'My Morning Routine Was A Mess, So I Tried Mel Robbins'. Here's What Happened'
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There's a lot of Mel Robbins advice swirling around right now between her 'let them' theory and 11 push-up challenge. Another staple from the wellness podcaster is her formula for the perfect morning routine, which she says boosts anyone's productivity, energy, and sense of control throughout the rest of the day. As someone who struggles in the AM, I wanted to see if it could even help me.
Over the past year, I developed what is probably the least-recommended morning routine possible.
Here's how it goes: I wake up to the sound of my iPhone alarm and hit snooze as many times as I can. After I silence my alarm for the final time, my phone is already in my hand, so, naturally, I open up social media. I start with Instagram, then TikTok, and then, quickly glance at Outlook to get a teaser of what I'll have to tackle at work that day. (Sometimes, I can spend 45 minutes in bed scrolling before I've even opened my curtains.)
My routine isn't just due to a social media addiction, though. For about a year now, I've become one of the 17 percent of women who struggle falling and staying asleep, per the CDC, so I take trazodone to help. It works wonders, but the med—or my disrupted sleep—makes it a little harder to get out of bed.
So, when I heard about Robbins' routine designed to level-up your mornings (and therefore set yourself up for success for the day), I wondered if it could be a game changer for me—but I also knew it'd be a challenge. Here's what I learned from trying the Mel Robbins morning routine for a week.
Unlike my routine, Robbins' has some structure, and even some rules. Here's what the Mel Robbins morning routine requires (per Robbins herself):
Get up the first time your alarm rings: You have to get out of bed pretty much as soon as it goes off. It seemed impossible to me, but Robbins actually has some advice about how to make this happen. It's called the 'five second rule' which basically says that anytime you need a boost to get yourself motivated and moving, count down from five ('five, four, three, two, one'), and on one, do the thing.
Make your bed and tidy up: Once you're up, make your bed and make sure your space is clean. It's a simple way to accomplish something first thing in the morning, and having a less cluttered and messy space decreases stress.
Give yourself a high five in the mirror: Practice some self love in the morning by doing this—which is the subject of Robbins' first book, The High Five Habit.
Drink water, but delay caffeine intake for one to two hours: Your body craves water after a good night's rest. One thing it maybe doesn't want first thing? Caffeine, which might make you anxious.
Get outside ASAP to take in the morning light: Getting some sunlight (even on a cloudy day) is important for your circadian rhythm, mental health, and energy.
Move your body by walking, stretching, or working out: Finally, get moving—however you do best!
The first day of trying this routine was actually the easiest. You can call it beginner's luck, but really, I think it comes down to the fact that you can motivate yourself to do anything for one morning. The trickier part was sticking with it, even if that first day was super enjoyable (and did give me more energy).
On day one, I popped out of bed (thank you five second rule), and changed into the clothes I laid out for myself for my morning walk. By the time I got back from my 15-minute stroll, I had waved at neighbors, saw kids laughing on their way to the school bus, soaked in the morning light, and gently woken up my body and mind—a much better approach than a 30-minute doomscroll sesh. Compared to scrolling social media, going on a walk outdoors felt like a gradual way to wake my whole body up instead of overloading my brain awake with content.
I came back and made my bed, tidied my space, and took a few extra minutes to make myself a good breakfast, at which point, a self high five in the mirror was more than deserved.
You already know the expression: old habits die hard. It wasn't easy to stay consistent with every single bullet on Robbins' list, and I did revert to some of my old ways at points throughout the week.
The trickiest thing to keep up with is getting outside and moving. It felt like it would take up too much time, especially on a busy morning (even though there's benefit to slowing down in the morning), and I wasn't quite ready to give myself that time when I could spend it on other things (hello, checking my email or the news). I was tempted to skip this step more than once, but found that on days that I did, other steps fell like dominos. I'd lounge a little longer, scroll for a few more minutes, and spend less time tidying up.
One thing I was already on board with Robbins was about delaying caffeine intake. I cut out coffee more than two years ago after never missing a morning cup for close to ten years because I could feel it making me more anxious. It sounds difficult, but it's worth it.
Pro tip: If you really want to nail this routine, set yourself up for success the night before. Overall, setting the intention that I was going to get out of bed when my alarm went off helped prime my brain to follow through the next morning. I also found that laying out the clothes I was going to wear for my morning walk kept me moving and having water handy by my bedside made it easier to hydrate. Plus, I tried leaving my phone far away from my bed as reinforcement to her five second rule.
I also never skipped the high five step. By the end of the morning routine, a self-high-five really does feel warranted, even if a little silly. But the silliness (and the self-love) are part of what makes this practice so helpful. It shakes you out of some of the seriousness of the morning and starts on a lighter note, which can also set the tone for the rest of the day. Each day, I felt less and less self-conscious doing it, which means that I got more and more comfortable taking a moment to give myself some positive encouragement, something that would make my therapist proud.
While Robbins has curated the perfect morning routine, you might not be able to rock every step every single day. If you're someone like me with a truly terrible AM routine, shaking up your entire morning might be tough to pull off, but taking any one of Robbins' six steps can yield some benefits.
For me, my biggest challenge in the morning is getting moving, so getting up immediately—before my brain has the chance to think about hitting snooze—has had the biggest impact. I've had more time to get ready, make a better breakfast, and hop on an earlier train to work, all of which make the rest of my day go a lot smoother. I also found that I was much more energized, even sans hitting snooze, compared to the times I lingered in bed.
There's a lot in this challenge that inspired me to take the small wins from my morning and keep them going throughout the day. For example, jumping out of bed, making my bed, and tidying up were quick ways to immediately accomplish something and check it off my list. And, since I was already on a roll, I found myself keeping up my productivity throughout the day.
Now that I'm not officially doing the challenge, I'm not necessarily taking a walk around my block or high fiving myself in the mirror every morning. They're still tools at my disposal, though, and something to aspire to later on. Morning routines are always going to be a work in progress, and at least Robbins' gave me the jolt I needed to be more intentional about my own.
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