We're diving into the messy world of morning routines—those perfectly planned sequences that work great until life happens and you're three hours into your day still wearing workout clothes you never worked out in. If you're tired of striving for Instagram-perfect mornings that have nothing to do with real life, this conversation is for you.

What We Talk About:

• How Shannon's podcast excitement derailed her workout routine (01:21)
• Why "trying" to do something usually means you won't (02:27)
• Janine's rock-solid morning routine and adding new things (03:15)
• Morning people vs. slow-to-wake-up people (04:13)
• Shannon's phone-free bedroom strategy (06:15)
• Why morning routines start the night before (15:37)
• Anchoring new habits to existing ones (14:49)
• Building flexibility so broken streaks don't derail everything (12:58)

Building Flexible Morning Frameworks

Ditch the "Perfect Morning" Myth: Those elaborate Instagram morning routines often fail because of cognitive load and all-or-nothing thinking. We're giving you permission to have "survival mornings"—because real life doesn't cooperate with Pinterest boards.

Start Ridiculously Small: Shannon's client wanted to walk daily but started by just putting on tennis shoes and stepping onto the front porch. That counted as success and removed the perfectionism that kills good intentions.

Create High vs. Low Energy Options: Build a menu instead of one rigid routine. High energy mornings might include workouts and journaling; low energy mornings might just be coffee and getting dressed. Both count as wins.

Why Mondays Need Different Rules: The weekend-to-weekday transition deserves special consideration. Maybe that's extra prep Sunday night or a simplified Monday morning focused on just getting started.

The Bottom Line

Your morning routine doesn't have to be perfect to be powerful. Perfectionism tells us broken streaks mean failure, but every morning is a fresh start. Survival mornings are still successful mornings. Listener Action: Pick one tiny thing to add to your morning and anchor it to something you already do consistently. Create both a high-energy and low-energy version.

Connect With Us

Whether your morning routine is humming along or you're still in yesterday's workout clothes, we'd love to hear all about it! Call or text 413-424-GTGE (4843) or find us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube @gettingtogoodenough.

If this helped you think differently about mornings, please share, rate and review!

Want more like this?

Check out Episode 11: Morning Routines (our original deep dive into this topic) and Episode 45: Getting Back on Track (perfect for when life derails your best intentions).

Hey, there. Welcome to getting to Good Enough. I'm Shannon Wilkinson.

And I'm Jeanine Adams. We're here for practical and fun conversations about living with more ease and way less stress.

Yep. We're all about embracing progress over perfection. So grab a tasty beverage and let's get started.

Hey, Shannon. How you doing?

I'm great. How are you?

I'm great. Glad to be talking with you.

I know. I am really digging this new routine.

Yeah. It's been happening for a solid two weeks now, and we're on it two days, once a week for two weeks.

But I feel like this is gonna stick.

Yes.

Unlike my. My morning routine, let's say.

Has that gone by the wayside?

Yeah, it really has. I feel like I'm back on track today, but it's been a real struggle to sort of stick with my morning routine recently.

And does that make you feel unmoored? A little. I mean, do you find yourself wishing you were sticking to your morning routine?

Oh, yeah. Because what's been happening is instead of doing my routine and then moving on to the next thing I need to do, I just start doing the thing.

So, like, I've been really excited about this podcast and the new technology that we're using and everything, and so I've been excited to get started with it in the morning. And instead of, you know, doing my workout and stuff, I like to work out in the morning.

I will sit down at my desk, and then it'll be three hours later and I'm still in my workout clothes.

But have not worked out your pristine workout clothes.

Yeah. And now have to go change because I have a client or something.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, interesting. And what. When you think about getting back into it, is there anything that gets in the way? Oh.

Well, it's really committing to it. And that's always the thing for me, is that I have to decide I'm going to do it.

If I'm like, oh, I'm going to try this, that means I'm not going to do it.

Oh, right. Yeah, yeah. When you say one, one says, I'm going to try that, like, yeah, you're not going to do it. It's so true. Yeah. Yeah.

It's interesting because I love my morning routine so much. The parts that. The things that happen before I walk Bix and Bix sleeps in, so I have time to do the things like empty the dishwasher.

Like, I can't even tolerate not emptying the dishwasher. I do it at friends houses. If I get up yeah, you've done.

It at my house.

Yeah, Right. And then I have my delicious coffee and then I do my ynab and my bujo and then Dix and Barry get up and I have to start thinking about doing that.

So I get up early enough so I can do all those things before when I have to leave the house. I get up three hours before I have to leave the house.

But introducing new things into that, like those things are rock solid and introducing new things is where I run into trouble. But it does come down to motivation and commitment.

Yeah, yeah.

But also, you're not a morning person.

I have become more of a morning person.

Oh, how about that?

But I'm, I'm. I mean, let me rephrase that. I am not a morning person. That is accurate. I have found it easier to get up in the mornings than I have in the past.

Well, that's good. I perceive you based on experience as somebody who is slow to wake up.

I am very slow to wake up.

I know to give you your space in the morning and not be all super chatty. Cause I wake up wide. Ey, what's the expression? Bright eyed and bushy tailed. Yeah, yeah.

So does my husband.

Yeah, I bet he does.

He wakes up.

He and I have had some coffee together, I think over the years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He wakes up. It doesn't matter what time he wakes up. He's like awake.

Yeah, that's how I am. I think it would be harder for you to develop a great morning routine. Maybe because you're just a little sleepier in the morning.

Um, well, or maybe it's easier because I don't think if I have a routine and I don't need to think and I just do the things, it's easier. The problem is if I deviate from that plan, if I. If it goes off the rails, it goes off the rails pretty far.

If you wake up slowly, I would think it would be hard to exercise. Or maybe exercise helps you wake up.

Exercise does help me wake up.

Yeah.

So what I used to do, because it does take me a long time to feel sort of clear headed in the morning is that I would lay in bed until I felt clear headed on my phone. And that helped no one, especially me. So one of the things I did was get a charger that is across the room from my bed. So I don't have my.

My phone is not accessible while I'm in be. And so the very first part of my morning routine is intact.

Every day, no matter what I get Up, I make the bed, I take my morning supplements and put on my workout clothes. It's what happens after that.

All right.

But today I did exactly what I wanted to do do, which is I put on my workout clothes and I went upstairs in the room that we exercise in and did my workout.

Excellent. Congratulations.

Thank you. I. May this be the first of many.

Days where I do this. Yeah. For me, I used to do yoga in the morning, and I loved. I had a whole yoga thing. And.

And then after we moved, I lost my yoga studio, and it has been so hard to get a place. And I actually changed up my office since you were here, so I can't even do it in my office. So it's. It's so tricky.

I mean, I could go down to the fitness center downstairs, but you don't see me doing that, so. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So for me, it's a little logistical, but it's also a little. That I really like my. I like my little steps in the morning.

I don't want to put something else in there.

Yeah.

But regardless, we are.

It's worthwhile mentioning in case there are people who are listening to us who don't have a morning routine, that a morning routine is just a wonderful anchor for the day, in my opinion.

Yeah, it really is. I do feel much better during the day. Like, I feel like I already won the day, like, if I did all that stuff.

And, like, this is gonna surprise you, but I hope to be done with working out by seven.

Wow.

Yeah.

That is. That's amazing for you. So you really are getting up early.

Yeah, I'm trying to get up at 6 every day.

Nice.

Yeah. And there was a. There was quite a long period of time where I got up at 6, which is when my husband generally gets up.

And we would do a little yoga every morning. And then I would go on about my day and he would go off to work or whatever, and then he hurt his back, and that sort of derailed everything.

And it also derailed.

We were going to have a big trip in the spring to see our youngest in Dublin where he had a internship, but we could not go because there was no way that Mike could sit on a plane with his back the way it was. So we had to cancel that. And then I think that sort of. I just never really got back into the swing of it.

But up till that point, I had a super solid morning routine where I did all the things I wanted to.

Yeah, well, having someone to do the exercising with or the yoga, I can't Remember what you said you guys were doing together? That's huge. Right. You've got accountability. Someone's. I mean, you.

If one of us is dragging the other ones up there.

Exactly. Yeah. That's just ideal. And I suppose that could work for lots of different kinds of things that you want to try to do.

It occurs to me that I'm not ready to make a commitment, but if I were, we could, like, be accountability buddies for one another with morning routines. Right. You get up after I do because I'm two hours ahead of you.

Right.

But I could say, hey, I did my yoga. How about you? And, you know, that sort of thing. Right. And others could do that with friends or.

But, boy, I'm a little jealous of the idea of being able to have that in person partner to do the exercise with. That's amazing.

Yeah. I have a client who has someone she walks with three days a week, and so it's just gotten into such a routine.

She walks on the days that she doesn't walk with her friend as well.

And even if her friend can't meet her for whatever reason, she's still walking just because that's what she does Monday through Friday is she gets up, has her coffee, you know, does her stuff, goes for a walk.

Yeah. And that consistency is. Is so important. Right. If you can do something daily, it makes all the difference in the world.

I think I was just thinking about this neighbor of mine who I met when I moved in. I was here walking. She would go to the park, and she walked by herself usually. And I ran into her and said, hey, I haven't seen you in a while.

She said, you know, I can't remember what hurt her knee or did something that made her skip a few days of walking. And she said, I had walked every day for a long time, five years or something. Oh, my gosh. And she said.

And then once she missed a day or two, it just kind of. Something that strong sort of slipped away from her. And she does it still walking, but not necessarily every day. It's amazing how.

Yeah, yeah. That's sort of my tendency, too, which.

Is keep a streak going.

Keep a streak going. If I lose the streak, what's the point? It doesn't matter anymore. And I think you're more of a.

Like, you're doing a streak, you break it for some reason, then you're, like, revved up to restart your streak.

Yeah. Not 100%, but. Yeah, more than you. Right? Yeah.

Yeah.

But it is rough when you break a streak, man. Yeah.

Well, which is a good reason to build in sort of increments of what counts.

Right.

You know, I have had clients in the past who wanted to walk every day, and. And, you know, would set this goal of walking every day for an hour, and that's just not gonna work, and it's not sustainable long term.

What we did was start with her putting on her tennis shoes and stepping out on the front porch.

And that counted.

That counted.

She could check it off.

That's all she had to do was put on her shoes, step out on the front porch.

And that usually led to more activity, I assume.

Yep. It might be just a walk around the block, but often it was, you know, a full walk, hour long walk, but.

But because it had that flexibility and it still counted, and she got to keep her streak and everything, then it became doable over the long term.

That's such a good point. Yeah. I mean, part of my exercise thing is I'm working with the trainer, so I train with her once a week, and I'm supposed to do stuff in between.

And some days I just. I don't even think of it, to be honest. If it were part of my morning routine, it would be different. But.

But I am, like, this week, I'm giving myself credit for just stretching my hamstrings, which. My hamstrings are outrageously tight. So I've been practicing that a little bit this week. Like, okay, at least I did that. I haven't. Didn't.

And of course I walk my dog and stuff, but I haven't been down to the treadmill this week yet. It just occurred to me. I told her about this podcast, so she may be watching or listening right.

Now. You have a whole new level of accountability.

Right.

But I think you just brought up a really good point of, you know, you have these set things that you do and that can actually help you add new things in, should you be.

Willing to commit to when I'm ready.

Yeah. But anchoring a new habit to an existing solid habit is one of the best ways to be successful.

Yeah. I always suggest to YNAB clients that they check. I like it.

I always think it's great for folks to look at their spending plan every day and their transactions. And so I do it with my coffee because my. Most people have a hot beverage in the morning. Not everybody, but if they do. Ynab and coffee. Yes. Yeah.

I agree 100% that anchoring those things. Dishwasher, coffee, wine, apple. Perfect for me.

Yep, yep, yep.

Yeah.

And the dishwasher reminds Me of another point about morning routines. Morning routines start the night before.

That's right. I wouldn't have the dishwasher to empty if it weren't run the night before.

Right, right.

If you want to be a person who works out in the morning, setting out your workout clothes, if you want to be a person who journals in the morning, setting out your journal, you know, anything that you can do to make it easier, to sort of take away some of the friction will make a difference because the. The less decisions you have to make, the easier it will be to stick with it.

Right. The more automatic it becomes, the better. Right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Very good point. I'm thinking about how I can achieve some exercise in the morning. We'll see. Might be after. Why now?

Could it be after you walk Bix when you come back?

Yes, it could be. I have to walk Bix. He insists.

Yes.

So, yeah, that sounds more doable, doesn't it? Mm. Also, though, I. That's when I usually work hard. But it's all about priorities.

But also, you're not wanting to do a whole lot, are you? I mean, you're not. This isn't gonna.

I think that Shannon.

Well, as we discussed last week, you are an indoor cat.

That's right. Yeah. Right. And I will have been warmed up by walking bics. Yeah. Yeah.

And so, I mean, it's not like you're gonna do an hour workout, but 15 or 20 minutes.

Yeah. I like it. I like it. I think I can. I'm gonna maybe try that for a few days, see how it goes. Oh, let me rephrase that.

I will do that for a few days and see how it goes. I'm not. Well, I'm not gonna say I'll do it forever because I don't know how it's gonna feel, but a few days in a row is worth check trying out.

Right. Right. Well, and I also think that just acknowledging that you're not going to do anything every day, always. Well, that's not true.

There are things that you're going to do every day, always. But.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, you, coffee. Not a coffee drinker.

Right.

But that if you don't do part of your routine, you can start where you are, and that's fine. Like, it's as much fun as it is to have a streak. If you lose your streak, that doesn't mean that it's not what you really want.

Right. It doesn't invalidate your. Your practice.

Yeah. The reason why you're doing it.

Yeah, Right. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, that's good. You know, I love it when we have a.

An episode that I walk away with some new determination or basically, I like it when you solve my problems in the podcast. So you're just here to help. Yeah. What about you, though? So you're. Have she solved. Have we solved your problem yet of not of getting your exercise in?

Yeah. So my problem is that I was trying to be fancy about when I was exercising and what I was doing.

And really, I just need to, you know, do the stuff that happens in my bedroom and bathroom, put on my workout clothes and go straight to working out at the end. And I know what I'm doing every day.

You know what workout you're doing every day?

Yeah.

Oh, nice.

Yeah, so I was trying, you know, I started running a little bit last year, and then that. Or earlier this year, and then that became not fun. But I keep thinking, oh, I should run again, or I should walk in the mornings or. And I'm not.

So then I'm not doing anything. So I'm just gonna go back to Monday, Wednesday, Friday, strength training. Tuesday, Thursday, peloton cycling.

Excellent.

The end.

So maybe you and I can text each other in the coming days with how it went. Yeah.

Did mine today.

Yeah.

Today was leg day.

Oh, man. I had leg day with my trainer last week. It was horrible. She about killed me. I survived.

Congratulations for making it to today.

Thank you. She texted me the next day. Are you sore? I said, yeah. Your name has been used in vain more than once today. Wow. Yeah. I love it.

I feel like we've solved our problems and we have accountability to boot.

I know. And so we would love to hear from you, our listeners. Do you have a surefire way to stick with your morning routine?

Because we always love to hear good ideas. Do you still have questions? Do you struggle with it? Let us know. You can hit us up on social media.

We hope you heard something that makes your life just a little bit easier. If you did, leave us a review or share this with someone who's looking for their own version of good enough.

Thanks for listening. See you soon.