Your morning is the most important portion of your day and is likely wasted away because of three common mistakes.

Your morning routine establishes the type of day you will have, and too many of us feel frantic, overwhelmed, and rushed mere hours after waking up. If God has blessed us with a new day, it is our responsibility to lay the groundwork for a successful day from the start.

For healthy morning habits to be established, we first must make real estate by eliminating three common mistakes people make in their morning routine.

1. Checking Our Phone First Thing In The Morning

Research says 80% of people check their phones before leaving bed in the morning and brushing their teeth.

Checking your phone first thing in the morning will spoil your whole day.

The little black mirror we carry in our front pocket is a portal into all the distractions, terror, and overwhelm the world could throw at us. Your phone is like a mosquito that takes something from you and injects you with its poison, leaving you scratching all day.

You have control over whether you let that world into the first morning of your day or not. I found it extremely difficult to avoid clicking on my phone when I woke up, so I bought an old-fashioned alarm clock and started charging it in the kitchen drawer. I call this putting my phone to bed, and I guarantee you have a kitchen drawer that will serve you the same way.

Remove the temptation to check your phone first thing in the morning. The rest of your day depends on it.

2. Fixing A Specific Time For Each Task

According to the Harvard Business Review, most people (97%) have a morning routine, but only 55% can easily follow it.

The reason so many people’s morning routines fail is because of perfectionism.

Perfectionism is having a detailed plan of how things should be and considering anything outside those plans a failure. The problem is that your entire day shouldn’t be in jeopardy because something might not go according to a detailed plan.

Life is too volatile to be 100% dependent on a strict schedule. I have two boys under two, and every morning differs, yet I get things done (like writing this article). How? I made my tasks strict and my timeline flexible. I will workout, write, pray, and read every day, but not merely in a tight time window.

If you want a productive, not perfect, morning, loosen up your strict schedule. Build out ranges of time ideal to complete your tasks and forgive yourself if your morning doesn’t go according to plan. If your productivity relies on a perfect schedule, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

Don’t set a specific time for your tasks, instead, build out ranges of time and focus on the tasks, not the timeline, when things don’t go according to plan.

3. Not Staying Consistent

Only 37% of people say they can follow the same routine even on weekends.

It's an absolute fact that if you can learn to do something consistently, you will discover greater strengths and opportunities within the habit.

If you can learn to do something consistently, you’ll tap into a much greater superpower than the habit itself: the belief that you can change your behavior. We all want to feel powerful enough to change ourselves for the better, and that strength begins with the momentum of our morning.

Momentum is based on the idea that an object in motion stays in motion. This is why I aim to write 200 words every day rather than 1000 words once a week. I stay in motion when I am consistent with the things that matter most to me. If you want to change your life, start by changing your morning, and make the new mornings something you follow through on consistently.

Think about the things you can accomplish every morning that are small enough to do consistently but big enough to make a difference. Then follow James Clear’s advice to “never miss twice.” You now have the formula for a productive morning routine.

Inconsistency is jeopardizing your morning routine and, consequently, your day. Stay consistent and reap the benefits day after day.