A great life is really just a string of great days, and the best way to influence that day is with a great morning. Setting good habits for the morning is important because it allows us to focus our energies to create more value for the world around us. This routine usually takes between 2-3 hours, but with more and more people working from home, this is a great opportunity to take back our power by using our time wisely. So with that, I present to you, 5 Steps to a Rock Solid Morning.
The first thing to do is:
- Wake up when your alarm goes off the first time.
Getting up early is a gift that you give to yourself. So when the alarm clock rings, remind yourself that this is a gift, and why would you turn down a gift? Setting the snooze button only has the effect of drawing out the inevitable, and it also loses critical minutes in the best portion of the day.
After getting out of bed, make sure that you: - Don’t check work emails or other online distractions.
Checking work emails or other online sources is not a great way to get out of bed. It’s much better to focus your energy on slowly waking up and cooking a nice breakfast. The worst part of checking online sources right away is that you might end up with to-do items. This immediate to-do list will erode your mental energy and it could fuck up the morning routine. It takes some focus to not immediately check your phone, but it is worth it.
Focus on getting a nice breakfast in ya, and then get to: - A Morning Workout
Morning workouts are the bomb, they help with focus throughout the day and ensure regular sleep patterns at night. Morning workouts are also easier than night workouts because the body’s natural energy cycles are peaked. Having a program or routine to follow in advance makes it much easier to ensure this critical step gets done.
Chelsea and I like doing Hasfit workouts in our garage gym, or I will go for a mountain bike in the nearby trails. Depending on the available time, we workout between 20-45 minutes each morning. We try to only skip days where we are clearly needing a rest day.
After a workout, I like to hit the shower and then: - Savasana / Meditation / Napping
After a challenging workout, the body is ready for some recovery! 21 minutes seems to be the perfect time to run through a quick sleep cycle and feel energized. 1 minute to get into bed, 20 minutes of napping. This nap makes a big difference in overall energy and focus throughout the day.
After nap time is over, grab your coffee and: - Write a journal
A process picked up from “The Artist’s Way” is the morning pages. This is 3 pages of handwritten notes about whatever is on mind. The point of the journal is not to be a to-do list, or a logging of events, it’s to give thoughts an outlet for expression. There is no need to critique the thoughts or feelings, instead, focus on giving the truth a voice, even if it’s hard to hear. Good ideas for action items may pop up while writing, use the header of your paper to write down those action items and refer back to them when the journal is finished.
I like to finish off journaling with the following:
a) Three things I am grateful for today:
b) Three things that would make today great:
c) Three daily affirmations:
More information on these three can be found on Tim Ferriss’s blog.
Adam