Morning Routine for College Students (9 Things Before 9 A.M.)

This post is about the best morning routine for college students. If you want to increase your chances of getting A’s this semester, keep reading!

It is SUPER hard to have a great, productive day if you had a really suckky morning.

A morning where you sleep in until 1pm, then run to class with your hair in a ball, stuff your face with food because you missed breakfast and lunch, and finally slump into your chair to TRY to do some work.

(Those study sessions don’t usually work out. lol)

And if you have mornings like this back to back, those sucky mornings can add up to a pretty unproductive semester, which can ultimately affect your grades in a really negative way.

Don’t let this be you.

Instead, you should adopt a killer morning routine that you can stick to.

Why?

Science-backed research says that if you adopt a morning routine, you will increase your productivity, feel in control, boost your energy levels, and combat forgetfulness — which is super important when you are studying!!

Luckily for you, I have a killer morning routine for college students that you can copy.

This morning routine for college students include 9 things you should do before 9 am.

And trust me, you will want to review this list because this list played a HUGE part in me getting straight A’s EVERY SEMESTER in college.

Let’s jump in!

1. Express Gratitude When You Wake Up

The first thing you want to do when you wake up is to express gratitude for the things you are thankful for.

You can do this in the form of writing by writing three things that you are thankful for in your journal, say what you’re grateful for silently to yourself, or express gratitude in the form of a prayer.

I personally do the latter. Every morning when I wake up, I pray to God and thank him for waking me up and allowing me to see a new morning.

Making that simple prayer — without fail–instantly put me in the right mindset and helps me set a positive tone for the day.

Now, if you ever draw a blank on what to be thankful for one morning, express gratitude for being ALIVE one more day.

According to the study Causes of Mortality Among College Students, the three leading causes of death among college students are accidents, including alcohol-related incidences, suicide, and cancer.

This means that crazy stuff happens even the youngest and fittest of us.

And I bet, if you think real hard, you can come up with at least one person in your life or from your high school that has succumbed to these statistics.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to express gratitude for being ALIVE.

2. Read or Listen to Something Spiritually Uplifting or Encouraging

This next part is SO necessary for your college morning routine!!

In addition to expressing gratitude, you should read something spiritually uplifting or encouraging. What this will do is build your spirits up for the day ahead and give you LOADS of motivation and confidence going into class and your studies.

Reading the Bible, a devotional, a short-sermon is a great way to receive spiritual encouragement.

And don’t worry if you’re not religious. I have nonreligious ideas as well. Like reading motivational quotes just for college students. Just keep scrolling to see the ideas below.

One of my absolute favorite devotionals to read is Jesus Calling: Morning and Evening by Sarah Young. See this amazing “day” sample below:

Like I said, if you’re not a religious or spiritual person, don’t worry.

Being religious or spiritual is not a prerequisite for completing this step.

You just need to consume something for at least 5 minutes that lifts your spirits.

Here are FIVE amazing motivation videos from Youtube that you can consume in 5 minutes or less:

Thank God It’s Monday by E.T. The Hip Hop Preacher
I’ve Come Too Far to Quit by Ben Lionel Scott
When Life Hits You by Alex Kalts Motivation
You Have To Believe by Alex Kalts Motivation
Never Underestimate Me by Absolute Motivation

3. Check Your Email

The third thing you’ll want to do is check your email.

Now, most books, articles, and podcasts on morning routines actually advise against checking your email first thing in the morning but that’s because their target audience is mostly blue and white collared folks working the 9-5.

But you, my friend, are in college and in college, it is SUPER important that you check your email first thing, especially if you have a morning class, because professors just LOVE to send urgent messages first thing in the morning like…

“Subject: Class is CANCELLED! Sorry, I won’t be able to make it to class because…”

“Subject: READ THIS before class!!” with a 50-page document report attached to it.

Don’t you just love those!

It’s one of the things I rant about in my post: 11 Things Professors Do That Annoy Us

I would hate for you to have to rush out to class or waste 2-hours of your life preparing for class only to realize not a soul has shown up for class except for you all because you didn’t check your email.

And missing out on an assignment that you would have had ample time to AT LEAST skim through had you checked your email…

Yep, check your email.

It saved me loads!

4. Make Your Bed

Besides making your room look 25% clean, making your bed is another great morning routine for college students that you should definitely incorporate!!!

According to Bustle, making your bed can actually make you happier and more productive.

And that’s the goal right?!

Plus, Navy Seal William H. McCraven says that when you make your bed “it will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another, and by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”

And that’s what you want.

You want to get a good momentum going first thing in the morning.

One of the EASIEST and QUICKEST ways you can do that is by making your bed.

And before you say, “but Jess, it takes forever to make the bed…”

Time yourself.

I bet you can do it in 60 seconds.

5. Morning Work Out

Now this one is super optional but an amazing thing to incorporate into your morning routine if you can do it.

Nothing wakes the body up better than working out.

In college, every morning that I didn’t have a morning class, I would run around my college campus which was about 2-miles long.

My college was in SUNNY SUNNY Miami, so this was typically at 6:30 a.m. before the sun got too hot.

These runs had amazing benefits on my body and more importantly on my brain. After my runs, I became extremely alert, energized, and motivated to conquer the day.

I have no doubt that working out will have the same affect on you.

You can do a workout that is as intense as mine in your community or something lighter in your room like stretching, pilates, and yoga.

Whatever helps you get the blood flowing through your brain.

It’s totally up to you!

6. Have a Smoothie

Whether you exercise or not, what should naturally come next is a power breakfast!

Not a Cinnabon or a PopTart that will most definitely make you crash like a 15-year old outdated computer.

No real food that will feed your brain and give your body energy to listen, learn, and study.

One of the best ways to do that is by drinking a Smoothie.

This could be a fruit-based smoothie or a green smoothie, your choice but I highly recommend you have a smoothie!!!

In college, I made a plant-based smoothie with GNC’s Total Lean Lean Shake Green (Vanilla Flavor), almond milk, fresh bananas, and frozen strawberries.

I kid you not, after drinking that, I felt like the ENERGIZER. BUNNY. RABBIT!!!

I was so alert that I felt like the guy in Limitless (Movie). I could focus better, digest more information, and study longer.

So do yourself a favor, go shopping for smoothie ingredients, and make yourself a power smoothie tomorrow morning!

7. Write Down Your To-List In a Planner

Benjamin Franklin said it best when he said, “if you fail to plan, plan to fail.”

I don’t think I have to convince you of this one, but if you are not in the habit of writing your to-do list in your planner, you need to get on it…

…like yesterday.

Not only is a planner great in helping you organize your day, but writing your to-do list out and setting time blocks for when assignments need to be accomplished will cause your brain to pace itself as it works through activities.

You’ll become more focused and more efficient because you’ll know that you have a specific window in which to accomplish a task before you have to move on to the next one and the next.

Some of the best planners widely used by college students are Passion Planner, Panda Planner, and the Erin Condren Planner because they all come with a time scheduler that users can use to time block.

In the alternative, you can also use your college planner (as I did), though mine did not come with a time scheduler so you’ll have to see if yours come with one.

All in all, creating a to-do list of all your classes and assignments for the day is one of the best morning routines for college students that you should definitely practice.

8. Review Notes For Your First Class

Now No. 8 is definitely a hack out of every 4.0 college student’s playbook.

And I don’t mean on exam day.

I mean on a regular Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,…morning.

After I have expressed gratitude, read or consumed something uplifting, worked out, and drank my power smoothie, I would review my notes before class.

I did this so that theories and concepts I either learned in class or studied would be fresh in my mind and help me prepared for anything that came my way in class:

A surprise quiz.

A cold call.

A just plain clarity for what was going on in class.

I highly recommend that you do the same too!! You never know what might happen in class so increase your odds of being prepared by setting aside thirty minutes to an hour in the morning to review your class notes.

9. Get Ready for The Day

Last but not least, it’s time to get ready for the day. If you haven’t already, take a shower, get dressed (even if your learning from home! It really does make difference), brush your teeth, do your hair, and whatever else makes feel “ready for class.”

Just give yourself one last look in the mirror and tell yourself what you already know, “You got this!”

*This post was about the best morning routine for college students*

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