It seems that most of us can expect to have roughly 25,000 mornings in our adult lives.
What do yours look like? Are you happy with your routine?
With the new year tends to come more reflection: How should I be getting my exercise? How should I establish better eating habits? Am I spending my working hours efficiently? Am I doing the work I want to be doing? Am I making the best choices for all of us? How do I balance my daily ambitions against my desire to relish parenthood and be there for all of the kids’ activities?
It feels like more and more of my friends, who have the same questions, have come up with the solution of getting up before their kids in order to safeguard some hours.
I have one friend who, like Jack Lalanne, gets up before the sun to get in her 5am workout and a shower, and enjoy an hour of quiet, before her children wake up. Another gets up early to meditate before work and to set his intentions for the day. I feel like I’m just trying to push the button on the coffee maker, so I clearly need to think bigger.
I’m feeling inspired by this article’s suggestions for a better (in this case, a more productive) morning routine. My favorite tips:
“Develop a ‘pre–game routine’ to start your day.” The suggestion is to have a sequence, a cue, that tells you it’s time to get started. It’s interesting: Aron took both kids to school yesterday—which is really rare—and it meant that I stayed in my PJs. I thought by his taking them I’d get more done at home, but the opposite was true! Without the routine of getting dressed and leaving the house, I didn’t have the same focus.
“Prepare the night before.” Take a few moments before bed to jot down your to-do list. I’ve started doing this in a bullet journal.
“Don’t open email until noon.” This may be hard for us west-coasters. I feel like that means replying to some thing too late for the east coast, but the idea of starting the day from your to-do list rather than responding to someone else’s is a good one.
“Turn your phone off and leave it in another room.” I’m terrible about checking my phone as soon as I wake up! This is something I really need to work to keep in check.
“Manage your energy, not your time.” Take note of what times of the day you do your best work. What do you do best in the morning? I know I hit a wall everyday around 3 or 4pm, so the more I can get done early, the better.
How do you start your day? Have you changed any habits? And if so, what was the key to your success?
P.S. Thinking about The Power of Habit and stepping away from the smartphone.
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