I have found my morning routine works best if I begin the night before.

Each night, I carry my morning pile to my dining room table so it is waiting for me in the morning.

The trick is to roll out of bed without hitting snooze and finding my seat at the table.

Here’s my current pile:

• a pad for morning pages.
  If you are familiar with The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
   developed the technique of writing morning pages first thing upon
  rising. She calls it a tool for creative recovery.
  I find that it helps me to recover my soul and mind.
  The key is to write 3 pages of long hand writing. There are no rules or wrong
  way to do this. Write the first thoughts in your head.
  Usually I start by writing  “I am so tired!”
  Then just write thoughts, words saturated with honesty and grumbling
  and whining mixed with gratitude. Don’t correct misspelled words or grammar.
  Just write.
  I find I am offering up prayers that I wouldn’t ordinarily utter but I can write.
  Morning pages simply help me get rid of the clutter.
  They help me deal with all those spoken words.
  I never think I can fill 3 pages but I always do and as I near the last few lines finally I have
  gotten to the meat of what’s going on in my brain. But I stop.
  I don’t read my morning pages. They are not like a journal.
  I believe morning pages are those fresh thoughts of the day which have not found a
  voice or a way to be dealt with fully during our waking hours.
  You don’t have to be a writer to try them.
  I believe you will find them powerful and the cheapest therapy.

• a glass of water (so I don’t wake my dog) 
• my glasses (my world in black and white versus grey)
• my nook-I use a daily lectionary for my Bible reading. I love that
  this one is online. As a recovering perfectionist, I get caught up in
  checking off boxes. Somehow this has freed me of that tendency.
  Plus I can take the nook with me when I travel.
  Click here for some great online resources and apps.
• a devotional-I am a few days from finishing (again) Cynthia Heald’s
  wonderful 31 day devotional on Abiding in Christ.
• my Bible-I am using the New Living Translation for morning time this year
  and Holman Christian Standard for study.
  Writing my morning pages first, I feel more focused on what I am reading.
  I don’t have as many stray thoughts trying to request permission to land.
• my journal

Do you have a morning routine?

What has helped you?

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