Ok I’m not gonna waste any time - I know, that you know, that 90% of morning routine videos are bullsh*t and aren’t feasible to implement for most people.

So in this post I’m gonna break-down a simple 10 minute morning routine that you can actually stick to, and I guarantee it will change your life.

I know because it’s the same one that I use to manage a 13 hour work-day, 7 days a week, and still stay happy (yup, you heard that right). 

And really quickly before I begin, if you’ve seen some our older posts, then surprise, I, yea, the founder of The Healthy Kangaroo, have decided that I’m going to be writing our posts from now on.

If you’ve got any questions about anything, just send us an email or post a comment. 

Alright, here’s the routine: 

1. Get out of your bed to turn off your alarm. 

2. If it’s dark outside, turn on bright, overhead lights, otherwise, let natural light into the room.

3. Read through the background of your phone (I’ll elaborate on this in a bit) 

4. Hug yourself (no, that’s not a typo, you heard it correctly) 

5. Weigh yourself 

6. Drink a full glass of water 

7. Splash cold water on your face 

8. Wear an analog watch and stare at it for 1 minute. 

And you’re done. 10 minutes. 

So here’s why this has worked so well for me: 

First,

putting my phone far away from my bed forces me to get up to turn off my alarm and prevents me from hitting snooze 6 times before rolling out of bed like a groggy panda that ate too much food (lol).

Ideally, your sleep schedule is consistent enough that you don’t need an alarm to wake up because your circadian rhythm takes care of it for you.

But, life happens, and there have been plenty of times where my sleep schedule has been completely whack. 

Second,

if you’re like me, you usually wake up before the sun’s out. So turning on bright, overhead lights tricks your brain into thinking it's daytime.

The blue light that’s emitted from most artificial light sources is interpreted by your eyes as sunlight, which literally wakes your brain up. 

And if you wake up after the sun’s out, which is perfectly fine by the way, draw the blinds or open the curtains to let the natural light into the room.

If you can, go outside; that’s by far the best way to do this step of the routine, but if you can’t, it’s not the end of the world. 

Third,

read through the background of your phone. Ok, what on Earth does that mean? 

Well, in order to get my mind right for the day, the background of my phone is just a black screen, because it’s easier on my eyes, and white text. 

More specifically, it includes the following: 

• My long-term vision 

• My short-term goals 

• And mindfulness reminders 

The reason I do this is because it programs my R.A.S., which stands for: reticular activating system.

It’s just a fancy way of saying that when you remind yourself of something, like your goals, as you go about your day, you’ll identify opportunities to satisfy that reminder. 

For example, think of a reading comprehension test.

It asks you the question: What did the author say in line 15 of the passage?

What are you gonna do to answer that?

You’re gonna skim the passage until you get to line 15, you’re gonna pay attention to what’s mentioned in that line, and then you’ll answer the question. 

That’s how your R.A.S. works. 

When I remind myself of my vision, my goals, and mindfulness - things that I want to keep at the forefront of my mind - I’m much more likely to act in accordance with those things. 

The reason I include both my vision and my short-term goals is because it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture when you’re doing the, quote unquote, “boring work”.

For example, it’s easy to get sick of working a particular job and forget that it’s a necessary stepping stone to get to where you want to be in a few years. 

The reason I include reminders to stay mindful is because mindfulness is one of the greatest superpowers you can have.

From a focus, stress-management, happiness, and overall well-being standpoint, it’s one of the most useful tools in existence.

Practicing it will literally improve every aspect of your life!!

We’ll make plenty of posts in the future about mindfulness and its importance, so I’m not gonna get into it here. 

But if you want some inspiration, these are two of the reminders that are on my phone’s background: 

• Memento Mori - which is a phrase from stoicism that literally reminds you that you’re going to die.

• 5,4,3,2,1 - which stands for: name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. 

Lastly, before I move onto the next step of the routine, the reason I put all of this on the background of my phone is so that I can’t ignore it. Every time I check my phone, it’s there. 

Fourth,

hug yourself. Yea this is definitely weird, but it works, and for that very reason.

The point is to do something that grounds you in the present using physical sensations. 

And something as weird as hugging yourself gets you out of your head and into the present because you realize you’re being a weirdo with your hands wrapped around your torso like some kind of rare penguin (haha).

That’s a bad analogy but it’s the first thing that came to my mind because I rewatched Happy Feet last week. 

Anyways, if you have a partner or spouse who wakes up around the same time as you, you can hug them too, but still just hug yourself first.

It makes it even weirder when they stare at you hugging yourself, and that much more effective.

It’ll also probably give both of you a good laugh because they’ll make fun of you playing “too hard to get,” and take a picture of it to show your friends and relatives.

Don’t ask me why I know that. Please.

One last thing before I move onto the next step of the routine: from this point onwards, observe everything about your physical surroundings with INSANE detail.

For example, while you’re walking to the bathroom, pay attention to the temperature of the room, how it feels when you place each foot in front of the other, the sound the door makes when you open it, etc. 

This is a form of meditation called active meditation.

A common example of it is walking in nature and paying attention to the surroundings, but you can really do it anywhere, at any time.

The point of being really intentional about doing it throughout the routine is so that you continue to do it to some extent for the rest of the day.

Fifth,

weigh yourself. Yea I know that a lot of you don’t like this step, but let me remind you of something: what gets measured gets improved. Why? 

Because it activates your R.A.S., your reticular activating system.

Weighing yourself every morning not only gives you useful information, but it also makes you less likely to make poor choices when it comes to your health.

You’re more likely to exercise, get the right nutrition, get up to move throughout the day, etc. 

So by doing this you’re setting yourself up for a lot of success as the day progresses. Something I tell myself often is that if you can win the day enough times, you can achieve anything that you’re after. 

Sixth,

drink a full glass of water.

If you’ve gotten enough sleep for you, which varies from person-to-person, and honestly from day-to-day, then you’re more than likely dehydrated when you wake up. 

Drinking a good amount of water, for simplicity’s sake, will further help with waking your body up, and it’ll help stimulate bowel movement.

This just means you’re more likely to take a piss or take a dump, which is good for you because your body’s getting rid of bad sh*t by doing so - no pun intended ;)

Seventh,

splash cold water on your face. Even if you’re gonna shower in the morning, still do this. 

There aren’t many things that wake you up like cold exposure.

And by this point since you’ve grounded yourself by being a weirdo with the self-hug, paying attention to the physical sensations brought about by the cold water is another great opportunity to practice mindfulness. 

Pay attention to the temperature, the weight of the water, the speed that your hands move at, the tingling feeling that follows, the droplets of water sliding down your face, etc. 

Eighth,

wear an analog watch.

I’m suggesting an analog watch because it’s the cheapest, but you could also use a digital watch as long as the clock is always visible. 

And not the kind of clock you see on a microwave, an actual clock. I like to see the hands of the clock moving, because they’re a constant reminder that time is ticking. 

That my most precious resource is being used up, and that it’s up to me to either use it well, or let it pass by. The ladder is easier, but the former makes present-me, and future-me, happy. 

And personally, wearing a physical watch is another constant mindfulness reminder.

So even when I’m not looking at my phone to catch a glimpse of my background, being able to feel the watch on my wrist reminds me to stay mindful and present.

This in turn reminds me of the other things that I have on the background of my phone. 

Keep These In Mind!

Once you’ve done this routine for a few days, it won’t take you more than 10 minutes to do, but mentally, it will set you up for a fantastic day!

One where you act in accordance with your vision and goals & one where you’re mostly present so that you can experience reality for what it is. 

Both the good and the bad, because I think every emotion is a part of the human experience. The good feels great, and the bad makes you grateful for the good.

And I say mostly present because no one’s present 100% of the time, but mostly is better than not at all. 

Furthermore, there are obviously some prerequisites to doing this routine, like having a weighing scale, having a meaningful phone background, a watch, etc.

So please have these things in place. Personally, even though these things cost money, I see them as investments that give me a return, every single day. 

Lastly, if you want to do other things, please feel free to incorporate them!

You can just do what I’ve outlined here or you can add more to it - customize it for your needs.

The entire routine is such a low time-commitment that you can be pretty flexible with it.   

That’s A Wrap!

I hope you found this post valuable.

If you did, consider sharing it with someone you think it could help. The bigger our community, the more we can all help each other :)

Thanks again!

Your Internet Siblings,

The Healthy Kangaroo Team ;)