How Productiveness In the Morning can Frame your Whole Day
In an effort to get more productive, I took a look at my morning routine this week. It was enlightening, that’s for sure. I just felt that I was starting my day slowly and with little intent which followed through for the rest of the day. I was finding my motivation was lacking to get work stuff done and workouts done.
When I took a step back and detailed all the little things my morning consisted of, I was kind of shocked how much I do each morning, and yet, it never feels like I get ahead.
I have a 5 year old, so I totally understand what it’s like to have a small human running around in the early AM, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make them more efficient, especially when it comes to choices I personally have to make.
When I looked at my morning habits, I noticed that I’ve gotten into a bad routine. When I first wake up, I usually grab my phone and start reading the news to get my brain functioning by having to pay attention to what I’m reading.
However, here’s the bad routine part: before reading the news, I first spend 5-10 minutes reading my emails, personal and business. You may be thinking “that sounds pretty benign.” But you’re wrong. Because I’m not actually responding to those emails until much later in the day when I sit down to do my work. I will still read them in the afternoon before responding, so I’m not saving myself any time. Besides that, every day when I get up and I kick myself for not getting up earlier, even 10 minutes earlier. Had I not read the emails I’ll be rereading again in the afternoon, I could have gotten up 10+ minutes earlier.
For me, the difference of 10 minutes might mean I have a cup of coffee brewing, with the dog walked and happily ready to face the day, vs me lying in bed still with a child who then refuses to get dressed or help me brush his teeth while I nag, “please do what I ask.” I know that if I am downstairs before he’s up, he’s at least 50% more self-sufficient and the day doesn’t start with a battle.
From now on, I’m going to skip the AM email reading, as it does me no good. I’m also going to limit the amount of news I read while still in bed so that I can ensure I’ll be downstairs before my son and able to do some quiet reflection, which seems harder and harder to find the time for these days.
Getting that quiet time to myself before the day starts really frames my day so that I want to get my work done. I want to be a better, more loving mother, and I want to work out.
What can you change about your morning routine to make you more productive? Maybe it’s showering at night so there’s one less thing to do in the AM. Maybe it’s setting out your workout clothes so you get it done first thing. Or perhaps it’s getting up 10 minutes earlier so you can spend that time in quiet reflection. Tell me, what will you change?