Intro [00:00:01] This is going to differ from what a lot of the gurus say out there. It's just what works for me. So if it works for you, fantastic. If it doesn't, leave it.

Madeleine Raiford-Holland [00:00:11] Hey there, I'm Madeleine and welcome to The Luxe and The Short of It podcast. I'm a military wife, mom, and entrepreneur that went from a stressed out nine-to-fiver to now a present-minded seven-figure business owner and investor, all through the power of short-term rentals. Here we believe the Luxe life means having the time and financial freedom to be present for the moments that matter most. And I'm here to teach you the exact mindset shifts, insider expertise, and business strategy to make that a reality for you today. So are you ready to actively create the life you want? I'm Madeleine and this is The Luxe and The Short of It podcast.

[00:00:54] Welcome back to this episode of the Luxe and the Short of It, everyone. I had a really interesting conversation the other day with somebody that I mentor in the short-term rental space. And they posed the question of what does my morning routine look like? And subsequently, what does the day to day look like now that I am out of running the actual operations of my business? The point of the question is they were ultimately trying to optimize their mornings and their efficiency and optimize their work output. And I figured I would share because it's going to be a little bit different for me than it looks like for you. But if anything about my routine is helpful for you, then take what you need, leave what you don't, as always. I think the important context to have here is I have young kids. I have now a five and a three-year-old. Their birthdays are in December and I'm recording this in January. So they're very new, five and three. Still very much reliant on me and my husband John in the mornings. And so that is going to look different than somebody who already has kids. But overarching, I think some of the concepts can be applicable here. And this is going to differ from what a lot of the gurus say out there. And it's just what works for me. So if it works for you, fantastic. If it doesn't, leave it. So in the morning, well, first, let me back up to the night before because it makes a difference. I am typically in bed after I put my kids in bed and I am typical in bed by 8.30, asleep by 9.30. I like to go to bed early. I've always loved a lot of sleep. As far as my human design goes, I'm a mental projector. So if you want to take a deep dive into that and what you are, it makes the difference in how you best work with things. But I like a lot of sleep, so I'm in bed, try to be asleep by 9.30.

[00:03:07] Most mornings I am awake by 5.30 a.m. I'm definitely awake by 6:00 a.m. And I am not one to have this giant elaborate morning routine. It's more of habits that are stacked upon each other and this evolves. So most mornings I do not listen to the knowledge and the wisdom to not grab your phone. I prefer to ease into my day and handle what I need to in the mornings. Yes, I wake up, I do say a prayer. I have some gratitude moments. It's typically a minute to a minute and 30 seconds if I'm being very clear on that. I take a few deep breaths. I stretch really big in my bed and I grab my phone. Sue me. Sue me. So the reason why I do this is I have three things that I make sure that I need to do. Because everything is cleared out from the night before, but I have people on different time zones in the West coast. I have all these things. And I have who have worked later into the evening. So I make that my slack from the urgent things on my team members. One, I've reduced the people that have input here or can reach out directly. So I check my Slack for any immediate things that people are going to need that day. I check in on my Monday.com to make sure that no questions are waiting on me. And if they are, I answer them, but I schedule those messages as well as I check the VIP section of my email inbox. Reason being is I never want people waiting on me when they come into the office. So I clear out anything that one of my team members would be waiting on to get started for work and I schedule those messages to go out at eight o'clock. This typically takes 10 to 12 minutes. So let's give us a late morning here.

[00:05:22] Say I woke up at 6:00. Two minutes, gratitude and prayer. Then let's say it takes me 12 minutes to check all of those things and schedule those minutes. We're right about 6.15. At this point, throw the covers off. The cats scatter, because I have five indoor cats that love to sleep on top of me. The cats scatter. I grab my water bottle, and my goal is to drink 16 ounces of electrolyte water between the moment that I hop out of bed, go into my bathroom and grab my super cozy robe, take my Synthroid because I have an autoimmune thyroid disease that I will be taking Synthroid for the rest of my life. And then I generally walk into my kitchen. That water consumption takes about five minutes. So we're at 6.20. I turn on the coffee machine, grab that cup of coffee, sit down and I read 10-ish minutes. Sometimes it's five minutes of my self-development book in my swivel chair in the winter time next to my fire. It overlooks where my animals are, my goats, my dogs, all of the things. And then I can generally watch the sunrise from there. So it's a really quiet, peaceful morning. Depending on the day, that's when my kiddos are waking up- 6.45 to 7:00. And then I am full mommy mode. Full mommy mode from then until they are walking out the door. At which point most days my husband takes them to school or our house manager takes them to school, and I head out to Pilates. I generally do an 8.15 Pilates class most weekdays. But because I took the 12 minutes in the first part of the morning to make sure all of my team messages were answered, those were scheduled to send out at eight o'clock.

[00:07:24] So I make sure that everything is there, they're working, typically getting a jumpstart while I am sitting there on the reformer doing my leg thing with the Pilates. It ends at 9:05 and back to the house 9:20-ish. I get ready for the day. Most days I don't wear any makeup, but by 9:30-ish, I am ready to start like a decent work block. Now that is mainly to do with coaching my team, managing the coaching team or answering questions or analyzing new deals for the short-term rental business. So that, guys, is in a nutshell. But the things that I want you to take away here is in the best way possible, make sure that you have a way to, one, nourish yourself. I do the water before the coffee. That's something that's been a big change for me. The other thing is I don't like people to be waiting on me because it slows up progress, and even if it means I take 12 minutes in the morning on my phone, it allows me to have time later in the morning (that 8.15 to 9.05 Pilates block) where I'm not feeling like my team is waiting on me and I'm slowing up progress for my team. The other thing is I don't believe in absolutes or hard and fast rules on these types of things. I think when you start putting too much rigidity into having to have the perfect morning routine in order to get the output that you feel like you need, that's when things become a problem. I see a lot of folks get hung up on crafting and perfecting the exact details of what it would be for optimal output. At the end of the day, you just got to get it done. And that's something that having kids has taught me. Like if one of these things doesn't happen, picking back up on the things that will move the needle in my business. I know that I can be productive with or without this. I do have better mornings when I am able to habit stack it, but it doesn't have to be this big, long, I got to go to the sauna, and then I've got to do five minutes of journaling. I've got to do all of these things.

[00:09:54] Yes, they're great habits and things to do, but sometimes it doesn't happen and that's okay. Figuring out what are the major things, major on the things and then minor on the minor things. That was how I answered that question for him. And his thing was, well, should I do like this big-- I was looking at his calendar how it was all blocked off. He did like morning affirmations, he did the gym, he did all of these others... Long story short, before he ever sat down to get any type of productivity done, like in his business, it was 10 o'clock in the morning. And my thing is to flip that. There are significant studies that say your brain is in its most potential to have the most flow state seconds after you wake up. My email productivity is not the best use of that flow state, but it's also my season of life where it doesn't necessarily make sense for me. So the whole point is, know where you are and adapt, but don't just give up because you can't do exactly what the experts on the internet are saying. Like a little bit here and there, like better done than perfect. Two minutes of gratitude laying in the bed before I can knock out some emails is better than no gratitude. Drinking the bottle of water with the electrolytes in it is better that not. Three minutes to five minutes of reading a book is better than nothing. It's not the full 10 minutes a day of this, that, and the third. There's no journaling involved. I'm not writing down journal stuff in the morning. It's just not happening. Doesn't work for me right now, and that's okay. Figure out what is going to give you that feel good feeling in the morning. I have confidence in you guys. Let me know what your morning routine is in the morning. Drop it in the show notes, the comments down here. I'd love to see it. Or let me know on Instagram.

[00:12:14] Hey y'all, if you're loving the show, be sure to hit the follow button or the plus sign on your podcast app to subscribe. This will ensure you don't miss a single episode and I'll see you next week.