The way we start our day often predicts the quality of our day and quality of life. And it all starts with a good morning routine.
Today, I’m going to share with you my current morning routine for two reasons. First, I want this blog post to serve as my motivation or accountability to be consistent with my morning routine. Second, I hope that my morning routine will inspire you to start or continue your own morning routine so that we can have a better, happier, and more fulfilling life by God’s grace.
To give you a quick background, I started my 5AM morning routine last year, on January 28, 2020 to be exact. I was searching for a vision board inspiration on YouTube when I found Terri Savelle Foy’s 5AM morning routine video, and it changed my life in so many ways. Her 5 morning habits include:
- Exercise
- Pray / Meditate
- Review dreams and goals
- Read a book
- Listen to inspirational and motivational teachings
I tried to follow her 5 morning habits and tweaked them based on my core values, priorities, and schedule. I set my alarm at 5:00 AM and as soon as I hear my favorite Early Riser alarm music, I put on my earphones and start with my first morning habit which is…
1. Prayer and Meditation
5:00 – 5:15
While still in bed, I pray to God – thanking Him for this new day and asking for guidance and protection throughout the day. Then, I listen to my guided morning prayer meditation on my cellphone.
5:15 – 5:30
I get out of bed and walk around the house while listening and speaking God’s Favor meditation and positive affirmations.
I recorded my favorite bible verses and affirmations and uploaded them on YouTube. That’s what I’m listening to in the morning for my prayer, meditation, and affirmation.
2. Bible, Devo, and Journal
5:30 – 6:00
I go to the bathroom, wash my face, brush my teeth, and I prepare a cup of turmeric tea. Then, I go to the terrace upstairs for my quite time with the Lord. I spend the next 30 minutes reading the bible and devotions and writing in my journal.
I am currently reading Start Your New Life Today by Joyce Meyer for my devotions. On my journal, I usually write the things I’m grateful for, my prayer requests, and bible verses that speak to me at the moment and verses or quotes to keep me inspired throughout the day.
I’m so blessed to have this space at home where I can spend my early mornings with my Creator and experience His beautiful creations – the beautiful view of the sky, the relaxing sound of the birds chirping, the cool crisp morning air, the peace and quiet of the house while everybody is still sleeping, and a refreshed brain.
3. Exercise
6:00 – 6:40
I go downstairs, change my clothes, and go out for a walk in the neighborhood. Other times, I walk or jog in the treadmill at home and try to hit my goal of at least 5,000 steps a day.
John went to the wet market yesterday to buy our food for the week, but I volunteered to buy the fish/seafood and vegetables at the wet market when needed during my morning walk so that they’re still fresh when we cook them. This morning, I bought fresh tilapia and ampalaya for our lunch today.
I walked for about 30 minutes and achieved 3,000 steps. I do my best to achieve the additional 2,000 steps by walking around the house throughout the rest of the day.
4. Prepare Breakfast while Listening to Motivational Messages
6:45 – 7:15
I usually cook processed foods like corned beef, luncheon meat, bacon, tocino, or longganisa with egg for breakfast. I know processed foods are not healthy, but that’s what John and Macey like for breakfast, at siyempre like ko na din 🙁
We almost always have eggs for breakfast. I cook the eggs separately since we have different preferences. John likes sunny-side up, Macey likes soft scrambled egg, and I like omelette with lots of gulay including spring onion, malunggay, celery, alugbati, onion, and tomato.
I pair my omelette with a healthy mix of oatmeal, chia seeds, banana and milk. I also prepare lemon water for my whole day refreshment. It’s been three weeks since I stopped drinking coffee and even though it’s hard, I’m getting used to it. When I crave for coffee, I drink milk instead.
I only started preparing healthier breakfast meals for myself last week and hopefully I could convince my family to eat the same. On some days I eat leftover food from the previous day para hindi sayang.
While preparing for breakfast, I listen to worship songs and motivational messages. My favorites are Jim Rohn and Terri Savelle Foy’s motivational teachings on YouTube.
My morning routine motivated me to start blogging again here at The Pinay Investor blog and here’s my first blog entry after my two-year hiatus in blogging.
5. Eat Breakfast with Macey and Prepare for school
7:15-8:00
Macey usually wakes up at 7. I let her read her bible, write the verse of the day on her journal, and play a little bit before we eat breakfast together at 7:15.
She also likes listening to worship songs for kids in the morning. While we’re eating breakfast, we talk about random things – what’s she’s written on her journal, the things she’s grateful for, about school, etc.
After eating, I get her ready for school. By 7:55 she’s already logged in to Zoom meeting for her online class which starts at 8:00.
6. Wash the dishes and clean the house
8:00 – 9:00
I do most of the household chores during this time. I wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, make the bed, sweep the floor, and water the plants with a good music in the background. I just type top songs 2021 on YouTube and I get the best songs for my morning grind.
I try to finish all the chores in 45 minutes so that by 8:45 I can already take a shower and get myself ready for my online work.
7. Read a Book
9:00 – 9:30
One of my goals this year is to read 20 books and I do that by reading everyday for at least 20-30 minutes.
Right now, I’m reading the Rich Dad Poor Dad book by Robert Kiyosaki and I’m learning a lot. I’ve read its ebook version a few years ago, but I prefer reading an actual book on my hand while highlighting and underlining important notes.
Last year, my goal was to read 12 books and I finished 13. I hope I could finish 20 or more this year.
8. Goals and Planners
9:30 – 9:45
I review my long and short term goals in my goals notebook. I write my top 10 goals for the year almost everyday without looking at the previous page. I visualize my goals on my vision board and I try my best to imagine and feel as if I’ve already achieved them, like what motivational speakers suggest. 🙂
I also speak positive affirmations about success, health, and prosperity while listening to my own pre-recorded affirmations.
9:45 – 9:55
I review my two planners.
The first one is my daily planner. I usually make my weekly plan on Sunday evening and my daily plan the night before.
During this time, I check off all the tasks that I’ve accomplished the previous day. Then, I review or add any important schedules for the day including meetings with Macey’s teachers or submission of school activities, assignments or projects; work related to-do-lists; webinars or online meetings; errands; and other personal tasks.
This year, I’m using the Back to Basics planner by C&S Designs and I love it. It has everything I needed in a planner. It even has an expense tracker where I track my personal expenses. It’s a very functional planner and it’s perfect for work-at-home moms like me who don’t need to carry a planner all the time. In order to make sure that I don’t miss any tasks, I always keep my planner open on my desk.
The second one is my budget planner. I follow the paycheck budgeting method where I make a budget every time we get paid, usually on the 15th and 30th of the month.
I review my budget planner everyday to make sure we’re on track with our finances. I record any expense we’ve made during the day in my expense tracker. I check if there are any bills to be paid and I make sure to pay them before their due dates to avoid penalties.
9:55 – 10:00
I say a short prayer before I start working. Something like this…
Dear Lord, thank you for giving me the ability and opportunity to work at home. Bless my work, my goals, my family, my friends and the people I serve through my blog and YT channel. Please give me wisdom and strength to do the work that you have given me to help others and to glorify your name through Jesus Christ, Amen.
9. Work
10:00 – 1:00 PM
I block this time off to focus working. I have big goals for The Pinay Investor blog and YouTube Channel this year, so I’m putting my time and energy creating and publishing content that will give value to my target audience.
If you’re interested in finance, family, and faith topics, I invite you to subscribe to my email list so that you’ll be the first to know when I upload new content and updates. Thank you! 🙂
Macey and I share the same desk which John made for us. Sometimes, it’s challenging to focus on my work because I hear them while they’re having their online classes (and they’re not allowed to wear headset), but I’m getting used to it.
Macey’s online class is from 8 to 11. After her class, I give her time to learn and practice Canva until 1:00 PM. I allow her to watch Canva tutorials on YouTube (I choose the videos) and I make sure that she applies what she learns by making her own posters, coloring books, and story books on Canva. She knows more Canva tricks now more than I do and I’m so proud of her designs and projects. If she continues this, I’m sure she’d become a pro in no time. 🙂
Macey attends her online class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She doesn’t have classes on Tuesday and Thursday, but she works on her assignments during her 8-11 schedule.
John usually gets up at around 9 or 10 AM and eats his breakfast. Sometimes, I sit with him and we talk about random things while he’s eating before he goes upstairs and work on his woodwork projects. At 12:00 PM, he cooks our ulam for lunch and dinner, and we eat lunch together at 1:00 PM.
Final Thoughts
The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. – Mike Murdock
I’m nowhere close to perfect at keeping a morning routine, but when I do, I definitely have a better day. Of course, our days vary quite a bit depending on scheduled activities, but I’ve found that even a 30-minute routine in the morning is doable if I plan ahead.
My best days and mornings come from a little planning the night before. When I don’t keep in mind what needs to be done on a given day, nothing gets done.
My morning routine has definitely changed my life by making me a happier person, a more patient mommy to Macey and a more positive and energetic wife to John. Actually, I have more energy to stay on top of things and I even manage to have some ME time every single day.
How about you, how does your morning routine look like?
It would mean a lot to me if you would share YOUR morning routine in the comments below as I am always looking for fresh ideas on how to improve the quality of my life.