Do you have an early morning routine? If not, think about this scenario…
It’s 3 pm. You have been at work since 9 am and there are two more hours to your work day.
Your day can be going one of two ways. Really it could be going a myriad of ways but for the sake of this explanation let’s just say there are the only two ways to go–extremely right or extremely wrong.
Extremely wrong looks like this. You woke up this morning, hit the snooze three times. After the third time you drifted off into a dream that you were going about your day. Then you realized not only had you been dreaming but you are now 15 minutes past the time when you should have been in your car.
Now you’re rushing and you don’t have time to properly do your hair or make up. You grab some clothes that are cleanish and two shoes and head out of the door. While in traffic you realize that you didn’t pack a lunch, you haven’t had any breakfast or coffee and you forgot your wallet.
Let’s fast forward to 3 pm. You’ve had two paper jams on the printer, you’ve lost that file that had IMPORTANT stamped on it in big red ink, and you just noticed while you were in the bathroom for the 80th time, because you were filling up on water from the water cooler to curb your starvation, that you are wearing one black and one navy blue shoe. To top it all off, you still have two full hours left.
In an odd way, you have gotten used to your days going like this.
Where did this day go wrong? Was it when you hit the snooze button? Was it when you grabbed your clothes, the ones with the light mustard stain in the cuff? Did the mixed matched shoes do it?
None of these are the answer.
Your day went wrong long before that. You set yourself up for this day when you failed to train yourself with an early morning routine.
When you create a habit, be it a productive or counterproductive one, you will see the direct effect of it in your daily life. For example, someone who is in the habit of flossing and brushing their teeth multiple times per day will have better dental health than that of a person who’s oral hygiene consists of days without any encounters with toothbrush or tooth paste.
Your day is riddled with the cankerous cavities of misfortune and mishaps in part because you just jump into the day head first or butt first with out giving yourself any direction.
How can this be remedied? I’m glad that you asked. Here is a how you can create a simple early morning routine before work that will aid in starting your day off on the good foot.
The Evening Before:
- Pick out your clothing. Even if you just visualize what you are going to wear and where it is in your closet that saves you 5 or 10 minute of scrambling in the morning.
- Meal prep. Get your breakfast and or lunch started before bed. If there is something that can be pre-measured, pre-poured, or pre-packed do it! It will save time and give you peace of mind knowing that the small things are already done.
- Fill up your gas tank on the way home. This way, you have no reason to stop in the morning.
- Set two alarms 30 minutes apart with the second one being early enough to still get all of your pre-work tasks done.
- Visualize your self having a beautiful night’s rest and a productive day to follow. During this time you can also list as many things as you can think of that you are grateful for before you drift off to sleep.
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The Morning Of:
- After your final alarm sounds, lay in bed for about 7 minutes taking a few cleansing breaths.
- Visualize your day as you would have it to go.
- Take time and care in practicing your hygiene and grooming habits. If you look better, you feel better.
- Beginning your day with a smile sets the tone. If you smile at yourself first, the people you encounter throughout your day will reciprocate.
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While you may already do some of these steps, look at them with fresh eyes. Declare every morning that “DAGGONIT, I’m going to have a great day today.”
You have properly prepared your physical self and your mental self. Now your day is on the ‘Extremely Right’ side of things. You manage to have breakfast, comb your hair and pick out clothes with out stains and shoes that match.
You have all of your things in order and you even have a healthy lunch to fight off the hangry diva that shows up at midday.
Remember, it’s going to take practice, but by having an early morning routine each day will get better and better.
