You’ve heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but that isn’t the only good thing morning has going for it. Establishing a morning routine helps you get your day started off right. It also helps set the tone for the remainder of the day. Highly successful entrepreneurs and businessmen and women around the world follow this advice. While their routines don’t look the same, there are some similarities between many of them. These 7 morning routine tips can help you have a more productive day:

Make getting dressed easy

There are a couple of strategies that you can follow to make getting dressed a breeze. For example, Mark Zuckerberg decided to stop wasting time on getting dressed every morning. He wears basically the same outfit every day. This eliminates the decision making progress. He knows what he is going to wear and can get dressed without wasting time thinking about it.

If the thought of wearing the same thing every day is more than you can handle, choose your clothes at night. Layout every article of clothing you are going to wear down to the accessories. In the morning you can simply shower and put your clothes on. Make yourself stick to it.

Exercise

There are many benefits to exercising, especially in the morning. Making this part of your morning routine can help boost your mood throughout the remainder of the day. Here are a few of the benefits of adding exercise to your morning routine:

• Studies found that those who exercise in the morning sleep better at night. Even when compared to those who exercise at different hours of the day.
• It boosts your metabolism to start your day off right.
• Exercising in the morning can help you make better food choices throughout the day. You will be more conscious that you don’t want to undo the benefit you gave yourself in working out.
• It can boost confidence. Knowing that you have succeeded at following through with your exercise sets you on the right path to take on more.

Get up at the same time everyday

Wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekend. It’s hard to stick to a morning routine if you wake up whenever you feel like it. Doing so also allows you to follow through on the rest of your morning routine.  While you’re at it, avoid hitting the snooze button.  Set your alarm for the time you want to wake up and then actually get up at that time. Those extra five minute increments between obnoxious buzzing does not make you feel better in the long run.

Have a written plan

Plan your day out the night before. This lets you know exactly what you have coming in the morning. It will also help you to stick to the schedule and waste less time on indecision. You will wake up with an instant sense of direction, knowing exactly what you need to be doing. It will be easier to make purposeful decisions during the day. You can even carry a routine through many other parts of your day. For example, set aside a certain time each day for checking email. Or, keep only the afternoons open for meetings and do not spend the first part of your day sitting and listening to others.

Avoid grabbing your phone first thing

Smart phones have given us easy access to our emails and social media accounts. Many people instantly grab for their phone as soon as their eyes pop open. They are then checking their emails before their feet even hit the floor. When you do that you are putting other people’s to-do list at the top of your priorities for the day. When you start responding to their questions or concerns you can easily find that you have lost most of your morning and been distracted from the things that were on your to-do list.

Ashton Kutcher found this to be a problem, so he simply stopped checking his email in the morning, and you can do. Avoid checking it until you have accomplished the things that you wanted to in the morning. Make it through your morning routine and cross the most important things off your list before turning your attention to the demands of others.

Spend some time with family

Spending time with those we love does wonders for our attitude. There is a lot of information about the importance of sitting around the dinner table as a family together, but the same can be said for breakfast. Elon Musk devotes part of his morning routine to helping his children prepare for their day. Plan time to talk with your spouse and children in the morning. Eat breakfast together, pack lunches together, or drive to school and work together. Make your family a priority because they are the ones you are coming home to at the end of the day.

Go to bed at the same time

A good morning routine actually starts at night. In fact, Michael Hyatt is just as particular about his evening routine. He always tries to be in bed at the same time each night. To make this happens he has a routine of when he starts to wind down for the day. Going to sleep at the same time every day helps your body get used to your sleep schedule, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. Getting enough rest overnight makes it easier to get up in the morning without needing to drag yourself out of bed.

There is no argument that a morning routine will help you get your day started right. However, what you include with your morning routine is up to you. Try out a few things and don’t be afraid to make a change if it isn’t working. Whether you wake up at 4 am or 11 am, a routine can make all the difference.