A Morning Routine For Success (College Students)
There’s a reason it’s a trope that a college student rolls out of bed at noon. There’s days for that, but for the daily-grind, let’s create your optimal day…
Overview
What Is The Best Morning Routine For College Students?
How Should A College Student Build A Daily Routine?
What Should A Student Do In The Morning?
What Is Scientifically The Best Morning Routine?
What Is The Best Morning Routine For College Students?
So you’ve decided to get your life together… You’re a college student, you’re an adult, you’re a big girl/boy/etc.
Maybe you got inspired by an aesthetic morning routine you saw… been there.
Maybe you heard your friend gets up at 4:45 and runs every morning and has run 5 miles two hours before you even woke up.
Or maybe you reluctantly signed up for that 8 AM because the other class at 10:30 was booked and you have a bad habit of sleeping through alarms.
Whatever the case may be, you need a morning routine.
Ready for the secret?
The best morning routine for a student is … one you’ll actually stick to.
It’s not about checking off boxes to impress others.
It’s not about waking up early, for the sake of getting up early (unless that’s your thing).
It’s not about following the typical checklist of the “hot girl morning routine” or some other influencer.
Stop comparing yourself to your mom, your friend, your partner, that guru you saw on YouTube, or Mark Wahlberg who apparently wakes up at 2:30 to workout. 🙄
It’s not helpful to you, so stop wasting your energy on it.
You don’t need to do the …. 4:30 Yoga Class, the 5:00 AM workout, the green shake, the protein breakfast, the aesthetic morning routine, the motivational podcast, and the 2-hr deep-work session.
You can do all those things, but you can also absolutely own the morning and get half your checklist done before the sun is up.
But it’s critical to be realistic with your goals for the morning and kind to yourself in developing those habits.
It’s not going to happen overnight.
It’s not going to always feel amazing.
It’s not going to always happen the way you want it to (you will feel sick, you will have not had the best night’s sleep, you will have days when you are unmotivated).
How Should A College Student Build A Daily Routine?
So now that the most critical step has been established (hint hint — it’s that you need proper sleep), it’s time to start building the perfect routine for you.
Here are some helpful steps to begin:
Start with structure
A successful morning routine is one that is:
Efficient
The best routines have an organized structure you follow every day or rotating every week, and start with a time that you can be consistent with rising at, whether that be 4:30 AM or 8:30 AM.
Effective
The best routines use time effectively to get as much out of the morning as possible, such as starting with a morning hygiene routine, doing a yoga workout, doing an hour of deep work, and finishing with a healthy and delicious breakfast.
Enjoyable
The best routines incorporate a mix of both things you have to do to feel good and accomplished, such as taking care of yourself by working out and enjoyable by doing things purely for your enjoyment, such as going for a walk or reading.
2. Choose A Few Items and Stick With Them
It can be easy and even exciting to plan a new routine once you have decided you need to impliment one.
You might find that you will now have more time in the day to get stuff done and want to list out all the million things you have been meaning to do.
Maybe you want to finally start working out again and you’re exciting about the results you could start to see in the next few months.
Maybe you’re excited to focus on a new morning hygiene-focused routine because you love self-care and spending lots of time in the morning pampering yourself.
Maybe you want to start a new business and work for yourself, and you know that if you devote time and energy to it every day for the next few years you could earn more money, be able to quit your job, and start something you are passionate about.
Whatever your goals may be for your morning routine - simple or ultra-efficient, start small and work your way up.
3. Preparation is Key
As with everything, planning out what you are going to do, and finding simple ways to make life easier in advance helps make the process much more enjoyable, and increases the probablity that you will actually do it.
Here are a key simple hacks:
Lay out your clothes — the night before!
You can even go as far as to lay them out how they would be worn so you can see if they go-together.
Make sure everything is laid out — even shoes. It only takes one missing piece of the look to ruin your outfit or stress you out because you can’t find it.
Create a simple morning “get ready plan” in place
Have all your toiletries that you use daily in a basket, on one shelf, keep a mental or physical list (especially if you have to take medicine or supplements).
Tuck in your sheets and comforter so making your bed is as simple as throwing the sheets and comforters over your pillow(s) — I always find it easiest to keep it simple.
Have a healthy, morning go-to for food or drinks
Fill or leave out a waterbottle or cup the night before if you have a water intake goal such as drinking a full glass in the morning.
Always check the night before if you have your favorite breakfast ingredients in stock — not having your favorite cereal that you were looking forward to is so frustrating.
If you have an “advanced” breakfast beverage such as a fancy coffee or tea preparation each morning, make sure you have everything laid out the night before.
If you’re a breakfast person, if you can prep your breakfast the night before, I highly recommend it. Overnight oats is a great and healthy option.
If you have certain goals such as health and fitness goals, I recommend creating or finding a plan rather than haphazardly spending time in your morning finding a good workout video to follow along with, or sorting through podcasts to find one that is enjoyable for your morning walk.
Pack your bag the night before so you can just grab it and go — without forgeting anything!
Get gas the night before — Trust me, you won’t have time in the morning, or it will just make it more chaotic.
Go to bed at a reasonable time. We’ve all been guilty of this in the past, but one of the best things you can do for you and your body is to get a good night sleep.
Pack a lunch you will actually look forward to eating. It will save you money and prevent frantic snacking later in the day.
What Should A Student Do In The Morning?
Never had a morning routine? The best morning routines are efficient, effective, and enjoyable. You can use those 3 words to help guide you. Let’s begin!
Think of them as the building blocks of the routine.
Here’s some ideas:
Efficient — Think of these as simple ways to make your life better and easier.
Make Your Bed
Tidy Your Room (briefly)
Have A Getting Ready Routine
Double-Check Your Bag
Eat or Drink A Healthy Meal
Create Your To-Do List
Effective — Think of these as active ways to help you see results or improvements.
Get In A Workout
Do Some Stretching
Get In Some Movement
Do A Meditiation
Work On A Passion Project
Practice An Instrument or Language
Get In A Quick Study Session
Enjoyable — Think of these as a way to start your day on a positive note.
Go Out In Nature
Take Time To Breathe
Practice Gratitude
Listen To Or Read A Book
Challenge Your Mind
Enjoy A Treat Or Beverage
What Is Scientifically The Best Morning Routine?
The best morning routine is one that utilizes evidence-based research and personalizes it to you, rather than following a template. Here’s how to begin …
As discussed above, there is no one-size fits all, “best” morning routine.
Everyone is different
Everyone has different needs
Everyone has a different schedule
Therefore, the best approach is to build a morning routine that fits you personally.
Here’s some goals to start with:
You Need A Routine That …
Fits your sleep schedule and your biological sleep clock (Circadian Rhymth)
Helps you eat at a time that fits your health needs and gives you energy
Allows for the most productive work schedule — whether that be classes, reading, studying, work-work, personal project work, etc.
Please note, none of this is considered medical or nutritional advice. Ask your doctor before considering any changes to your diet or eating schedule.
Why Is Sleep Important For College Students?
There are thousands of studies that support the fact that sleep is critical to human function, and that poor sleep can result in cognitive issues, functioning issues, and health issues.
Here is some research I found that supports the criticality of sleep for human health.
According to an article titled “A Paravascular Pathway Facilitates CSF Flow Through the Brain Parenchyma and the Clearance of Interstitial Solutes, Including Amyloid β” in the National Library of Medicine, the brain uses cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to clear excess proteins, some of which have been thought to be linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers. Read The Study Here
A followup article titled “Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain” in the National Library of Medicine discusses how this process occurs during sleep, suggesting that without it the brain potentially doesn’t have a chance to get rid of the build up of proteins. Read The Study Here
In order to get the proper amount of sleep for you, in your age-range, and wake up at your preferred time I recommend startsleeping.org … (not sponsored)
It’s a great resource for information about the necessity of sleep, sleep disorders, and statistics about sleep.
You can use the free sleep calculator that tells you what time to go to bed to wake up at your preferred time — based on your age.
So for example, if you are 25, and you want to wake up at 6 AM, the following times are the times you should go to sleep to get your preferred hours of sleep / number of sleep cycles.
I honestly couldn’t state all the insanely critical reasons sleep is vital to human function better than Matt Walker, in his Ted Talk “Sleep is your superpower”.
It’s actually so good, that I have cited it before.
Do yourself a favor and watch it! :)
What Is The Best Timing For Breakfast?
There is much debate over breakfast.
The timing of breakfast
The affects it has on the body
Or even if you should consume breakfast at all
In order to demystify all of the above, I have found several scientific articles that attempt to settle these debates. Here are some findings …
Skipping breakfast could be unhealthy for some — Research suggests skipping breakfast is linked to poor diet and could be problematic health-wise.
According to an article titled “Timing of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Effects on Obesity and Metabolic Risk” in the National Library of Medicine, skipping breakfast was casually linked to obesity in their studied population. In addition, it cited previous studies that linked skipping breakfast to unhealthy diets, lower physcial activity, higher BMI, and higher insulin levels. Read The Study Here
Does Eating Make You “Crash”? — Research suggests that early time-restricted feeding (eating from 8 AM - 2 PM) can help.
According to an article titled “Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even Without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes” in the National Library of Medicine, eating in a shorter time window, called Early Time-Restricted Feeding (essentially fasting) resulted in improvements in insulin levels, insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and more in a group of pre-diabetic men. Read The Study Here
I recommend, and absolutely love this helpful, science-based video by Dr. Eric Berg DC, “How To Fix A Slow Metabolism”.
Timing & Consistency Is Everything — Research suggests following a regimented schedule & consuming the most of your calories in the morning for weight loss.
According to an article titled “When to Eat: The Importance of Eating Patterns in Health and Disease” in the National Library of Medicine, one of the most important ways to stay healthy is to simply follow a regimented eating pattern, particularily within a 12 hour period. Eating at odd times can mess up our biological clock (circadian rhythm), especially closer to bedtime. The study also suggests that the bulk of consumed calories should be consumed in the morning, tapering off as the day goes by, as this has been linked to weight loss. Read The Study Here
What Time Is Best To Begin Working?
According to an article titled “Identifying the Best Times for Cognitive Functioning Using New Methods: Matching University Times to Undergraduate Chronotypes” in the National Library of Medicine…
Students who identify with a certain rising timeframe (early-riser, etc.) are pretty accurate with their actual rising timeframes.
Students have a wide range of start times for work in terms of preference.
However, the working timeframe that aligned with the most university students in their study was starting work a lot later than likely most would expect … between 11 AM and 1 PM.
The result of this shift would be a reduction in potential health issues and better work performance.
While some perform better at earlier times, that is only small, sub-group made up of early risers.
Therefore, some takeaways for you could be:
To improve academic performance, especially if you don’t identify as an early-riser is to try to take later classes if possible to potentially improve academic performance.
To still make use of the morning and be productive, you could fill your morning with other important to-dos that don’t necessarily require a deep-work state, such as exercising, eating, cleaning, lighter academic work such as required reading, working a side-job, etc.
In Case You Didn’t Have Time…
Now that you are aware of some excellent ways you can balance your morning into being efficient, effective, but also enjoyable, you can start to craft your own routine.
Everyone is different, so as mentioned earlier in the article, there is no one, perfect morning routine.
People have different schedules, goals, preferences, habits, responsibilities, and so many more differentiating factors.
It’s important to create a morning routine that:
Fits you and your styles / preferences
Helps you meet your goals
Challenges you
Encourages you to get up :)
Highlights
It is very important college students have a morning routine.
There is no “perfect” routine.
Using scientific research is a great basis in the creation of a personalized morning routine.
Sources:
Iliff JJ, Wang M, Liao Y, Plogg BA, Peng W, Gundersen GA, Benveniste H, Vates GE, Deane R, Goldman SA, Nagelhus EA, Nedergaard M. A paravascular pathway facilitates CSF flow through the brain parenchyma and the clearance of interstitial solutes, including amyloid β. Sci Transl Med. 2012 Aug 15;4(147):147ra111. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3003748. PMID: 22896675; PMCID: PMC3551275.
Xie L, Kang H, Xu Q, Chen MJ, Liao Y, Thiyagarajan M, O'Donnell J, Christensen DJ, Nicholson C, Iliff JJ, Takano T, Deane R, Nedergaard M. Sleep drives metabolite clearance from the adult brain. Science. 2013 Oct 18;342(6156):373-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1241224. PMID: 24136970; PMCID: PMC3880190.
Sutton EF, Beyl R, Early KS, Cefalu WT, Ravussin E, Peterson CM. Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes. Cell Metab. 2018 Jun 5;27(6):1212-1221.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.04.010. Epub 2018 May 10. PMID: 29754952; PMCID: PMC5990470.
Manoogian ENC, Chaix A, Panda S. When to Eat: The Importance of Eating Patterns in Health and Disease. J Biol Rhythms. 2019 Dec;34(6):579-581. doi: 10.1177/0748730419892105. Epub 2019 Dec 8. PMID: 31813351; PMCID: PMC7213043.
Evans MDR, Kelley P, Kelley J. Identifying the Best Times for Cognitive Functioning Using New Methods: Matching University Times to Undergraduate Chronotypes. Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Apr 19;11:188. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00188. PMID: 28469566; PMCID: PMC5395635.