relate, Sarah. I've had the same struggle! My 5 kids are older now (16, 14, 12, 10, and 6), so I have a bit more control over my schedule than I used to when they were all little. But it never works out perfectly. Different things work best at different stages of life. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Christina says

    January 10, 2016 at 11:56 pm

    I'm glad I'm not the only one who applies lotion and lip balm before bed!
    Christina
    http://www.ourwoodhome.com

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 11, 2016 at 2:53 am

      Lol! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one, too! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Sarah Yoder says

    January 9, 2016 at 8:10 pm

    Thank you! I love the reminder.

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 10, 2016 at 2:48 am

      Thanks for stopping by, Sarah!

      Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    January 7, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    Having raised myself from age five, not having a mother to nurture me, I feel lost here. My husband and I have four little lovelies. Two boys, two girls. My greatest struggle is being responsible for everything. My husband is barely home. We are a retired military family, and used to having long periods without husband/daddy around. But now that he is home for good, we are three years into our "new start" and still struggling. We have different sleep schedules, different work schedules. Do you have any posts that would be helpful here? Like I said, I'm lost. ~A Mommy In Need

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 7, 2016 at 9:56 pm

      Dear Mommy In Need,

      My heart goes out to you. We've had times in our almost 18 years of marriage that sound similar, and I know how discouraging it can be.

      Without knowing exactly what your particular situation is, it's hard to know what to suggest. Are you working different shifts? That's what I'm assuming since you said you have different sleep schedules and different work schedules. If that's the case, that is a complicated. I have seen other families who have made that work, but it wasn't easy.

      Here are just a few basic (general) home management principles that have helped me during difficult times:

      1. Create a before bed routine and try to get to bed earlier (easier said than done, I know).
      2. Create a daily schedule/routine.
      3. Create a simple meal plan. Even if you have to eat the same meals every week, or even if it's just cereal or frozen pizza—it's better than not having a plan!

      I know this may not seem like it would help much, but it's a start!

      I'm saying a prayer for you right now that you might gain victory in this area! ♥ {{Hugs}}

      Reply
    • Anonymous says

      January 7, 2016 at 11:24 pm

      Joy,
      Thank you so much for your response. I have actually tried all those ideas and continue to push forward keeping them implemented. The issues seem to stem from two different life styles. Mine and my husbands. I do not work on a regular basis. My work is here at our home full time. The life style I want to live is almost identical to the one I'm reading about in your blog posts. The one my husband lives is more likely found on BuzzFeed.com under "How to…pad your bachelor pad." For this season, Jesus is asking me to be still…very still. He is asking me to trust Him with all that I cannot control, and to focus on what I can and do that, only. So that means changing my bad habits (like getting in God's way), and so I started with my bible this morning and ended up here this afternoon. Since there never the only cure for pride is humility in Christ, I'll continue to read the wisdom God has in His mercy allowed you to share; and take one day at a time. Fighting on my knees. Thank you again for your encouraging words.

      Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 8, 2016 at 12:47 am

      Oh, I see. That is a frustrating situation. It sounds like you're on the right track, looking to Jesus and the Bible for help and guidance. Praying for you this evening!

      Reply
    • Leah says

      January 9, 2016 at 1:02 pm

      Anon, would he go to see a marriage counselor? Or if not, could you go by yourself? It seems like you and your husband might benefit from a little outside help?

      Praying for you!!

      Reply
  8. Charlene Maugeri says

    January 7, 2016 at 1:03 pm

    Ugh. I am so guilty of this. It's so bad. I've gotten up when my alarm first goes off twice this week. So that's one resolution that I'm already 50/50 on. And I haven't been going to bed any earlier. Thanks for the encouragement and motivation to be better about it!

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 7, 2016 at 8:22 pm

      You're not alone—I'm still working on doing this successfully too, Charlene! We've had a cold going around at our house this week (which I also got), and that has really slowed me down. I'm thankful that tomorrow is another day and I can start again! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Amy m says

    January 7, 2016 at 2:21 am

    Yes! Before bed routines make the mornings so much easier. I find that if I set out my clothes for the morning and make sure that I have all the mealtime supplies where I need them to be, then everything just seems to fall into place in the morning.

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 7, 2016 at 8:20 pm

      Setting out clothes is really helpful. I often forget to do that, but I should make it more of a priority. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your tips, Amy!

      Reply
  10. Sara says

    January 7, 2016 at 1:25 am

    I am a firm believer in routines and plenty of sleep!! With my children I sleep trained them from a young age and have a bedtime routine for them and myself. There is nothing better then having a well rested family (including mom!).

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 7, 2016 at 8:17 pm

      I agree, Sara—being well-rested (especially as a family!) is wonderful! It makes such a difference in how productive and peaceful the day is. 🙂

      Reply
  11. Growing Together in Grace and Knowledge says

    January 7, 2016 at 1:21 am

    It's funny, just before I sat down to read this post, I had made my lunch for work tomorrow and packed my lunch bag. I will also be laying my clothes out for work tomorrow.

    I fall into the category of staying up later to allow more time for myself, but you are so right, it really ends up sabotaging the next morning.

    Thanks for the great tips and encouragement for more productive mornings!

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      January 7, 2016 at 8:15 pm

      Wow, that's great! It sounds like you've done a great job planning ahead and being prepared for the day ahead. I hope you have a great day today, and thanks for stopping by!

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Joy. I'm so glad you're here! I believe creating a beautiful and nurturing home is an art worth cultivating. Read more here...

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