Creating a morning routine can be tough when you have kids, I get it. I have five kids to send to school everyday and it can be tough to balance work and family and on top of that take care of yourself all by 9am.

My life began to change drastically when I created a morning routine that worked for me. I no longer feel flustered in the morning or frustrated. Having control over my morning routine made a huge difference.

Since I developed my personal morning routine, my productivity went up and I became a better mom for my kids and a better business owner.

I want to share what I do as a working mom for my morning routine. I believe in this morning routine is what made me successful in balancing motherhood and business.

My Morning Routine Before 9am

**P.S This post may contain affiliate links to the products I love and recommend, which means that if you make a purchase, I may earn a small something at no extra cost to you, so thank you for your support in advance. **

Throw up your feet, just like this baby of mine did when he was a little one and enjoy this blog.

Catch up on a few of my other blogs as a working mom and mom in business. These tips are from real life experiences from the last seven years.

How to Make Time to Exercise for Busy Moms

3 Tips to Simplify Your Life as a Working Mom

10 Tips to Keep Kids Busy as a Working Mom

Rise and Shine with Coffee and Jesus

I love getting up early in the morning! The house is quiet and the sun hasn’t come up yet. Watching the sunrise as I sip on my hot coffee is my favorite.

I started getting up at 4:45am the past 6 months. Previously, I was getting up around 5:30am.

I wanted to add to my morning routine, so I slowly started training my body and mind to wake up earlier. Just 5-10 minutes earlier every week until I was used to getting up at 4:45am.

As I enjoy. my morning coffee, I start my devotions. This is the first thing I do. I want to fill my mind with motivation and a word from the Lord. Some days it can be a deep moment and some days I am still half awake and have to reread the same few verses three times. It’s still the first thing I do despite how I feel.

Here are some of my favorite devotionals I have done so far:

Awaken by Priscilla Shirer

Esther by Beth Moore

The Quest by Beth Moore

Good Coffee is a Must!

It’s quiet in the mornings, so I try to prep my coffee the night before and just warm the water in the morning for my chemex and pour. By the way, if you don’t have a chemex, you are missing out on the best way to make your coffee! The satisfaction from watching the beans getting saturated with hot steaming water and the aroma…this is an upgrade you must make to your coffee station. Well worth every minute in the morning. 

A Hobby You Love or a Task to Complete

After spending time with Jesus and sipping my coffee, around 5am I start working on this blog. Yup, this is the time I use to work on my hobby. It’s the only time I have during the day to work on my second love which is writing. During the day, I go to work to my business, Inna’s Pierogi Shop, which is my first love – cooking.

If you have a different hobby or would like to get another task done in your day, I recommend adding an extra 15-30 minutes to your morning routine.

Exercise and Vitamins Equals Happy Feelings

Around 6am, I start my morning routine workout. Three mornings out of the week, I go downstairs to my mini gym set up and start my strength training routine. I want to feel good about myself and build strength, so I hired a coach to help me build a program out that I could do at home. This saves me time driving to the gym and money on expensive gym memberships.

My morning exercises started out with just 30 minutes As I added more to my lifting routine, added more time to my morning routine. You do what fits your schedule best. If you only have 15 minutes to move your body, then just do that. As one great person said, some is better than none.

Vitamins

I take vitamins daily as my morning routine. They keep me healthy for my strength training along with hair strengthening vitamins that help with hair loss.

Here is a list of vitamins I take daily currently: (link available)

AG1 – Athletic Greens is such a great green drink! I mix it with homemade juice and drink my vitamins with it.

Nutrafol – helps strengthen your hair, prevent and restore hair loss.

Creatine – great for muscle energy and brain health

Collagen – great for joint health, bone health, skin beauty. This collagen has protein as well so this is a really great option.

Spending Time with Kids

I have five children. Three of them are teenagers and two are in elementary. One of our family goals is to be strong together and build unity, so we incorporate small moments throughout the day where we all come together to do different things.

Every morning, we get together with the kids around 7am for 10-15 minutes to read a verse from the Bible. One of the kids reads a verse, shares why it is important to them and we all get to discuss any highlights we as a family may have as well. The kiddo that read the verse that morning gets a special prayer from the family as we send them off to school.

At 7:20, the three teenagers start walking out the door to catch the bus. We hug, kiss and send them off to school with love and a blessing. 

Spending Time with My Elementary Kids

After the three teenagers leave to school, I have one hour to spend with the two younger kids and help them with their morning routines. Yes, we are all about good routines in our household. 

The elementary kids get up right before 7am, so their morning starts after the teenagers leave.

At ages 7 and 8, the kids need guidance and help to understand how to do chores around the house. So, my husband and I take turns to teach the kids. This takes extra time as they are much slower than the teenagers and are easily distracted. This is part of how we spend time with our kids and teach them life skills.

Our morning routine with our elementary kids consist of:

• Eating breakfast
• Morning chores like dishes, sweeping and wiping down the tables
• Brush teeth and dressing up for school. This is a task in itself because sometime the kids want to wear shorts when it’s 25*F outside
• Making sure they get to the bus stop on time

Time to Go to Work

By this time, it is 8:30am. My morning routine is just about wrapping up. If I am ready and packed up, I will leave to work right after getting the kids on the bus. If I was running behind in my morning routine, I will spend some time packing my lunch, finishing my breakfast.

Conclusion

Everyone’s morning routine will be different. Mine may be a little crazy and may be impossible for you. That’s why you should make a morning routine that fits your schedule. 

Here a few suggestions how to create your morning routine:

• Start with adding one task at a time to your morning routine – devotions, exercise, quiet time, meditation or whatever it is you want to add to your routine.
• Start small – instead of exercising 45 minutes in the morning, do 15 minutes of exercise
• Train yourself to get up earlier by setting the alarm 5-10 minutes earlier every few weeks so your body and mind get used to it slowly.