Morning is a very sacred time of your day.
You have just awoken from a (hopefully) good night sleep and you’re presented with a brand new day. A brand new opportunity.
What do you normally do when you first open your eyes? Or when your alarm goes off?
Do you linger under the covers in the comfort of your sheets avoiding the inevitable?
Do you press the snooze button repeatedly?
Instead of that, do this: immediately get up, put your feet on the floor and make your bed. This serves two purposes: 1) it puts a barrier between you and getting back under the covers and going back to sleep and 2) you’ve already accomplished something today! YAY!
Now that you’re up…here are some ways to make the beginning of your day the most productive it can be.
DON’T RUSH
Make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to transition from sleeping to your day. This means not hitting that snooze button or laying in bed contemplating your day and what you need to do.
Avoid rushing in the morning. Ease into your day…even if you’re super excited about it.
DON’T GRAB YOUR PHONE!
You have the most control over your day first thing in the morning. Avoid the temptation to “check in” with the world: social media, email or the news. It can wait.
The one exception would be if you’re going out for a run and want to check the weather (you could always look out your window) or if you have to take a flight and need to see if there’s been a change to your flight or how the traffic looks.
But other than that, stay off your phone. At least for the first hour.
DO ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING INSTEAD
Here are just a few ideas of what you could do first thing in the morning instead of checking email, social media or the news:
- read something inspirational (the Bible, Koran, etc.)
- meditate/pray
- write in your journal/planner
- count your blessings
- go out on your porch and watch the world come alive
- read a book that will improve your life (How to Win Friends and Influence People, Think and Grow Rich, etc.)
- spend time with your loved ones
- move (run, walk, swim, bike, take the dog for a walk, yoga, etc.)
PLAN YOUR DAY
Always enter your day on purpose.
Tell your time where to go instead of wondering where it went.
Mark Struczewski
Whether you use a planner (what I use and recommend), your electronic calendar or a notebook, plan as much of your day intentionally before you start. When you do, you’re far more likely to be productive.
If you planned your day the day before, take a few minutes to review it and make any necessary corrections/adjustments.
NOW YOU CAN GRAB YOUR PHONE
Okay, now that you’ve taken care of YOU first thing…feel free to pick up your phone and check in on social media, email or the news.
Or not.
I just want you to be intentional with the start of your day. It greatly increases your likelihood of you the winning the day.
THIS IS A PROCESS
If you’ve never started your day intentionally – other than hitting the snooze button repeatedly, this will take some time to put into practice. But I promise that if you stick with it, you’ll be in a much better frame of mind which will yield a much more productive day.
You can do this. I know you can. Do you?