13 Changes To Actually Make Your Morning Routine Easier

If you've tried and failed to implement a morning routine into your life — and tried and failed again (and again) — you're not alone. We've all been there: You create a morning routine and dive into it headfirst with much enthusiasm, but sooner or later, it proves to be unsustainable, and you're back at square one. If this sounds like you, there's a good chance you're not the problem; your morning routine is. 

The bottom line is that morning routines aren't a one-size-fits-all situation. The morning routine that works for you probably won't work for your best friend, and vice versa. If you want to reclaim your morning routine, a good amount of customization to your specific wants and needs should be prioritized. So, when you're making it, customize away! Don't worry about following any morning routine template — the key to making your morning routine one that will stick is by making it enjoyable and easy to follow.

Even if you don't have a strict morning routine right now, chances are there are certain things you do every morning without fail. For example, you may shower every morning, and you almost certainly brush your teeth in the morning. When you want to add new habits into your morning routine, add them to habits you already do daily to help make them stick.

Adding new habits to existing ones is called habit stacking, and we love to practice it for a few reasons. First, habit stacking makes your new habits easier to remember. For example, if you want to begin taking a multivitamin every morning, take it right after you brush your teeth and keep your multivitamins next to your toothbrush as an easy reminder. Habit stacking also makes habits easier to remember to do — once you get into the routine of applying sunscreen after your morning shower, stepping out of the shower will be a trigger to remind you to slather it on.

Let's pose what's probably a familiar scenario: You wake up, climb out of bed, and have all the steps of your morning routine ready to go. Inevitably, you reach the getting dressed stage, and, perhaps suddenly, all hell breaks loose. Despite having a closet full of clothes, you have nothing to wear, and what should have taken five minutes out of your morning suddenly turns into a half-hour affair. Before you know it, it's time to run out the door, and you're forced to leave the rest of your routine undone. It happens to all of us, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. 

There's one simple, ultra-easy solution to this particular problem: lay out your clothes the night before. Taking the time before you go to bed to lay out an outfit for the next day could drastically reduce the time it takes you to actually get dressed in the morning, leaving you time to actually finish the morning routine you've so carefully constructed. Want to go the extra mile? Lay out everything you'll be wearing, including your socks, shoes, jewelry (and other accessories), and pack your work bag the night before, too. 

Few things are less energizing than waking up in a messy bedroom. Opening your eyes in the morning and seeing nothing but mess only adds another item to the already long to-do list in your head. We wouldn't be surprised if it delays you getting out of bed to avoid dealing with it. Want an easy way to avoid this problem for good (and get rid of one obstacle to accomplishing your morning routine)? Tidy your room the night before so you can wake up in a clean space. 

Waking up in a clean bedroom has more benefits to your morning routine than just helping you avoid the mental mess, though. For starters, a tidy room will have everything in its right place, meaning you'll spend less time looking for the hairbrush on your typically cluttered vanity. Going about your morning routine in a clean room can also help you remember certain parts of your routine that you usually forget because they're buried under clutter. For example, keeping your facial serums organized and visible serves as a great visual reminder to actually do your skincare routine. 

If you reach for your phone right after you wake up for a morning scroll and then find that it's harder to get up and go about doing your morning routine, there's a chance these two things are connected. Hopping on your phone can make your morning routine significantly more difficult to accomplish for a few reasons. First, there's a good chance you'll lose track of time while you scroll (or just blatantly ignore the clock) and end up getting out of bed at the last minute. Scrolling on your phone can also affect your mood — after all, who wants to get up after happening upon the latest awful news story?

The benefits of making your morning routine phone free can hardly be overstated. You're far less likely to linger in bed, mainly because there's nothing else pulling at your attention. You'll also be more centered and less distracted when you get out of bed. You won't have encountered an onslaught of information about your friends and the world at large, making it easier to focus your mind on accomplishing your morning routine. 

Are you always ultra sleepy in the morning? You're more of a night owl than a morning bird; in fact, there are few things you hate less than waking up, getting ready, and heading out the door. If this is the case for you, you might need a little extra morning motivation to get you up when your alarm goes off. This is where curating a killer morning playlist will come in handy. 

Listening to a morning playlist full of energizing songs that you love may be just what you need to get moving in the morning. If you're not sure where to start, head over to your favorite streaming platform and look for morning playlists — it's likely there will be at least one that has songs you enjoy. Feel free to play around with the vibe of your playlist, too. Some may find it easier to go through a morning routine while listening to a playlist full of the latest pop hits, while those who want to start their day on a calmer note might prefer a mellower, possibly even acoustic playlist. Once you've nailed down the type of music that wakes you up in the morning, make your own playlist filled with a bunch of songs in that vein.

Are you a morning runner (or trying to become one)? Maybe you just know you have to add exercise into your routine, and the morning is the only time you'll be able to fit routine exercise into your day. Especially if morning exercise is a new habit for you, it can be a hard habit to maintain. If this is the boat you're in, we recommend removing all possible excuses to not hit the pavement first thing, starting with keeping your running shoes next to your bed.

Keeping your running shoes next to your bed ensures that you'll see them when you wake up, which serves as a great visual reminder to actually go on that run. As far as removing other excuses not to do your morning exercises, employ any brain hacks you want here. You may even find it helpful to sleep in your workout clothes the night before, or at least keep them close by as another visual reminder. It may also help to add an incentive to the end of your morning run — for example, start a pot of coffee brewing before you head out the door, knowing it'll be ready when you return. 

It doesn't seem like it should take a lot of time to make breakfast in the morning, but sometimes it does. Going through the process of measuring ingredients and actually putting together a healthy breakfast can be a looming task when you're still groggy from waking up, and it may prevent you from eating breakfast at all. Luckily, if this is an obstacle you face, it's a fairly easy one to overcome.

Simply prepping your breakfast the night before can save you a whole lot of hassle when you wake up in the morning, and it can go a long way in making your morning routine easier to follow. As a bonus, some breakfasts that are ultra-easy to prep also happen to be super good brain fuel. Overnight oats, for example, are simple to put together in a jar at nighttime, and they're ready to eat when you wake up in the morning. If you prefer a smoothie, put all of the ingredients into your blender the night before and stick it in the fridge. In the morning, all you'll have to do is blend your smoothie and transfer it to a cup — easy peasy. 

It may go without saying, but making sure you can actually follow your morning routine also means making sure you're actually awake in the mornings. Everything is harder to do when you're tired, especially following a carefully constructed routine. If you get poor sleep one night and your routine falls apart the next day, we hardly blame you, but we do urge you to do what you can to make sure you're getting quality sleep every night. 

Having good sleep hygiene is key to getting good sleep every night, and if you feel like your sleep hasn't been up to par lately, there are some changes you can make that may help. First, as mentioned above, a messy room only contributes to mental clutter, and we wouldn't be surprised if you find it easier to fall asleep in a tidy room. You'll also want to make sure your sleep environment is as dark as possible. Wearing a sleep mask can help a lot here. Sleeping on clean sheets and in pajamas are also good habits to get into, and you should make sure your room is at a comfortable temperature, too. 

Another important part of your morning routine? Actually waking up. And one thing that can make waking up a lot easier is waking up at the same time every day. We know, there's nothing that sounds more appealing on a slow Saturday or Sunday morning than sleeping in, but throwing off your typical sleep-wake rhythm can make it way harder to go through your morning routine the rest of the week. 

Your body's internal clock determines when you'll naturally wake up and get sleepy every day, and keeping a relatively consistent sleep schedule will help your body keep a steady sleep-wake rhythm throughout your week. Yes, this also means it's good to not get into the habit of staying up super late on the weekends, as that will also throw off your body's rhythm and will only make you want to sleep in the next morning. Sure, waking up at the crack of dawn even on the weekends doesn't sound fun, but trust us, your body will thank you — as will that morning routine that's about to be a bit easier to follow. 

We all know the effect that an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere can have on our moods. It doesn't matter the aesthetic as long as you're in love with it. Fill your room with plants, paint it with pastels, or make everything crisp, clean, and bright — whatever you're obsessed with goes. The goal here is to make you want to wake up and get ready in the morning because you're positively obsessed with the space you're getting ready in. 

Make your bedroom (or walk-in closet, if that's where you get dressed) and your sink or vanity the most aesthetically pleasing spots in the house. A skincare organizer can be key to maintaining your morning routine, especially if it's an organizer you love to look at. Get matching apothecary jars for cotton swabs and cotton rounds, as well as matching droppers for all your skincare products. If you're a plant lover, situate some around your getting-ready space (as a bonus, this might remind you to water them, too). Revamp your closet so it's neat and organized; invest in some matching hangers and hang your clothes by color for a more visually appealing environment. 

If there's anything that can get us up in the morning without fail, it's the smell of a steaming hot cup o' joe. For some of us, coffee seems to run through our veins, and that's nothing to be ashamed of, especially if it incentivizes you to get out of bed in the morning. But, of course, you have to actually brew it, which can seem an insurmountable task when you're still halfway in dreamland. 

The solution? Take a quick trip to your local Target and buy yourself a programmable coffee maker (and thank us later). Programmable coffee makers let you get your coffee ready at night, and it'll brew on its own at a predetermined time in the morning. Frankly, it's a genius invention, and we wouldn't be surprised if you have one already. As a bonus, you can get one that looks as gorgeous as the coffee smells — we love Drew Barrymore's Beautiful collection. Try this morning routine hack if you haven't already, and if the smell of coffee isn't enough to make you want to leap out of bed in the morning, we don't know what will.

Want to know a very important part of making your morning routine easier? This step is probably one of the hardest, but it will seriously pay out in the end: Actually do your morning routine every morning. Yes, even on the mornings you don't want to, and yes, even if you have to rush through it. Making your morning routine a routine actually requires that you do it routinely in the first place.

We'll be the first to admit that we aren't all perfect, and because of that, perfection isn't something we want to place on you. On some mornings, your routine will be harder to do than on other mornings, and on some mornings, you may not do all of it — that's all okay. The important thing is that you don't give up. Keep trying to do your morning routine every single morning, and eventually, it will feel more habitual than it does now. When you do your morning routine successfully, pay attention to the accomplishment and satisfaction you feel, and use that to motivate you to do it again the next day. However imperfectly you do it, stick to it; we promise it will get easier with time.

Last but not least — actually, this may be our most important tip — make your routine one that you enjoy and look forward to doing before you fall asleep each night. Yes, there will probably be parts of your morning routine that are there because they "should" be, but even these can be given elements of joy. Make your shower more enjoyable by getting a body scrub that you love the smell of and that feels luxurious on your skin. Buy a coffee mug that you love to hold and that looks amazing next to the book that's sitting on your side table. Listen to music that fuels you or a podcast that fills you with joy and get some sunshine. When it comes down to it, it's easier to do things you enjoy doing; therefore, it follows that making your morning routine enjoyable will make it easier to do.

Only you know what will make your morning routine enjoyable, and we urge you to employ them, even if they seem a little self-indulgent. If a good morning helps make the whole rest of your day go better, why wouldn't you spend time curating it to be the best routine for you that it can possibly be? Go ahead and carefully curate a morning routine that you could see yourself falling in love with and stick with it; it may just become your favorite part of the day.