Your Morning starts the night before. A great bedtime routine will make your morning easier. If you struggle with getting up early then you need to go to bed earlier. An easy morning doesn’t happen by accident, you have to set yourself up to win the morning. A great evening routine includes going to bed early, turning off all screens and unwinding before you go asleep.

It is really important that you get a good nights rest if you want to get up earlier. Sleep is one of the most important factors that effects your quality of life. You need to work hard to make sure you get enough.

“It is really important that you get a good nights rest if you want to make your morning easier.”

It is very easy to be lazy and stay up late watching TV for several hours before bed. It is normal to binge watch series’ on Netflix. How often have you been tired and thought, I will just watch one more episode. Instead of going to bed at 10.30 you go to bed at 11.30. By the time you get to bed and fall asleep it is probably closer to 12.30.

Going to bed later makes it difficult get up earlier. If you are a parent and you want to get things done, the best time is early in the morning before your kids wake up. If you plan to get up at 6.30 AM then going to bed at 12.30 AM is too late. While you can survive on 6 hours sleep your body will more than likely need more.

The best thing to do is work backwards. If you want to get up 6.30 AM then plan to go to bed 8.5 – 9 hours before. That means going to bed at 9.30-10:00. You may not sleep for the full 9 hours but being in bed for this long allows you time to relax and fall asleep.

This sleep routine is not for everyone and it’s impossible to maintain all of the time. Life often throws unexpected things at you that puts you off your rhythm. Babies, travelling, and your social life can often put you off course.

It’s important to make bad sleep the exception and not the rule. Do your best to get as many good nights sleep as possible each week. It is fine for your sleep routine to be occasionally messed up. The key is realise it and get back on track as soon as possible

I love to train for half marathons and it takes a lot of time. 5-6 hours each week. This is almost an extra work day per week. In the evenings after I put the babies to bed I’m usually too tired to go running. The only time I can train is in the morning.

When it comes to half marathon training, I train 7 days per week. That is broken down into 3 runs, 2 strength workouts and 2 days stretching. It is a big commitment. On the running days I need 1-2 hours of time to train. I make this time in the morning.

To get up early, I have to go to bed early. Otherwise, I am to tired to train. Running, is the hardest thing that I do each day. That’s why I like to plan it for the morning. Doing the most difficult thing first makes the rest of the day seem easier.

This morning discipline sets me up for the day and helps to cope with the stress of parenting and working full time. After I run, I come home stretch, meditate and plan my day. I find that planning and then reviewing my day is one of the best ways to improve.

Reviewing my day is one of the greatest lifehacks that I have ever learned. When you wake up in the morning, write down three things that you are grateful for and three things that you want to get done. At the end of the day review how your day went.

Since, I began reviewing the day, my life has got much better. It forces me to get my to do list done and live a little as I don’t want my diary entry to be boring. If you are looking to improve your life then this simple little trick will help you immensely. Reviewing my day is how I begin my evening routine.

Here is a sample bedtime routine to set you up for the next morning:

• 9:00 – 9:10 – Review the day
• 9:10 – 9:20 – Stretch/Breathing Exercises
• 9:20 – 09:55 – Read 20 pages
• 9:55 – 10:00 Brush My Teeth and Pack My Bag/workout gear for the next day

The last hour before I go to bed and my first hour in the morning are sacred to me. If I get these two hours to myself in the morning and the evening then I have had a great day. They have to be scheduled and it takes a lot of discipline to make it work.

If you have a great evening routine and get a good nights sleep then you will find that your mornings are much better. I find that if I follow my routine and go asleep early I wake up before my alarm. Waking up naturally before your alarm feeling well rested is a much nicer way to wake up.

The last hour of your day and the first hour of your day should be sacrosanct. These are the easiest times to take control of your life and get some time for yourself. If you have children then the evening time is the time when they sleep and you can get stuff done in peace.

Use the hour before you go to bed to unwind and get to bed earlier. This makes it easier for you to wake up the next morning. Your morning begins the night before. Make sure that your screens go off early and you get a good nights sleep and it will make your morning much easier.

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