Tiffany Lanier
Tiffany Lanier is a leading millennial voice in personal growth, conscious leadership, and meaningful work. After surviving a life-threatening pregnancy and post-partum depression (all while building a business), she founded The Morning Shift Co, a personal growth and well-being company dedicated to helping us hold space to enhance the way we live, lead, and work. Read on to learn how she’s found peace, purpose, and productivity through her intentionally restful routine.
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The Morning Shift Method is a course that teaches people how to change their mornings. Your approach, focused on rest, recharging, and wellbeing, is the opposite of our culture’s go-go-go mentality. Why do you believe in this approach for mornings, and how did this mindset shift change your life?
For me, mornings are sacred—it's the time for me to focus on my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. I believe how we start our day matters and although productivity is great, it's not what sets our soul on fire, no matter how much we convince ourselves it does. What sets our soul on fire is living in joy, peace, and contentment within ourselves and with those that we interact with. It's also moving through life and work with some sense of purpose and intentionality. That's what matters to us, and when we don't neglect our needs, being productive is the side effect.
I, too, had what I now call a "hyper-productive morning routine"—wake up super early, try to get work done before your official workday begins (so you're ahead), read, workout, practice mindfulness, etc. This ultimately left me sleep-deprived and checking off a meaningless list of to-dos. I didn't necessarily feel better outside of accomplishing what someone told me I should be doing in the morning.
It took me becoming a burned-out entrepreneur suffering through postpartum depression to realize that what I really needed was some space to be and become. Running on empty, I wasn't good for anyone or anything. I needed space to explore and re-discover who I was for that phase in my life. Space to support my growth and discover where I wanted to go next. That's when I realized that my morning routine could become a meaningful practice, tailor-made for what I needed in my life at that time. And yes, it was life changing. I became more present with myself and those I loved, and focused on what mattered to me personally and professionally (which made me more productive and helped me generate more money).
"Movement" is one element of your morning routine. Why is movement important in the mornings, and how do you incorporate it into your week?
Ultimately, movement is about getting out of your mind and into your body. So for some it may be a hardcore workout, and for others it may be yoga or Qigong. For me, movement includes a mix of things. Several days a week I spin, stretch, and even dance around.
“ When we don't neglect our needs, being productive is the side effect.”
We’re really big on the principle of rest—both mentally and physically. How much rest do you get? What time do you aim to go to bed/wake up?
I rest when I need to—even if that means a 5-minute break in the middle of the afternoon to relax my eyes and take deep breaths. But my favorites are 20-minute power naps—it's better than coffee. I wake up refreshed and have no midday brain fog, making me more productive and rested. Win/Win. As far as sleep goes, my aim is 7-8 hours every night. Sleep is my love language! Usually, my goal is to sleep from 10:30pm-6:30am.
As a mother to a little girl, how do you make time for your morning practice when she’s up and about?
I get this question a lot. It's a lot easier now that my daughter’s in school because usually I wait until I drop her off. I primarily work from home so I don't have the pressure to be in my office at 8:30am. When she was younger, I would try to wake up at least an hour before her and then incorporate her into my practice. At one point spending quality time and eating with my daughter in the morning was prioritized and became part of my routine. My focus was on being more present. But I also don't let my daughter throw me off or ruin my practice. If she wakes up and sees that I'm meditating, she knows to come and sit with me which is a beautiful thing in itself. Sometimes my movement is dancing with her. It's also about making mornings fun again.
We’re guessing food has a big impact on how you start your day. What’s one of your go-to healthy breakfasts that makes you feel great starting the day?
I love eating breakfast and it's always been important to me. It helps fuel my body for everything I’m going to do that day. For the last year I've loved starting my day with fresh squeezed juice and/or a smoothie. I make both at home and they’re always delicious!
So many of us try to get into a morning routine, but with real life and our busy ever-changing schedules, it doesn't ever seem to stick. Do you have any tips for really sticking to a morning routine?
Be flexible. I teach my Morning Shift members and students to create several different types of practices depending on the amount of time they have that morning. So if you have a day off or a light morning, you can do your full practice which may be a few hours long (yup—mine is 3 hours!). But if you're traveling, have a long commute, or have early morning meetings, you can do the one thing that will support your mental and emotional well-being, and personal growth. The small step we can take and get better at everyday is creating consistency even if you can only have 5 minutes a day. And we all have 5 minutes. If you think I'm lying, check your screen time at the end of the day. We make the time for what we want. The thing about morning shifts is that sometimes it feels like work and not like self-care day at the spa. We're building up new muscles, new habits, and behaviors. In order to do that, we have to break old ones and that's difficult sometimes. But I promise—once you get consistent, you'll feel the difference on the day you miss your routine, and then your mornings will officially be sacred too.
