But It's Still Dark Outside!

• She rises also while it is yet night...
• She looketh well to the ways of her household

I shared in an earlier post about my struggles to cast off my night-owl ways and become more productive, not only in the mornings, but also the rest of the day. I know from first-hand experience how much better my day goes when I have a morning routine. So, as part of the Proverbs 3:14 Challenge of setting goals and "pressing toward the mark", my morning routine goals are these:

1. Get up at a reasonable hour every morning. No sleeping in for no good reason.
2. Read my Bible and pray.
3. Get dressed, to include hair and make-up, within one hour of waking up.
4. Make my bed every day. Even a clean bedroom looks messy with an unmade bed in it--when the bed is made, to include the decorative pillows and the throw draped artistically across the foot, I tend to automatically clean and straighten as I go--put the folded clothes into the drawers instead of laying them on the foot of the bed to be put away later, etc.
5. Wipe down the bathroom sink and vanity; change the hand towel; swish and wipe down toilet.
6. Think about dinner--do I need to put something out to thaw or start something to simmer?
7. I tried to think of seven things because seven is supposed to be the "perfect number", but now I'm danger of veering into daily routine territory, and for this post I want to stick to morning routine. So number 7 is this--don't bite off more than I can chew for a simple morning routine.

Do have a morning routine, whether conscious or unconscious? What do you do in the mornings to set the tone for the rest of your day?