The morning routine of a business owner + life coach
Want to know what a typical morning is like for a productivity coach?
It’s all the extolling puffery you’d expect!
It’s productive!
It’s an ungodly wake up time!
It’s meditation! (Ooh, how grounded of me!)
It’s chicken and vegetables for breakfast! (Ooh, how unconventional of me!)
And? It’s all true!
So read on at your own risk – you know what it’s already going to say…but you kinda want to lurk on anyways!
Go ahead, my friend. Lurk on and love it.
Lurk on, you know you want to!
First – know that I wasn’t always like this.
I used to stomp around in stress, barking at the kids to get ready, and berating myself for being so slow or trying to make myself go faster.
Really really fun stuff.
Now, whenever something like frustration or urgency comes up for me as I go about my routine, I might manage my mind around it– but more often these days, I just invite it along for the ride WHILE I’m getting my work done.
And it’s not a big deal.
We zoom through our morning together, and I make that emotion my bitch.
Basically me, mastering my emotional dominance
The Night Before
My day actually starts the night before. (Tricked you! Now you have to read about my night routine!!)
Every night, I plan out my daily schedule in blocks: appointments, client sessions, results I want to create for the day, content creation, marketing, family time, and whatever else is up for the day.
I also plan out my food plan for the day, the night before.
Why?
Because my brain LOVES to indulge in chatter about food, what to eat, how much, and what else there is to eat in the house.
That inner fatty (love her!) wants to do nothing but talk about food!
I’m like, “OK! I get it! You love cookies! But let’s move on already…”
So planning it the night before means I eliminate all decision-making about food for the next morning. The inner fatty capitulates to the inner planner. (Now that chick is my favorite.)
And I free up SO MUCH brain space by not thinking about food anymore.
The most important thing I do for myself to have a successful morning tomorrow is to go to sleep on time.
Again: GO TO SLEEP!
I revel in getting enough sleep.
I love to sleep early!
I head up to bed at the same time as my 9 year old around 8pm. (I know!)
And I like to be sleeping before 9pm. (I KNOW!)
Sleep is the top thing I could do for my brain health, my mental health, my physical health – and it’s FREE!
DO NOT SKIP THE SLEEP, people.
The Actual Morning Routine
4:45am: The Ungodly Wake Up
My alarm goes off at 4:45am. I snooze that shit.
I am NOT the type who is physically capable of getting up after the first alarm.
It takes my brain a few nudges to wake up, and I set up no less than SIX backup alarms to make sure I don’t fall back asleep.
I typically don’t need them all to get out of bed, but better to have them than not!
5am: Workout + foam roll
I go down to our home gym with my laptop and either do an Athleanx workout, or Caroline Girvan on YouTube.
Other than sleep, exercise is probably the most important thing I do for my mental health. I move my body every single day for this reason, either doing a workout or walking on the treadmill.
I don’t exercise for the typical reason of trying to lose weight (no judgments if that’s you, boo), but I do it for my brain health.
My heart health.
My joint health.
To move the lymph around.
There are SO many reasons I love working out - but by far the best is mental clarity.
I get SO MANY amazing ideas during my morning workout.
It’s a peaceful quiet time and I love starting my day with it.
Plus BONUS – you get to practice your puffery and brag about it on Instagram Stories…(and Reels)…(and posts). Kidding. You are amazing if you work out in the morning. That shit is hard and kudos for being a doer of hard things.
6am: Shower + get dressed / hair + makeup
I’ve got my shower routine down to a science. About 5 minutes to shower, 6 minutes for hair, and less than 10 minutes for makeup. But most mornings, I build in extra time to luxuriate in a longer shower, and in putting on lotions and makeup.
Luxuriate with makeup?? YES. I love putting it on, and spending time in gratitude with this face of mine. It’s the face my kids love. It’s the face my mom and dad gave me. It feels like care when I’m doing my morning face routine.
I follow a Korean skincare regimen (because of course):
A double cleanse
Essence
Vitamin C serum
Birch lotion
Eye lotion
Sunscreen
I love spending the time patting in the eye lotion and smoothing in my sunscreen. It’s almost like a moving meditation. (I know…this is a gross, embarrassing level of self-love. I see it, too. But also you’re kind of jealous, no?)
6:30am: Wake the kids
With kisses. Obviously.
7am: Breakfast
This is busiest part of the morning: herding the wildlings downstairs to eat, packing up lunches + backpacks + masks + homework, etc., prepping my water and tea for the day, and all while shoving breakfast in.
It’s a mix of mommy yelling upstairs from the kitchen, one hand packing lunch, the other hand manhandling a spoon with an obscene amount of food on it, and a knee closing the dishwasher.
I am a fucking rockstar at it.
(Until I choke on the food while yelling.)
I’m an acrobatic drill sergeant mom who’s loud, but fun - and plants kisses on cheeks as the kids scoot past her.
Breakfast for me is always real food: veggies + chicken, plus a banana and Greek yogurt.
And I eat it real ugly like.
7:45am: School drop off
I like to use our morning commutes to chat with my kids to see what’s going on for them. To parent while they’re strapped in and can’t go anywhere. Sometimes we coach about something – either I coach my 9 year old, and occasionally she’ll coach me, which is always amazing.
Or I’ll take the opportunity to remind them to work to their ability in school for the day.
I’m basically Mary Poppins in the car.
Then my loving kids ask me if I’m done talking and to please turn the radio up.
(Yes, yes I sure can, kids.)
8:15am: Journaling
Garbage time.
Journaling is like a daily poop. Just get it out and move on with your day.
I get out what’s coming up for me for the day – and either dismantle the old programming, or else get myself in the mindset I want to be in for the upcoming day.
Most times I just need to flush out the thoughts that are swimming around in there.
8:30am: Reiki practice / meditation
Enter the woo woo! And we love it!
(And also stop calling it woo woo. That’s just another way of discounting Eastern spiritual practices that have been around for hundreds of years - like Reiki, acupuncture, and chakra balancing. And you’re too woke to be discounting other cultures.)
I have a self-practice of Reiki energy healing, and then send distance Reiki to my clients.
Sometimes I do a guided meditation that just blows my mind.
I get insight on my business.
I get insight on what’s next for me.
This profound information just ARRIVES IN MY BRAIN.
If you aren’t getting profound information arriving in your brain, why aren’t you meditating??
It gets the creative energy flowing and you can get greater access to the ideas and wisdom around your business and personal development.
9am: Start morning coaching session
The finish line of the morning!!
I start my work day: coaching clients! I go for about 2.5 hours straight, coaching clients from all over the world over Zoom.
This life never ceases to amaze me – that my brain can be coaching another brain that is in a different time and space!
And that’s my morning!
So how about you?
What’s your morning routine like?
Are there some things you learned about that you want to incorporate?
Let’s get you a morning routine so then you can brag brag, braggy brag brag, too!
If you want some support around your morning routine and schedule, you know who to call for help - me! I’m Pearl - a certified life coach and Reiki Master practitioner who gets a lot done in her day. Seriously, helping people plan and execute is one of my favorite things to do, and I’d love to meet you. You can get on my calendar here.
Your personal Mary Poppins, drill sargeant, rockstar life coach - all for you!
