We all have 24 hours in a day. It’s up to us and no one else how we structure our day and what we’re choosing to do with this precious time. When I hear people say “I don’t have the time for this.”, my straight forward answer is: That’s not correct. You’re not making the time for it. It’s all about prioritizing of what really, truly matters to you. If it is something that is close to your heart, you’ll make the time for it in your life.

So I’m going to be honest with you: I always struggle a bit when people act weird or surprised when they hear about my daily routine. Some even get offensive and say hurtful things to me. It’s sad but true. Even though I know that they’re saying this because of their own insecurities, it does hurt me.

Luckily, there are also people who are truly interested in how I manage to do and achieve all the things in my life. They ask because of curiosity and to get inspiration and some even make some changes to their daily routine afterwards and love it because they see the benefits.

So this article goes out to all of these wonderful humans who seek for inspiration and who have an open mind. I am not saying that my routine or being an early bird is for everyone! The point I’m trying to make is: We only got this one precious life and we all have so much potential in us. So be curious and brave and follow your heart! With every minute you’ve got a choice to do what brings you joy and closer to your purpose.

Here’s a rundown of my typical routine on a weekday at the moment (winter time and off-season).

• 4:45 AM: Wake up (naturally without an alarm) and meditate

• 5:00 - 5:30 AM: Get up, get dressed for the training session and have a pre-workout breakfast, journaling

• 5:30 - 7:50 AM: Training session

• 7:50 - 8:15 AM: Shower and post-workout breakfast

• 8:15 AM - 5:15 PM: Work

• 5:15 - 6:45 PM: Active wind-down time (part 1): yoga, reading, listening to podcasts, working on my Life in a Run blog and my coaching business MindFuelBody, talking to friends, chore

• 6:45 - 7:30 PM: Cooking and dinner time

• 7:30 - 9:00 PM: Wind-down time (part 2): Journaling, watching Netflix, listening to podcasts

• 9:00 - 9:30 PM: Bed time (sleeping) while listening to a guided meditation

Here are some more hacks that I’ve configured in order to really get the most out of my training and unwinding time:

• My phone automatically goes to ‘do not disturb mode’ from 6:30 PM - 8:00 AM on the following morning

• When I wake up, I have bright lights on and the windows open to really wake up the body and mind and to feel energized

• In the evening, I only have very low and gentle lights on so my body and mind wind down

• I love lighting up candles and incense sticks (especially when I’m doing yoga or generally in the evening)

• My routine actually always starts on the evening before because I lay out everything so it’s ready to use in the morning (i.e. prepare all my trainings clothes, get everything ready in the kitchen for my pre-workout breakfast, etc.)

You can see, I am a morning person and I get most of my day done before I even start my full-time day-to-day job. This time in the morning, when most of the world is still asleep, is my favourite time of the day. I seize every moment - unapologetically. It sets the tone of the day. This helps me managing and handling all the potentially challenging situations that might come up on that day. I’d really like to encourage you to test out different things and timings to see what works best for you. Hopefully this article will help at least a few people to make some real life-changing adjustments.