Do you have a backup plan for your morning routine? Or is it all-or-nothing mode for you?
If you’ve bought into the idea that you need to complete a morning routine in its entirety, or else you’ll just roll out of bed and go straight into the day, you’re missing out on what could still be a mindful morning.
What if you could intentionally set up a plan, so that no matter what amount of time you have in the morning, you can still kickstart your morning feeling fresher, more put together and ready for the day ahead?
Enter the ABC plan: a 3-part strategy so no matter how much time you have, you can slay your morning.
Let’s get into it!
PLAN A
1.5 – 2 hours
Plan A will be your best scenario plan. a couple of hours to dedicate yourself: journaling, meditation, exercise, the whole shebang. This is the ideal morning routine plan that happens on a perfect morning. You have enough time to read, write, collect your thoughts, and plan for the day ahead. Create a Plan A strategy that is doable, but that takes about two hours to do.
And follow it exactly on the good days, where you don’t snooze and feel refreshed as you wake up.
But it’s not always a perfect day, so what happens when you wake up a little late and you don’t have time for the whole routine?
PLAN B
30 minutes – 1.5 hours
You’re most likely going to hit on Plan B a lot of the days, so keep this routine at the top of your mind as the essential morning back-up plan.
When you wake up with enough time for some kind of routine, but not your full morning routine, consider what you can cut the time down on to make it shorter, and what’s the most non-essential items you can cut completely. What do you enjoy, but doesn’t really make the most difference in your day?
If exercise is the most crucial, keep it but see if you can shorten it by 5-10 minutes. If doing your hair isn’t the most essential, throw it in a bun instead so you have time for the most important on your list.
PLAN C
5 – 30 minutes
Okay, so you snoozed a few too many times. You’re freaking out, and normally your go-to move is to drop your whole routine because you’ve got to get to work.
Sure, you can’t hit everything on your list, but you can touch on a few essentials.
This is where you typically end up eating less healthy on-the-go, skipping self-care, not spending any time setting your day up for success.
But with a plan C approach, you create a game plan for those days. Maybe it’s a 5-minute quick meditation or two minutes of deep stretching or breathing. Perhaps it’s making a go-to healthy breakfast that only takes three minutes, but is a much better option than grabbing something on your way.
Suddenly, you’re still feeling like a badass because you had a game plan for self-care to set your day up for success even when it doesn’t go perfectly.
We so often don’t want to prepare for the days where it’s a total snoozefest because it feels like we’re admitting defeat or something. But let’s be real – it happens regardless. There will be days where your alarm doesn’t go off for no apparent reason, or you couldn’t sleep well because your neighbors were throwing a party.
So instead of throwing in the towel and forgetting the whole thing, create an adaptable strategy that works with you.
Here’s what a rough outline of my ABC plan looks like currently:
Plan A:
Wake Up at 5:45 am – 6 am
- Jog / Walk for (35-45 min)
- Meditate (20 min)
- Shower (5-10 min)
- Journal (15 min)
- Make oatmeal (10 min)
- Get coffee from local coffee shop (20 min)
- Get ready (15 min)
Plan B:
Wake Up at 6:30 am – 7 am
- Jog / Walk (30 min)
- Meditate (5 min)
- Shower (5 min)
- Make oatmeal (10 min)
- Get coffee or make coffee instead (20 min or 5 min)
- Get ready (5 min)
(Drop journaling, shorter walk, shorter meditation)
Plan C:
Wake Up at 7:30 am – 8 am
- Meditate (5 min)
- Make oatmeal (10 min)
- Make coffee (5 min)
- Get ready (5 min)
(Drop jog/walk (make a plan to workout in the evening instead), make coffee instead of picking up).
Coffee is always an essential, even on a plan C day, and to be totally honest, I’ll usually still drive the 20 minutes to get my iced oat milk latte. Perks of working for yourself, I guess!
What’s on your ABC plan? Let us know what makes the cut of the absolute essentials in plan C!
