The alarm didn’t go off, you forgot about the early morning meeting, it is snowing, and the roads are bad… sound familiar? Your morning routine can make or break your day. If you never want to experience the morning rush, again consider following these simple tweaks to start your day.
Â
#1: Always set 2 alarms - but not for the reason you may think
I always set two alarms for myself in the morning & not because I am lazy and want to sleep through the first one. The two alarms are set 30 minutes apart. Yes, 30 minutes. The first one is for waking up and the second one is for getting up. So yes, if you are thinking I just asked you to wake up 30 minutes earlier than you normally do, I did.
It’s at this initial point of opening my eyes that my day begins, but I don’t lift my body or even roll over and fall back to sleep. I just wake up and allow myself to breathe and be still.
The first alarm wakes me & it should wake you as well. I use the first alarm of the day to bring my body to consciousness. It is at this initial point of opening my eyes
After not even a minute, I pick up my iPad which is always charging on my nightstand, and I read through the morning news. I check Twitter to see what is going on. I scan the headlines to see what has been happening. And yes, I review my own accounts on social media.
Â
By taking this sliver of time to do this before I physically get up, I am less inclined to stop my day to “hop on” my socials or check what is going on. I also have given myself a pre-programmed alarm to stop and shut down.
When that second alarm goes off, it is my call to action to turn off & log out and get going. By the time I am brushing my teeth, I am aware of the world around me and what’s going on. I never feel like I am missing what is happening because I have brought myself up to speed before I even lift my head from the pillow.
#2: Review Your Schedule
Now this is a task that rears its head a few times throughout the day.
Although I always set my daily schedule the night before, I check it again in the morning to be sure I am not missing anything. This extra 30 minutes at the start of the day is a little slice of “Me Time”.
I highly recommend a digital planner and I will tell you that Planmore, (FKA Any Plan), is far and away superior to anything else I have seen in the App Store. You can read more about it on a separate blog post.
By reviewing my agenda as part of my morning routine, I can quickly remind myself of the upcoming tasks I need to accomplish today.
I can see important meetings, urgent tasks, maybe boot some non-urgent tasks up into the important categories. I even take note my friends’ birthday if it falls on that day, and be sure that I am ready to hit the ground running.
Leaving the house or sitting down to work without reviewing my agenda would be like leaving the house without getting dressed. It should be an essential part of your day as well.
#3: Drink Water, Not Coffee
A major theme of the Sand & Chi blog is about self-control and mindfulness.
I have found a big part of that is being in control of your wonderful body. The gift of your body to get through your life is something which we all should honor.
That does not mean that we cannot treat ourselves to a delicious dessert or a glass of wine occasionally, but on a daily basis, we should not be putting elements into our bodies that are addictive. Be mindful of substances that alter our body’s natural performance.
Waking up in the morning with a full glass or two of plain water is amazingly refreshing.
Before going to bed at night, I always place a bottle of water on my nightstand for a quick thirst quencher in the morning, or even if I wake during the night.
Yes, it takes getting used to if you are one to shuffle to the kitchen in search of an espresso to jolt your body into action, but I encourage you to give this a try!
Here is my CTA for you!
There’s an abundance of apps to help you form new habits and most will tell you that it takes 21 days to do so, but for me it depends how deeply rooted I am into the behavior. I encourage you to start incorporating these ideas into your morning routine right away. Good luck!
