I’m curious myself. How does someone start the day by jumping out of bed with a smile on their face? Sure, I smile when I’m excited about the day ahead, but I definitely do not jump out of bed, except for that one time when I overslept and almost missed my flight to work. I was definitely not smiling then.
There are days when I have a to-do list that doesn’t seem to end. All eager to get everything done, I set my alarm an hour earlier for the next day and envision myself being hyper-productive from the moment I wake up.
The opposite happens. I wake up, dread the to-do list, don’t know where to start, drag myself out of bed, stare at the list and… do nothing. An hour later I’m so frustrated that I didn’t get anything done AND I gave up an hour of sleep for that.
Fast forward a couple months, I think I found my jam. While this jam might be tailor-made to work for me, I believe that the underlying techniques will work for everyone. (Disclaimer: don’t get me wrong, I am still not jumping out of bed and I do not always smile, but I do get things done without procrastination).
Before we dive into the techniques, I have good news and bad news to share. The bad news is that it might take a while and several experiments to find your jam, but it is definitely worth putting in effort to find it. The good news is that it is not difficult at all to start finding your jam. In my own search for my jam I have identified four levels of difficulty. I recommend starting small to increase the chances of you sticking to your mission, and once you are comfortable in a level you can level up. Ready? Let’s go.
Level 1: The waking up routine
[Side note: Originally, this was called “The morning routine” and that is definitely a more Googlable term, but I find “The waking up routine” more appropriate because it’s really not about the morning, but about the moment you wake up. For many, yes, that would be the morning, but the time of day really isn’t relevant.]
The ultimate goal of this level is to create a routine that you can do on auto-pilot, while you subconsciously transition from sleep-mode to action-mode. Probably there are several things you already do on auto-pilot, such as going to the bathroom, taming your hair, getting dressed, making a cup of coffee, etc.
Pay attention for a few days: do you always do these things in the same order? Do you always do the same things? Does it depend on the day whether you do or skip a certain thing? I recommend writing down every step you take from the moment you wake up and see whether you want to make any changes to that.
My morning routine looks like this:
Go to bathroom
Brush teeth
Weigh myself
Get dressed
Make the bed
Drink a glass of water (new)
Go on a walk & listen to a podcast (new)
Have breakfast
Review today’s to-do list (new)
Start work
The first 5 actions are so ingrained, they are actually habits. Inspired by several podcasts (The Mindset Mentor, The Productivity Show) and a webinar (by Asian Efficiency), I added drinking a glass of water to my routine to wake up my metabolism. “Inspired" by the corona situation, I added number 7 to simulate the feeling of a commute and to make sure that I breathe fresh air at least once a day. Even though I usually do not commute before having breakfast, I intentionally go for a walk before breakfast because that is how I can guarantee that I do it. Your willpower is the strongest when you just woke up, so I use that strength to go on a walk before I risk putting it off entirely. I added number 9 to the list recently, because I have started to manage my to-do list more strictly, so that whenever I look at it I know it’s up-to-date and I feel like I am in control. Reviewing what I need to get done that day gives me a goal to work towards.
It’s important to note that this list is dynamic. It can be as long or short as you like, as long as it works for you. Do not be afraid to change things or try new things. For instance, I used to meditate in the morning. After a while I didn’t feel like meditating in the morning anymore. It felt like I lost my morning momentum if I sat down and focused on my breathing for 15 minutes, so I removed it from my morning routine. Also, I tried having a cold shower for 30 seconds every morning to… I even forgot what the goal was. Anyway, I quit that within a week. It was horrible. It did not work for me. But it’s part of the journey and honestly, also part of the fun to experiment with these kind of things.
Other pro tips for waking up:
Make your bed. Every morning. There is a very inspirational video on YouTube on this, and the most powerful quote from this video is “You win the morning, you win the day.” The main takeaway from this video is that by making your bed, you have accomplished something already. It doesn’t matter how bad the rest of the day is, when you come home and see your bed you will be encouraged that the next day will be better.
Turn waking up into a pleasant experience, rather than jolting awake because your phone sounds like it’s trying to tell you the country is being invaded. I have a Philips Hue light hanging from my bedroom ceiling that simulates sunrise. Usually that already lifts me from deep sleep into light sleep. Then I have music playing whenever I want to wake up and the alarm clock on my night stand makes birds’ sounds.
Leave your phone in another room. I dedicated an entire article to how my phone was my biggest obstacle in the morning. So, I removed the obstacle altogether.
I have broken up this article into four parts, one for each level.
Level 2 is out! Read it here.
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