Do you have a good morning routine?
Maybe you think you’re not a morning person? I know. I hear you. I’m still not convinced I am either! But neither am I a night owl.
Have you ever noticed though, that we believe what we tell ourselves? Even if we don’t have evidence to support the theory?! Yes, I am in complete agreement that getting up early isn’t a very pleasant thing to do. The alarm rings, you feel like you’re yanked from a deep sleep, and your main instinct is ‘Why on earth would I choose to get up now, when I really don’t NEED to?!’. And then you hit snooze!!
The snooze button is the killer here. As Mel Robbins talks about in her amazing read, The 5 Second Rule, once we hit the snooze button our bodies plunge back into a deep sleep cycle and when we do finally heave ourselves out of bed, we can feel sleepy for hours. This is called Sleep Inertia, and I for one know exactly what she means. It’s like having jet lag!
I can’t profess to having the perfect morning routine completely down. But, since reading another brilliant book, Miracle Morning, I have experimented. Now I am aware of how much better I feel if I’m on top of things early in the day, especially by having time for myself. The thing about trying to follow routines later in the day is they are much more susceptible to not happening.
Does a morning routine require an early start?
The early morning has gold in its mouth.
Benjamin Franklin
You may also have read about some real go-getters, some of the worlds most successful people, who start their days very early. Whilst you might not want to get up at 5am, maybe there’s a time that would work for you so you can just feel more in control, rather than starting the day on the back foot.
At We Are Tabono, we are strong believers in needing to take care of our wellbeing, and for that reason, unless I feel it’s absolutely necessary, I tend not to use early mornings for emails or social media. However, I am happy to use it to be extra productive if I’m working on a project that doesn’t involve that aspect of technology.
So, I thought I would share my tips about what does and doesn’t work for me when it comes to early mornings. I believe everyone has a different take on this, as each individual will feel benefits from different things.
1. Don’t snooze the clock!
Leave your alarm away from the bed so that you have to get out of bed to turn it off. And then keep walking!! I like to get straight out of my bedroom and head downstairs – others like to get in the shower to help them wake up fast.
2. Drink water
Drink water and perhaps a hot drink, but avoid coffee so early on as it inhibits our bodies natural energy production which can lead to not really feeling awake later.
3. Get moving
Do some sort of exercise or stretching to invigorate and energise you. A walk is excellent, although in the winter I’m a lot more fair weather and would go for some indoor stretches!
4. Be mindful
Do something mindful that allows you to be in the moment, rather than in your thoughts. For me it would be something like working on something creative in my Bullet Journal, reading a book (it’s a particularly great time to get some reading done), or sometimes writing in a journal.
5. Put your phone down.
Don’t check email or social media during this time. Doing this plunges you straight into the hectic, stress inducing areas of life – demands on your time, screens – all waiting to raise your blood pressure! Leave it for later and focus on feeling calm and positive to start the day.
6. Planning
Do planning or work on projects that don’t require email or social media. I know some people really want to use this early morning to be productive with work, rather than focus on wellbeing. That is fine, but I would urge you to be mindful of point 5 and keep it to project based work without that interruption of email etc. I know when I choose to do this my productivity is incredibly high. It’s always possible to do a combination of wellbeing and productivity in these early morning routines.
And you?
How about you? Are you an early riser? Have you tried but didn’t like it? Would you like to have an extra hour in your day? This is a list of my discoveries and what I like to do with my time – but as I said, I don’t do this every day, but I always regret hitting the snooze button! I would urge you to experiment and try out different things. Gain time, focus, clarity and start the day on the front foot!
If establishing a good morning routine, and setting (and sticking to!) positive habits isn’t one of your strong points, check out module 1!
Trackbacks/Pingbacks