The Best School Morning Routine For Students (Powerful)
Estimated reading time: 26 minutes
Here’s the ultimate guide for creating the best school morning routine for students. Use this guide to design your optimal day!
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What Is The Best School 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 Schedule For School
The best school morning routine for a student is … one you’ll 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 work.
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-hour 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 the best night’s sleep, and 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:
A successful morning routine is:
- Efficient
- The best routines have an organized structure you follow every day or rotate 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 school morning routine incorporates a mix of both things you have to do to feel good and accomplished, such as taking care of yourself by working out and enjoying yourself by doing things purely for your enjoyment, such as going for a walk or reading.
2. CHOOSE A FEW ITEMS AND STICK WITH THEM FOR YOUR SCHOOL MORNING ROUTINE
It can be easy and even exciting to plan a new routine once you have decided you need to implement 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 excited 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 IN A SCHOOL MORNING ROUTINE
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 probability that you will do it.
Here are some key simple hacks for your school morning routine:
- 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, and 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 water bottle 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.
More Preparation Ideas
- 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 forgetting 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 yourself and your body is to get a good night’s sleep.
- Pack a lunch you will 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 school morning routine.
Here are 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 Meditation
- 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 Schedule For School?
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 are some goals to start with:
You Need A School Morning 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, that 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?
Thousands of studies 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 Alzheimer’s. Read The Study Here
A follow-up 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
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 TIME FOR BREAKFAST?
There is much debate over breakfast in school morning routines:
- The timing of breakfast
- The effects it has on the body
- Or even if you should consume breakfast at all
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 physical 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 love this helpful, science-based video by Dr. Eric Berg DC, “How To Fix A Slow Metabolism”.
