my essential morning routine

Self CareADHD

May 19

Written By Brigitte

self care for adhd & mental health

today we’re talking about my morning routine and why it’s one of the most essential practices in my day for my adhd and depression.

i also have a free self care ritual guide that includes a Notion template with some ideas to get you started if you want to build your own meaningful routine - for the morning or anytime!

In this video I go over:

mornings are hard
how my morning routine started
borrowing my partner’s energy
cats are excellent motivators
sleeping in doesn’t work for me
accepting what i actually need
the purpose of my morning routine
morning routine rundown
benefits of journaling
downsides to not having a morning routine

my morning routine gets me through the morning.

mornings are really rough for me. it’s super hard for me to get out of bed. i wake up exhausted, even after being in there for 9 hours.

is it the adhd, anxiety, depression, chronic pain & chronic fatigue, life stress? all of the above and/or something else? who knows. all i know is that it’s hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning and it’s really hard to get going to a place where i feel like i am actually ready to start my day.

years ago when i was in a heavier depression, i would stay in bed for most of the morning, or even longer. and i know that’s not a version of myself that i really want to go back to. which is why i am extra grateful for my morning routine.

how my morning routine started

during the beginning of the pandemic, after i had a severe case of covid, was laid off from my job, and then ultimately realized i wasn’t mentally well enough to go back to my job when they opened back up… i found myself at home with no schedule and no structure. which is a big uh oh for me and my adhd. i really didn’t want to fall further back into depression with my unhealthy coping skills. so i decided to do my mornings completely different than i ever have.

i didn’t go into it with the intention of building up a super self care morning routine. i was just kinda desperate to keep my head above water. and just kept trying things and practicing them until they all came together.

i decided that i would piggy back off my partner’s energy and get up at the same time as him. it’s like i am hitching a ride on his energy for some momentum for myself.

i did this for long enough that my body got into a rhythm and i even get up at the same time on weekends now, without his alarm or him getting up.

my kitties are also really helpful for motivating me to get up.

i’ve got one on the bed demanding pets and attention, and the other one in the hallway screaming for breakfast.

that, and i really have to pee when i wake up.

so those are enough to get me out of the bed.

but staying upright? all morning, all my brain can consider is how completely exhausted and tired i feel and all i want to do is go back to bed. but i have experimented with this enough. i’ve tried sleeping in, going back to sleep. none of it feels good to me. there are some exceptions to the rule, of course, just like anything. but as a general rule, most of the time, what my body doesn’t need is to go back to bed. i just end up feeling more miserable and then i have to repeat the process of trying to will myself out of the bed. that’s hard. i don’t want to do more hard work.

so i have accepted that my mind is trying to play some kind of trick on me and tell me that what i need to do is go back to bed. but from experimentation and practice, i have found that what i actually need is…

a really slow gentle start to my day. that was really hard for me to accept for a long time. because of capitalism and urgency and hustle culture and all the things. i’ve been conditioned to feel like i have to wake up super early and go go go go go. and that’s just not the case, it’s not a healthy way to be, and it certainly doesn’t work for me.

going slow and gently easing into the day allows me to be more present in the rest of my day and to show up and do things with more intention and actually enjoy the things i am choosing to do.

that’s what this morning routine is for. to get me through that hump of time where my brain plays tricks and i go from “i’m too tired to exist - must go back to bed immediately and forever” to “oh ok, yeah i can handle the day.”

morning routine general schedule

here’s a rundown of what my morning routine looks like after about 3 years of practicing.

i hate to put time constraints on anything, but i’ve practiced this so much and collected a lot of data over the past 3 years, and i’ve noticed that this is just generally how things work out.

i wake up around 7:15. then after slowly getting out of bed, doing bathroom stuff and feeding the kitties, it’s around 8am. i make my cycle synching smoothie and then sit down to journal. i set my timer for 20 minutes and on loose leaf paper, i brain dump/free write until the timer goes off.

next i start my gratitude & joy journal entry for the day. you can check out the video i made on that for more details in the process and to grab the template.

then i choose a meditation, usually on insight timer. lately i’ve been falling asleep in every single one. which i still deem a successful meditation practice. i guess that’s just what i needed in that moment!

this brings me to around 9am, when i go upstairs to finish getting ready for the day: put in my contacts, any makeup if i’m feeling like it, do my hair & get dressed. i also eat breakfast and usually make some spelled tea with intention for the day that i’ve chosen during my monday hour one process at the start of the week.

benefits of journaling

a lot of time while i’m journaling, i’m amazed and annoyed and writing about how tired i am and how hard mornings are. AND how grateful i am for this practice because it allows me to dump all the thoughts out of my brain and to scribble exactly how i’m feeling. to get it out of me and my body and process it through the movement of writing. it allows me to show up to the rest of my day feeling more fresh and ready to go. ready to do whatever else it is i need to.

downsides to not having a morning routine

i’m grateful for this practice, because if i didn’t do it, i would be trying to rush myself into being productive. and i would inevitably feel more tired, more burnt out, less able to do the things i want and need to do. i’d feel more annoyed. i’d do things with less intention. i’d give myself less grace, compassion, and understanding. (and the same to everyone else if i’m being honest). i’d feel less satisfied with my life and more frustrated. and if there are any other manifesting generators out there, i’m sure you really understand that feeling of frustration instead of satisfaction.

i know i would feel this way because i did feel that way for most of my life. and i’m not saying that just because i have this morning routine that i feel totally satisfied with my life. the morning routine is a piece of the puzzle. and one that helps me immensely. to be able to get through a challenging part of my day, to give myself big self care, and to set myself up for success for the rest of my day.

i’d love to hear about your morning routine and if mornings are hard or easy for you? lmk in the comments on the video.

and if you’d like to build your own morning routine but are having a hard time figuring out what activities or rituals to include, check out my FREE self-care ritual guide which includes a Notion template of ideas to get you started.

thanks for being here.

i’ll see ya in the next one.

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