Feeling stuck? Not With This Productive Summer Morning Routine

Summer is around the corner, and it’s a perfect opportunity to refresh our morning routines to boost productivity and get things done. But…What does a productive summer morning routine look like? Here are my top tips to stop feeling like you are wasting time in summer mornings and reconnect to your greatness.

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Why Is It Important To Have A Productive Summer Morning Routine?

What I love about having a productive summer morning routine it’s that it sets you up for success and allows you to start off the day feeling positive and organized.

The warm weather and the longer days during this time of the year are the perfect excuses to tweak your morning routines and add new habits that help you be more disciplined and consistent 💪

No more feeling stuck or like you are wasting your time in the morning: with the proper routine, you can set a productive tone for the rest of the day and make the most out of summertime.

What Is The Most Productive Summer Morning Routine?

The best way to start off your day feeling refreshed is by adopting specific habits that beat procrastination and sluggishness.

There are a thousand routines you could copy, but here’s a basic 12-step summer morning routine that you can adapt to your personal preferences:

Prepare yourself the night before
Wake up early
Make your bed
Drink water
Take a cold shower
Meditate
Say affirmations
Stretch
Have a complete breakfast
Plan your day
Read
Do a short cleaning session

Prepare Yourself The Night Before

The best way to start your summer morning routine is actually the night before!

The key here is making some plans to be more than ready for the following day.

First things first, you have to calculate when you have to go to sleep to wake up refreshed.

For that purpose, I’m a big fan of sleepcalculator.com, which tells you exactly when you have to go to bed and when you have to wake up to rise in between 90-minute sleep cycles.

Second, to avoid stress and frustrating ‘I-don’t-have-nothing-to-wear’ situations, choose the outfit that you’re going to wear the next day, even your shoes and accessories!

Plan your outfit and hang it on a hook on the back of your closet door or fold it neatly and place it on a chair.

💡Pro tip: Charge your phone an hour or two before going to sleep with a turbo charger. I get so upset when I go to my office and my phone dies, just when I need it the most!

Wake Up Early

make-your-bed — By Sarah Brown, Unsplash

Waking up early has had a huge impact on my mood and productivity.

In the past, I wished my day had 32 hours to complete all my tasks.

But, when I started waking up three to four hours earlier, I understood that those hours were the ones that made all the difference.

Plus, did you know that early risers tend to be more cheerful and healthy?

According to this 2012 study, morning people report higher levels of positive emotions and a better metabolism than night owls.

So, I think that the proverb ‘The early bird gets the worm’ was true after all!

💡Pro tip: If waking up feels impossible, don’t think about it too much. Use the 5-Second Rule from Mel Robbins, which is basically counting backwards and jumping out of bed like a NASA rocket.

Wanna keep track of your summer habits?

In my Summer Planner, you’ll be able to keep track of your new habits, the movies you want to watch, the activities you plan to do, and get organized to make the most out of summertime. My readers love it!

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Make Your Bed

You might be asking yourself: ‘Why should I bother making the bed if I’m going to undo it at night?’

I used to think the same way and leave my bedroom looking like a mess.

But the reason behind making your bed first thing in the morning is simple and powerful at the same time.

And it’s that it gives you that sense of accomplishment that fills you with pride and encouragement to tackle all the next tasks of the day.

This way, the small action of making your bed, apart from leaving your bedroom looking fabulous, kickstarts a chain of good habits that helps you feel more competent and productive.

That’s a double win if you ask me!

💡Pro tip: Summer is the perfect time to open the windows of your bedroom to bring in fresh outdoor air. Ventilate your room for half an hour to improve indoor air quality.

Drink Water

We’ve heard this recommendation from doctors a thousand times, right?

But it’s during summer when this becomes crucial for your health: high temperatures are awesome to play in the pool, but you can get easily dehydrated if you don’t drink enough water.

According to science, the human body is made up of 60% water, so drinking a gallon of water throughout the day is just about right to prevent headaches, fatigue, dizziness, and other unpleasant symptoms.

Drinking two to three cups of water on an empty stomach after making your bed thus will help you release toxins, improve your metabolism, and maintain healthy hydration levels right from the start of the day.

💡Pro tip: have a nice water bottle always next to you to make sure you are getting enough water, not only after waking up but also throughout the day, even if you are on the go running errands.

Take A Cold Shower

I used to prefer warm water when taking a shower, but now that I’ve tried cold showers, girl, I’m obsessed!

The cool thing about cold showers is that they help you feel more alert and increase blood flow while reducing inflammation, so you’ll have both your brain and body more than ready to start the day.

Now, not many people like icy water first thing in the morning, but its amazing perks are worth trying it out.

For me, it’s been a total game-changer and I love how it leaves me feeling so fresh.

💡Pro tip: To get an idea of how cold the water should be to enjoy its benefits, try to shower in 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit water and adjust it to your personal preferences.

Meditate

If you want to stay focused, relaxed, and productive throughout the day, try meditating in the morning.

There are different types of meditation; some people like to focus on the sounds of nature and soothing music, while others prefer to focus on their breathing.

Some like guided meditations, while others prefer to meditate on their own.

No matter which type of meditation you choose, sticking to a consistent practice is key.

Take advantage of the warm weather and go outside to enjoy the fresh air and a relaxing meditation session.

A meditation session can last from 5 minutes to 1 hour or even more, but the mere act of meditating is healing in itself.

💡Pro tip: a basic meditation session you can try is focusing your attention on the act of inhaling and exhaling and the movement of your belly or chest while listening to relaxing sounds and music. InnaPeace offers a fantastic meditation program where you’ll be able to clear your mind, reduce stress, and boost your focus through soothing sounds and breakthrough brainwave guidance technology. Check it out here!

Say Affirmations

“I’m not enough”.

“I can’t do it”.

“I’m terrible at this”.

These are some of the negative things with which we self-sabotage ourselves.

But there’s a tool that can help us change our mindsets and that’s affirmations.

Affirmations turn your negative self-talk into positive statements that boost your confidence and self-esteem.

Repeating these affirmations will make your brain take them as facts and give you the strength to tackle the challenges ahead.

For example, instead of saying ‘I’m not enough’ or ‘I give up’, which hold you back from reaching your dreams, you can say ‘I’m brave’, ‘I can do this and I’m capable of so much more’, ‘I’m doing my best and making progress’.

See? There are no excuses!

💡Pro tip: You can say your affirmations during your meditation session or after it. Make a list of your negative thoughts and replace them with positive, uplifting statements. Close your eyes and repeat the list of affirmations ten times. You can place a hand on your chest while saying them to express gratitude and reduce stress.

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Stretch

Now it’s time to activate your body with an energizing stretching session.

While sleeping, our bodies accumulate tension, so stretching your body is a wonderful way of relaxing your muscles and also correcting your posture.

Are you gonna stay seated all day? Then stretching is even more important.

Stretching your legs, arms, and neck will help you not only increase functional mobility and blood flow but also reduce the risk of injuries.

Some people go jogging or do a whole workout in the morning, but stretching is a low-impact way of moving your body that has several energizing benefits too!

💡Pro tip: get a yoga mat (even the one you use to meditate) and stretch your neck, shoulders, abs, quads, and calves. Rotate your wrists and ankles. Hold each stretch for about 30 seconds. You should not feel pain; stretch slowly and gently.

Have A Complete Breakfast

Your body and mind are fully awoken now; what’s next?

It’s time to have breakfast!

Breakfast will help you replenish the glucose and nutrients that your body needs for daily activities.

This way, you get to keep your metabolism up for the rest of the day and ingest a great part of the vitamins and nutrients of your total nutrient intake for the day.

It has been found also that those who skip breakfast are less physically active than those who make time to eat food after a good night’s sleep.

So, if you want to achieve better mental and physical performance, make sure to include breakfast in your daily summer morning routine.

💡Pro tip: the perfect breakfast formula is protein + fiber + healthy fasts + calcium. My typical breakfast consists of a slice of whole-grain bread with two hard-boiled eggs plus yogurt with banana and pumpkin seeds. You can use it as inspo for your next breakfast!

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Plan Your Day

Full stomach, happy heart.

Now it’s time to plan your day!

I know that it’s tempting to make a long to-do list, but this ends up being too overwhelming to tackle and so frustrating when you don’t get through all the things in it.

It can even lead to procrastination if you see so many items to accomplish.

It’s better to set two to three priorities for the day and subdivide them into smaller tasks that you can complete in one sitting.

You’ll notice that focusing on what’s urgent will help you achieve your goals faster.

Plus, it feels so good when you’re able to cross out more items on your list!

💡Pro tip: handwritten to-do lists are more effective than digital ones. Grab a pen and a piece of paper and write down the tasks of the day. There’s scientific evidence that proves that these to-do lists reduce the burden on the brain!

Read

With so many things to do during the day and common distractions like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, finding time—and motivation—to read can get difficult.

Why not do it in the morning, before your actual day begins?

Including the habit of reading in your summer morning routine will help you absorb knowledge related to your topics of interest.

Do you want to beat anxiety? Read a book on that.

Maybe you want to be better at making sales…Read a book on persuasive communication.

What’s key here is that you can learn anything from books.

And this is all personal growth, believe it or not.

💡Pro tip: you don’t have to read a 250-page book in one sitting. Read 10 pages each morning and you’ll be amazed at how many books you’d have read at the end of the year. Check this post to access the list of my favorite books to get started.

Do A Short Cleaning Session

I will say it: I HATE CLEANING.

Not the results because, to be honest, it feels so satisfying to have my house looking pristine, but the act of forcing myself to get my cleaning tools and start cleaning.

I used to procrastinate and put off this task but doing a short cleaning session during my summer morning routine has been the solution to my hatred.

The trick here is cleaning one room or space each morning.

Thus at the end of the week, you’ll have made a full-house cleaning.

On the following days, you can do smaller routine cleaning tasks, like cleaning your office desk and chair or the bathroom mirror.

💡Pro tip: For even more motivation, use a timer for 15-minute bursts of cleaning. This way you’ll be more focused and do it faster.

do-a-short-cleaning-session — By Heather Ford, Unsplash

Bonus: The Basics of A Healthy Summer Morning Routine

Don’t Check Your Phone

After waking up, don’t check e-mails and WhatsApp messages on your phone.

I know it’s tempting and I’ve done that for so many years.

But squinting your eyes at your cellphone’s screen to read notifications in a half-awake state can trigger stress and may force you to reply to messages immediately (literally, this is me some months ago).

Keep your phone away and focus on your ‘Me’ time.

Don’t Snooze Your Alarm

If you have to wake up at 7 a.m., do you set alarms for 7:00, 7:05, 7:10, and 7:15?

If your answer is yes, you’re not doing any good to your body!

Intervals of interrupted sleep will only make you feel more tired at the end, so once you wake up, start your day.

To wake up feeling refreshed, make sure to sleep five to six complete sleep cycles of 90 minutes each.

Avoid Heavy Foods

Not all breakfast options are ideal to start off your day.

Foods high in sugar or bad fats will spike your blood sugar, but you’ll feel irritated or hungry after that spike of energy disappears.

Avoid sugary cereals, waffles, butter, fruit juice, and bacon, and replace them with healthier alternatives.

Leave Coffee For Later

Drinking coffee first thing in the morning isn’t the best idea.

I know, shocking.

But the scientific reason does make sense if you analyze it.

Turns out that having a cup of coffee right after waking up may affect your healthy levels of cortisol (the hormone of stress) and leave you feeling anxious and tired later on in the day.

So, what to do? Have your beloved Starbucks macchiato 3 to 4 hours after getting out of bed.

Use sunscreen

This applies to any season of the year, but above all in summer as we get exposed to sunlight more often.

UV rays cause some nasty effects, such as sunburn, damaged eyes, premature aging, and skin cancer.

That’s why using SFP 50 sunscreen is crucial to protect your skin.

So, from now on, make sure to include sunscreen in your daily skincare routine to enjoy a healthy summertime.

Ready for the best summer yet?

My readers are RAVING about my new Summer Planner because it allows you to organize everything: from movies, meals, and habits to summer activities, books, and goals. It’s a must-have to make the most out of this season!

OHH I NEED THIS

Well! Did you like this productive summer morning routine?

There’re lots of habits that we could include in our morning rituals, but what’s key here is cultivating our discipline to reap the wonderful benefits of taking care of ourselves.

Do you have any other recommendations or tips to make this productive summer morning routine even better?

Leave them in the comments! 😄

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