Win Your Morning, Win Your Day

“A person who has not done one-half his day’s work by ten o’clock, runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.” – Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights.

I used to hate mornings. The mad rush to get everyone and everything ready, grabbing a bite on the run before dashing out the door to get the kids to school before work was a ball of stress in my stomach every day by the time I settled down at my desk.

But I thought of myself as a night owl. Because by the time I had spent all day putting out other people’s fires, I only got started on my own work after everyone else left for the day. That meant putting in long hours and late evenings, and staying up late to ‘wind down.’

I was always a student of personal productivity and success, and I read so many accounts from successful people talking about how they woke up early and how much more productive it made them that eventually decided to give it a go.

I trained myself to wake up at five am by going to bed 30 minutes earlier each week until I was turning in between ten and ten-thirty. I found that when I tried to force myself to go to bed earlier without those half-hour stages, I just wouldn’t get to sleep right away and would be tired the next morning. Breaking it down over a few weeks made it easier to transition into being that morning person.

Once I’d made the transition, I realised that sleep quality was more important for my body than duration. So I could sleep for an extra one or two hours in the morning and only feel marginally better, whereas getting to bed early made a huge difference.

I also have a 15-minute nap in the afternoon to recharge and power me through the rest of the day.

Now, there’s something magical about the early hours of the morning for me. The rest of the world is still in bed asleep, and those of us who are up and about have time to think, to breathe, and to just be.

But it isn’t just getting up early that makes me more productive. If I get up and skip my morning routine, the day can slide into chaos just as easily as before–as I’m sure you can imagine with three kids under ten years old, a husband and my ageing mother all living together.

Over time, I’ve refined my morning routine to include all the vital aspects that work for me. Of course, everyone has to hone their own morning routine, but here’s mine:

• Wake up early to win time for yourself. For me that’s 5 am, but you might want to experiment to find the right time for you.
• If you struggle to motivate yourself to get out of bed, try counting down from five to zero, and then jumping up as you say “blast off.”
• Dance or move until you sweat to clear out toxins and to help wake yourself up.
• Take a cold shower to wake up your body and brain. If having a full cold shower is too much of a shock to the system, you can shower normally and finish up with a cold blast. Start with a few seconds and gradually build up your tolerance.
• Meditate, focusing on your breathing and grounding yourself for the day ahead.
• Write your morning pages in your journal focusing on what you are grateful for, and what you want in your life to stay focused on the positive.

In April 2020, I started the neuronatwork Facebook group as an #ActofKindness during the pandemic with a 60-Days challenge to help people use the lockdown time wisely and come back stronger. I went live in that group every day at 6:20 CET.

That early morning wake-up call was so popular we ran it for over a year before taking a strategic break. Now the call is back in our Profit innovators group. So, if you’re up at that time, drop in and join us. Or join the group and watch the replay to kickstart your day.

After the morning call, I plan my day. I identify the one thing I can do that day that will make everything else I need to do easier or unnecessary and make that my priority for the day. I also make a list with no more than six items on it and prioritise them. Then I start at the top and focus on item one until it is done. Any items that don’t get done that day I transfer to the next day’s list and repeat the process.

One other thing I do every day is finding a way to do something new or different. That could be something small like walking on the street backwards, drinking my coffee differently than usual, wearing odd socks, or something uncomfortable like smiling at strangers and complimenting everyone I see, or something bigger like making that important call or introduction, applying for a grant or trying out a new sport.

Following this system has made me super productive. Now, I invite you to join me in the Profit Innovators group and kickstart your mornings with a daily dose of dopamine or share your morning routine with me in the comments here.