The morning hours, just after I wake up, are the most important hours of my entire day.
Why? Because these are the hours that control what type of day I’m going to have.
Is it going to be a lazy day? Or is it going to be productive?
Am I going to get a little extra work done? Or do the bare minimum?
Is it a relaxing day? Or is it stressful?
Is it good or bad?
open or full?
Successful, or not?
All of this depends on what type of morning I have—and that’s why it’s so important for me to spend these hours wisely…
Because the success of my day at large is entirely dependent on the success of my morning.
But how do I ensure that every morning a success?
Photo courtesy of: flicker
Well, I guess I’ll tell you—but before I get into it, lets look at what a very unsuccessful morning is like for me. Maybe you’ll be able to relate…
It starts, when I wake up. (shocker)
My alarm goes off at exactly 5:55 AM so that I’m sure to be out of bed by 6:00.
So far so good—I’m awake; but it’s still dark outside and my house is still cold inside. My bed, by contrast, is so warm and inviting. Do I really need to get up right now? I could sleep for just a few more minutes. What could it hurt?
My alarm is still going off though. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to sleep through that. So I drag myself out of bed, shuffle across the room, and turn off the alarm. It’s good to start the day with a win. I think as I jump back in under the covers and work on going back to sleep.
Two hours later I wake up… again. (shocker… again)
I hop out of bed and go about the usual morning activities—glass of water, wash of face, take of shower, etc… And then I’m ready to start my day!
But first, internet.
It’s vitally important for me to visit my usual rotation of websites. I wouldn’t want to be out of the loop, now would I?
I check Facebook. Surprisingly little has happened while I and the rest of my friends were sleeping. Same with Twitter, Youtube, and even Google+! But does that deter me from spending an hour or two clicking back and forth from one to the other?
You bet it doesn’t!
Before I know it, my morning is gone—wasted away. I haven’t eaten, I haven’t planned for the day ahead, I’m more motivated to watch stupid videos on Youtube than get to work, and I’m completely unprepared to do anything that actually matters for the rest of the day.
It’s usually around this time that I regret not spending my morning hours better.
Why?
Because even though I know that mornings can be a very tempting time to procrastinate, I also know that mornings set the stage for the rest of my day. If I spend my morning hours better, and make sure that they’re a success, the rest of my day will also be a success.
In order for this to happen though, certain, crucial things need to be taken care of first…
- I have to find a way to say no procrastination.
- I have to replace bad habits with good ones.
- I have to get focused on the tasks ahead of me.
- I have to get in the right mindset for starting my day.
- And this all has to happen before my day really gets started and begins to demand my attention
That’s a lot to do every morning…
I kind of want to go back to bed just thinking about it now.
So, it’s a good thing I don’t have to think about it—because I have a routine that I do every morning that takes care of all of this for me. No thinking involved… sort of.
[divider]Here’s a look at what I consider a very successful morning.
6:00 AM — Workout/shower.
When I force myself out of bed in the morning, I don’t immediately turn off my alarm. I leave it running to remind myself that I’m not allowed to get back in bed; and while my alarm is still running, I do a little workout.
It doesn’t have to be one that leaves you “in a pool of your own sweat gasping for breath.” It’s just something to get the blood flowing (for me it’s usually around 100 pushups, 200 situps, and 20 pull-ups/chin-ups).
Only after I’ve done my workout do I turn off the alarm.
And then I jump in the shower before I have a chance to sneak back in bed.
This is how I get myself completely awake in the morning—and unlike the more common advice out there (like setting your alarm all the way across the room) this actually works.
When I step out of the shower and get dried off, my mind, muscles, and stomach are all awake and ready to go.
6:30 AM — Accomplish a small task.
Now, before I can get breakfast, I need to do one little, but very important thing: I make my bed.
This has two purposes. One is to accomplish a little task right now.
There’s some complicated psychological mumbo jumbo behind making my bed, but the benefit of it basically boils down to this: deciding to accomplish a small task, and following through on that decision right now, makes it easier to accomplish larger tasks later.
Pretty simple. And I do see an improvement in my self motivation whenever I do this.
The second purpose is to further discourage me from getting back in bed. I’ve found that if my bed is a mess anyway, I have no problem crawling back into it and taking a nap when I should be working. But if I make it nice and neat, I don’t want to mess it up, so I stay out of it.
I think of It like burning a very tempting bridge behind me—it takes away the temptation of going back, and forces me to move forward.
6:35 AM — Breakfast.
I used to go without breakfast in the morning. I just never felt like I had time for it. But now I don’t start my day without at least having a little something in my stomach. Here’s why…
It gives me the energy I need to get through the morning.
My mind needs fuel to function properly. If I don’t give it that fuel, I don’t produce my best work. A day of writing will be wasted—because I would have to go back and redo almost everything I write while my mind is hungry.
I don’t have the patience to deal with that, nor do I have the time.
It takes significantly less time for me to eat a piece of toast and an egg for breakfast, than it costs me to correct the collective mistakes of not eating breakfast.
7:00AM — Read and relax.
A steaming cup of tea by my side, at least three different books on the stand next to my chair, window open so I can breathe in the invigorating morning air—this is my favorite time of the morning.
This is a time for me to get inspired by the books I read. This is a time to be calmed by the quiet of the morning, and the warmth of the tea.
At first this may sound counterproductive to you, but I assure you it isn’t. I think that everyone should have a time like this in the morning, because this is the time that I use to get myself in the proper mindset to take on the rest of the day.
I don’t know how I could function without the combination of reading the books that inspire (inspiration helps a bit with the whole writing thing), drinking tea that relaxes me (I write best when I’m relaxed), and breathing the morning air that invigorates my mind.
I, personally, would be less productive if I didn’t allow myself this time to take it slow and relax.
8:00-8:30AM (Depending on just how inspiring those books are) — Reflect.
This is the time I take, just before I get to work, to write in a journal.
I’ll write for about half an hour, reflecting on my day yesterday, offloading any baggage that I may be carrying, and setting my goals for today.
It centers me. It gives me clarity. It helps me work through the issues that are holding me down. It gets me focused.
By the time I’m done with that, it’s usually somewhere around 8:30 or 9:00am and that means that it’s time to get to work on my writing for the day…
And that’s it! That’s my ideal morning.
If I’ve done my job properly and I’ve hit all of the above points, then not only is it an ideal morning, but an incredibly successful one.
If I do something hard the first thing after I wake up… I will have said no to procrastination.
If I take precautions and force myself to move forward… I will have replaced bad habits with good ones.
If I get myself in my most productive frame of mind, and If I get myself centered, and set clear goals for the day… I’ll be focused on the tasks ahead of me.
And if I can get to work while the air outside is still of the morning variety… well…
That’s a win for me, my routine, my day as a whole, and you—my reader (because, well, you’re reading this right now, aren’t you? You can thank my morning routine for that).