The key to having a great day is in setting yourself up for success with a healthy morning routine. All things considered, this is especially true for kindergarten teachers who have so much to do in each and every day. Starting the morning ready to tackle the day is an important strategy for getting the most out of your teaching. In order to set up a great morning routine to get off on the right foot daily, try these morning routine ideas.
1. Get Started Early
When you’re waking up early in the morning to teach, it can be difficult to think about waking up earlier. However, an important element to the morning routine of successful educators is giving yourself plenty of time.
When you wake up early, you give yourself plenty of time to get fully ready for teaching and take care of yourself. Also, you’ll have a little bit of morning leisure time without feeling crunched and rushed. When you start the day rushed, it’s tough to catch up enough to relax and feel in control. But by waking up bright and early, you get a head start on the day and control of your morning.
Overall, the key to being able to wake up early is consistency. Going to bed on time and waking up at a consistent time each morning will make the transition much smoother. Obviously, once you start pushing your bedtime back or pressing snooze, your body will be out of the habit. So as soon as that alarm goes off, get out of bed!
2. Include Some Self-Care in Your Morning Routine
Your morning routine doesn’t have to be exclusively productive. In fact, it’s better if it isn’t! All in all, you’re more likely to set up a morning routine for success if you vary it. Therefore, include plenty of time that’s spent taking care of yourself. During a busy morning, taking care of yourself will fuel you mentally and emotionally.
For one thing, you might consider including a bit of meditation or yoga in the morning to calm and center your mind. On the other hand, you could make yourself a delicious breakfast or a particularly good cup of coffee. Additionally, you might try just spending a few minutes with a good book. There are plenty of ways you can offer yourself some self-care time.
Finally, remember that being a good teacher means that your fuel tank needs to be full, too! Taking time to take care of yourself is important. It not only allows you to show up as your best self to your students, but also re-energizes you.Â
3. Keep Track of Your Morning Routine
If you’re prone to forgetfulness in the morning, then don’t just rely on your tired mind to keep track. When you have a lot to accomplish in the morning, try using a morning routine checklist. For example, it can help you note your laundry list of tasks for the morning. On the other hand, if your list remains the same each day, consider using a laminated list or whiteboard. With these, you can check off tasks as you go. Then you can wipe off the past day’s checkmarks and start fresh each morning.
However, if you have different tasks each morning, you might need something different. Consider spending some time each day jotting down what you need to do. There are a few ways to accomplish this. Firstly, you could include it as part of your morning routine before you start the day. Also, another tip involves you writing it up the night before, so your list is ready to go. You could use a method like bullet journaling or find a morning routine template to use for yourself. In any case, writing down what you need to do is one of the best ways to keep track.
4. Prepare for your Morning Routine the Night Before
The key to having a great morning is getting everything ready the night before. Spend some time each evening making sure that you’re ready to conquer the next morning. Look over your plans for the following day and make sure that you have everything you need prepared. Also, pack up all your classroom supplies and have them ready to grab and go the next morning. Make sure that everything you need to take with you to work for your class is ready to go and accessible.
Additionally, you can prepare in advance to make your morning routine more efficient. For example, meal prepping your breakfasts is a great way to save yourself some cooking time. Not to mention, it ensures that you have a healthy meal! Picking out your outfit the night before can save your morning self the time of browsing through your closet. Overall, preparing for the next day by getting into bed early guarantees that you won’t be groggy in the morning. Spending a little bit of time each night preparing is setting your morning self up for success!
5. Motivate Yourself
The first few weeks of adjusting to a new morning routine can be rough. Having a bit of self-motivation can be important. Include something fun and exciting as part of your morning routine. Adding in some kind of small reward for completing your list of intended tasks can give you a huge boost!
Your motivation doesn’t have to be something big. Something as small as stopping for coffee on your way to work can be a great self-motivator. You could also motivate yourself by including a fun activity into your routine or treating yourself to a delicious breakfast. However, you choose to reward yourself, relish in it! Having a little bit of joy in your morning will get you emotionally prepared to tackle the day’s work.
6. Use Technological Assistance With Your Morning Routine
To keep track of your morning routine, try bringing in some digital help! Using a morning routine app can help keep you on top of your list of morning to-dos. Finding something as simple as a checklist app to tick off your tasks each morning may be all you need. For some more help, you can use an app that offers more features. Some will send you reminders at certain times or make sure you wake up with your alarm.
Some productivity apps can even be a lot of fun! Using an app that gamifies daily tasks can be very motivating. By fulfilling your morning routine, you can earn points and play games in your productivity app. These can make it feel really fun and exciting to get through your to-do list! This is a great way to “hack” your brain and give yourself some reinforcement for completing your morning routine.
7. Stick With Consistency in Your Morning Routine
The most important part of any morning routine is consistency. Routines work best when you stick to them regularly. Once you start to slip on completing your full morning routine, it’s all too easy to fall out of the habit. It can be especially difficult when you first start since your body and mind aren’t adjusted yet. When you are used to rolling out of bed and rushing to work, waking up an extra hour early feels very unfamiliar! Just remember that it only feels difficult at first because it’s new.
However, once you can establish your routine and be fully in the habit, it becomes easier to maintain the routine. What once was a lofty goal, like making breakfast or meditating every day, becomes a normal part of each morning. Soon, you’ll be amazed that you ever did anything differently!
