HabitsTime

Morning routine

A morning routine is the same few steps, in the same order, after you get up. The builder below starts with 6 simple steps that take about 24 minutes. Change them to fit your mornings, add a start time to see the clock time of each step, and print the card.

Free · No account · What you type stays on this device

Name your routine
Start time (optional)

Add one and each step shows the time it starts. Leave it empty for minutes only.

Your steps

Change, add or remove anything, and put the steps in your order.

Total: 24 min

A simple morning routine

The builder's starting point: no alarm, no breakfast rule, nothing to buy. Each step is a small action you can do half-awake.

My morning routine

  1. Open the curtains1 min
  2. Make the bed2 min
  3. Wash and get dressed10 min
  4. Clear one surface3 min
  5. Check today's calendar3 min
  6. Write today's top 35 min

Total24 min

How to build a morning routine

Start from the moment you get up

Habits form as people repeat the same response in the same context. This routine starts “after I get up”, so the moment that sets it off is the same every day, whatever time that is. The builder never asks when you wake up: that is a sleep question, and goodsleep.today has sleep tools.

Fewer steps you do beat more steps you skip

Begin with 3 to 6 steps that still fit a rushed morning. Add a step once the first ones run without much thought.

Put the steps in the order you move through your home

Bedroom things first (curtains, bed, getting dressed), then the next room. Use the arrows to move a step; the card keeps your order.

Check the total before you add a step

The total is always shown. If it is longer than the time you have before you leave or start work, cut a step rather than rushing every one.

Morning routine ideas

Swap any of these into the builder. Each one is an action, so you know when it's done.

Get the home going

  • Open the curtains
  • Make the bed
  • Put away 3 things
  • Clear one surface
  • Start a load of laundry

Get the day going

  • Check today's calendar
  • Write today's top 3
  • Pack the bag for the day
  • Read 1 page of a book
  • Reply to one message you have put off

What this builder leaves out

No wake-up time and no breakfast, drink, water or exercise step: those are health and sleep topics this site doesn't cover. To plan a whole day by part of the day, use the daily routine builder; to close the workday, the work shutdown routine.

What happens to what you type

Your routine stays in this browser and is never sent anywhere; it lives on the card you print or save. “Start tracking” adds it as one habit to the habit tracker on this device only, with “after I get up” as its cue. To add one new habit after a step you already do, stack it.

If you need help now

These tools are for everyday habits. They are not a crisis service. If you are struggling or don't feel safe, you can contact:

  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

    988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US): call or text 988, or chat online. Free and confidential, 24/7.

  • Emergency services (911)

    US: call 911 if you or someone you know is in immediate harm or danger.

  • Samaritans

    Samaritans (UK and Ireland): call 116 123, free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

  • Emergency services (999 or A&E) · NHS 111, mental health option

    Call 999 or go to A&E if someone's life is at risk or you can't keep yourself or someone else safe. For urgent help that isn't an emergency, call 111 and select the mental health option (NHS).

Elsewhere, call your local emergency number.

Sources

  1. Wood W, Rünger D (2016). Psychology of Habit. Annual Review of Psychology 67:289–314. PMID 26361052
  2. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 988lifeline.org
  3. Contact Us. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 988lifeline.org
  4. Contact a Samaritan. Samaritans. samaritans.org
  5. Where to get urgent help for mental health. NHS. nhs.uk