Faster means better, right?
Wrong.
Don’t worry, I AM going to show you how men can get ready much faster each morning.
I also plan on showing you an option that’s even better than getting “faster”.
Men can get ready faster each morning by increasing their mental focus and power. This will ensure that there is no wasted time, and that you can increase your speed to whatever level you desire without running into the classic “haste makes waste” – which means you increase your speed without a corresponding increase in mental focus.
But so we understand more about morning routines, lemme tell you about what my morning routine was like while I was living with monks.
I used to live in Northern California, in an Ashram, where we did the whole monastery thing everyday.
- Chop wood
- carry water
- temple worship
- wearing robe
- and the whole nine
Each morning, I would wake up in my very cold yurt, put on my coat, and walk a quarter mile to our bath house to shower for 60 seconds, dry off, put my robes on, and get ready in general.
Most of the time, there was no hot water because I was the first to shower and the hot water heater we had took time to warm up.
I remember the creaking still from the boards of the steps each morning. It was always so quiet you could hear the leaves move slightly on the trees.
I remember another monk who lived about another quarter mile down and over another hill. It was so quiet each morning that I could hear his door open, and his footsteps as he’d walk up the steep incline to get to the bath house (so he could take his shower).
Then, I would walk approximately 200 feet to the temple, which was freezing cold every morning in the mountains of northern cali..
It was my job to start both fires, one in the part of the temple nearest to the kitchen, and also in the temple room where we’d do the morning temple program.
Since I was normally the first up, it was so quiet all I heard was the fire crackling.
I’d sit there in meditation for maybe 30 minutes or so before the others started trickling in…
And each morning, like clockwork, I’d hear one of my monk friends slide open the door to the room where all the “ingredients” for the morning program were kept, then he would slide the door to the altar open, and start ringing the bell.
These mornings were habitual, they were routine, but when you hear me describe them, they almost sound miserable, don’t they?
Sometimes in northern california it’s 20 degrees at 4am (when I woke up).
- Then I walked outside just to take a shower?
- And then again to get to where I’d spend the rest of the morning?
This was my morning routine, but there was no pain, no complaining, and no stress, because everything was focused, and the way we conducted ourselves there was conducive for serious mental power and control.
That’s my point here, you can get faster if you want, but what you really want is more focus, because it’s focus that increases your power in the morning and throughout the day.
You want to get more done, have the morning not suck, and be on fire all day long – that’s called focus. It’s called power, and you can increase your power without getting faster.
So, to not only give you what you want, but what you need, I’ll include methods for both in this post.
Ready to pee and brush your teeth in the shower at the same time???
Haha, just kidding man.
How long should it take to get ready in the morning?
You’re not a cookie cutter version of everyone else, so the amount of time it takes you to get ready is completely individual to you and your needs.
If you drive an hour to work, you won’t need the same amount of time to get ready as someone who walks down the street to work at the corner convenience store.
If you’re a man who’s serious about his looks each morning, you’ll need time to take care of that, more so than a man who keeps his head shaved and maybe works where nobody will see him all day.
The easiest way to figure out how much time is required for you to get ready in the morning, is to decide how you want your morning to look.
- Make a list of what you want to accomplish in the morning
- What are your morning responsibilities
- What are you waking up for? Work? School? A Work at home job? Exercise?
- Write everything out, think about how much time it should take and then…
- Actually measure how long it takes for a few mornings – you might be over or under estimating.
Once you know how long your morning takes, that’s how long your morning should take.
Why do I hate getting ready in the morning?
For a couple reasons, and they all suck, until you change your mind about them.
One reason we hate waking up in the morning is because of the change in state. Warm bed, to cold floor, comfy and cozy to now it’s time for work.
Another reason is because most of us do stuff in the morning that we like.
Motivation
If you wake up each morning and go to a job you hate, you might have a hard time having the willpower each morning to get up and get out of bed.
Figure out whether or not you should quit your job.
Are you waking up at the right time?
To be honest, I haven’t done a bunch of research into the science of this, but I caught a video by Dr. Breus one night and it changed my life.
Basically he says that each of us has a different biological clock, and needs to be asleep and awake at different times.
It was pretty low risk to try it out, so I did, and lemme tell you my life is way much better now.
Instead of waking up at 4am, I now wake up at 730am – waking up is way easier, way more fun and super effortless.
Honestly, I don’t know if he’s legit or not, but it literally has changed my entire life. So you could try that out if you were interested in making your own experiment.
Here’s the link to his “very official” quiz – take it, figure out your chronotype, change your schedule, and see if this works for you…
Like I said, it worked for me, sleeping and waking is 100x easier now.
You’re not taking your evenings seriously
I don’t care if you saw a video of Steve Harvey saying “You can be rich and wake up at 8am. You can’t be successful and sleep 8 hours a day.”
I’m nowhere near as qualified as Steve Harvey, but if what he says is true, than….how do people do it? There are plenty of successful people who sleep passed 4 am.
Look, I understand you want to be productive and all that, but if you don’t understand that you get diminishing returns on your effort and productivity after a certain amount of waking hours, you’re about as smart as a goldfish.
In other words, you might hate waking up because your sleep is not optimized, and it needs to be.
Do you wanna walk around with a cell phone that was off the charger all night?
No, you don’t.
These are my favorite products for those who have trouble getting quality sleep at night.
But you’ll walk around with a body and mind in the same condition...makes perfect sense.
The morning controls the rest of your day, and your morning is controlled by your evening, so if you want to be truly powerful, you need to embrace activities that will optimize your sleep.
Activities like:
- Taking sleep conducive supplements
- Eating the right foods before bed
- Not eating and drinking nasty crap before bed
- Getting the right amount of exercise
- Sleeping in the right spot, in the right position
Morning hacks for getting ready quickly
Here are some seriously effective ways men can get ready faster in the morning, especially with other people in the house.
Do something to focus the mind first thing
You might be gung ho about making a morning routine shift, but think about that for a second – it’s a morning routine shift.
You have a routine already – it’s the way you’ve always done your mornings…
It’s currently not satisfying you and you want a change – a shift.
Your current routine has momentum, and you can’t just start tomorrow.
If you do that without any preparation, you’ll slip back into your previous routine’s momentum and won’t even notice until it’s too late. This is how habits work.
The only way to combat that, is to increase your mental focus. To avoid falling back into your previous routine’s natural behavior, focus your mind each morning-
- With breathing exercises
- Simple Mindfulness exercises
- Or meditation
- Reading affirmations
- Going through your plan for the morning mentally before you get out of bed
When you wake up and your brain is fuzzy, you will slip into the easiest thing possible, which is your old routine. Focus your mind young padawan before you leave your bed.
Eliminate all the nonsense you do on automatic
- Checking facebook, instagram, email
- Turning on the news or the television first thing
- Listening to your music or whoever’s “greatest hits”
If you’re like any normal person, there’s probably a bunch of stuff you do in the morning first thing to make yourself feel good.
If you seek out entertainment and dopamine spiking activities (like some models’ instagram pics) first thing, you’re giving up the very thing that makes you most powerful throughout the day – your mental focus, and your ability to be in control.
Plus, how much time does that social media sweep take while you’re in bed? 5 or 10 minutes?
You don’t need it, so get rid of it. It doesn’t do anything but make you weak, and life is better without it. Surf the social media and whatever else when there’s time for it.
IF you’re looking to get ready faster each morning, that time is NOT in the morning. Enough said.
50 jumping jacks…yes, I’m serious
Are you tired of feeling like a zombie each morning?
There are a few different reasons for this happening to us upon waking, and one of them is because of the reduced blood flow that happens while you’re unconscious for the night.
I literally just did 50 jumping jacks to see how long it takes, and it took me 31 seconds exactly.
They’re stupid simple and super effective at getting your blood pumping, which is proven to wake your ass up and get you in the mood to kick some serious ass.
I may or may not get too excited about jumping jacks – more on that in the next episode!
Stop making decisions…lay everything out
You know what sucks? Making decisions, especially before coffee.
Doesn’t it feel better to just have everything on automatic each morning? So why don’t you?
Just like your mother when you were younger, lay your outfit out the night before.
Put your EDC kit on the table and everything you need where you can easily find it.
Stop rooting through your closet and drawers, because that’s just a bunch of nonsense you don’t need to deal with in the morning.
Faster sometimes means “get rid of the nonsense”, and not necessarily doing more.
Put your appliances on automatic
Make sure your coffee machine is timed for when you wake up so you can just grab it, and if you don’t have an automatic one that does that, get one.
Here is a list of automatic appliances that will make your life way better. Promise.
Instant Pot – cook while you sleep
Automatic coffee – self explanatory
Insane alarm clock #2 – literally never snooze again
Time your morning with the rest of your family
I remember the worst thing at the monastery was having to wait in line at the bath house. Cold, wet, dreary. No fun.
The worst thing for you in the morning is waking up, finally being ready to hop in that hot shower and find that your wife, girlfriend, husband or kids are already in there.
Great, now what do you do? I don’t know, waste time some probably – and that’s the entire point.
Set times, if you have to, for your family or roommates, and let everyone know, “this is my time, if you interfere with my time in el bańo, you’re an ass.”
Put a reward at the finish line
My personal favorite are healthy morning snacks, but you can choose whatever you like.
Just make sure you harness the power of routine in your brain.
Making something habitual and routine requires three things:
- a cue,
- the routine,
- and a reward.
Now at first, this might seem like something small, or insignificant, but it’s actually the very thing that makes changing habits difficult.
Complete the habit circuit in your brain – the cue is your alarm (or just waking up) the routine is your morning routine you’re about to create, and the reward is whatever you choose to reward yourself with.
Some rewards that come to mind:
- Reading for favorite newspaper or magazine
- Doing something fun like watching funny youtube videos (just one though)
- Drinking a delicious smoothie
- Doing laughing yoga (if you’re into that)
- Having sex? (if you’ve got the time)
A reward is anything you enjoy, that you can look forward to as a reward for your discipline each morning. Choose your own and watch the power of routine manifest in your life.
How to get ready faster in the morning for school
What if you’re in school though?
Don’t save your home work for last minute morning sessions, or bus time.
Simple.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’ll wait until the morning to get that last bit of work done.
Do it the day before like an adult and save your morning for what matters.
You know it’s miserable so just stop it.
Save your phone time for later in the day
Keep your phone off – better yet, don’t touch it until it’s time to leave.
The people who texted you aren’t gonna die, and the zombies aren’t gonna come after you if you wait 30 or so minutes to check your phone.
Pack your bag the night before
Easy, but are you doing it? Or are you waiting for the morning to pack your things up when you’re not supposed to be making a bunch of decisions?
Create a 10 minute or less exercise routine
Getting your blood pumping cures morning grogginess. You can accomplish this in a short period of time believe it or not, look up a simple workout routine you can do to get yourself moving in your room when you wake up, and the rest of your morning will be smooth sailin’.
Have your lunch ready
Once again, as little decision making as possible. Have it ready in the fridge the night before.
You’ll probably spend more time and careful thought preparing something good for you, rather than having a knee jerk reaction to reach for the “easy” and often “unhealthy” options in your pantry when you’re in a rush.
Write a schedule
Create a schedule that you can follow. Make your routine each morning as painless as possible. Don’t even make yourself think about what you need to do, just read the paper and do it.
Easy.
Spend time refreshing on what you need
A part of having a powerful morning routine is feeling confident after it’s done. IF you’re on your way to school and want to keep yourself from stressing out on the bus, or on your commute to class, refresh yourself on what you need to know to look good in class.
You’ll feel better, you’ll be in charge, and that’s really where the power is within a morning routine that rocks.
How to get ready for work in 30 minutes
Here is a simple morning routine you can use in order to get ready for work faster in the morning.
This is generic, and I’m assuming you don’t have many responsibilities in the morning to take care of.
- Wake up, out of bed and 50 jumping jacks
- Sit and breathe slowly for 5 minutes, while visualizing how you want to feel at the end of your morning ritual
- Shower time – 5 mins. Hot water for the first 3 mins, then colder for the last 2 mins so that you’re refreshed and not “cozy” feeling once you get out.
- Quick breakfast based on your needs until the next time you eat. 5 mins.
- At the 18 minute mark, I recommend you sit for 10 minutes and just be. Be silent, there is power in silence. Listen to sounds your house makes. Breathe, and be. It’s nice actually.
- For the last 2 minutes, check your phone and look at what you’ve got to handle for the day. Check your social media for 2 minutes, or read some emails. Do it quickly.
- Continue out the door, or into your home office, calm, focused and in control.
- You win.
Increasing your Morning Power
If you read the intro, I explained to you a few things I think about your desire to “get ready for work faster”.
Getting ready faster really means you don’t want any stress, you want more free time for yourself, you want to not be late for work each morning, and you want your morning to make you a powerful force of nature for the rest of your day…right?
I truly believe that increasing your morning power is what you should focus on to accomplish all those things, instead of just getting ready faster.
Remember, an increase in speed without a corresponding increase in focus equals haste – and haste makes waste.
When you increase your speed and focus simultaneously, that’s when you’re cooking with white gas.
I covered a lot in this post, but by its very nature, not everything I know about having a seriously powerful morning ritual to follow was appropriate to include here.
I made a list of everything that someone could do to make the most powerful morning routine possible, where you’ll be fully in charge of the day and the results you get, while eliminating all the stress that comes with waking up (just it sucking in general) – you can get it here if you want it.
My favorite programs for maximizing the potential of my morning routine, and solving sleep issues.
Mind Body Spirit Morning Routine: my own free program on how to create a truly empowering morning ritual
Morning Ritual Mastery: creating powerful 15, 30 and 60 minute morning routines that cover all your bases and can fit any scenario life throws at you.
Baby Sleep Miracle: weird trick for getting your baby’s to sleep so you can get the rest you need
Stop Snoring + Sleep Apnea: throat exercises for sleep apnea and awful snoring (if you struggle with that)
