This morning I rolled out of bed refreshed and ready to go. No, that is not a typo.
I always knew that I was more productive in the mornings during school, but I figured it was the same for everyone. The problem is- I’ve consistently been inconsistent with schedules. I’ll stay up late some nights, take long naps some afternoons, and feel terrible every single morning. But yolo, ya know?
Or so I thought.
It turns out that living the half-awake, zombie lifestyle just wasn’t the best fit for me- nor was I ever a Walking Dead fan, so, there’s that.
I had always wanted to be a morning person. I read books like What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast and The Power of Habit and The Happiness Advantage and blog posts like Slay Your Dragons Before Breakfast that all illustrate countless benefits to having productive morning rituals. These motivated me to give 100% to waking up early- usually for about 4 days. Then it always died off.
When I started my new job at Nifty Marketing, that changed. I really wanted to excel at work. I wanted to be the best at what I did, and that doesn’t just take place at the office. What I do at home and on the weekends directly affects the growth and productivity I see at work. It’s easy to see how an exhausted and habitually late employee would fare compared to a vibrant, energetic co-worker that not only works more efficiently, but comes in early with a smile on his face (That second one is me if you couldn’t tell).
It seriously changes everything.
Here are some tips to becoming a morning person, if that’s even something you want:
- Don’t focus on when you go to sleep at night, focus on waking up at the same time every single morning. Your body will learn to go to sleep at a decent hour. I’m ready for some serious REM at about 10:30 every night.
- Have everything ready the night before so you use very little brain power and/or willpower. For me, I always start the day on the treadmill for a half hour-ish. I’m sure I can probably get a better workout some days, but the habit is what I’m going for here. If I’m up and awake, my chances of getting a workout in that day go up by approximately 2600%. My running shoes are right there ready for me.
- Plan something in the morning that makes you excited, even if its small. I like watching documentaries on Netflix while on the treadmill, so I’ll find one that interests me and have it ready to rock the moment my alarm rings.
- Weirdly enough, checking my phone notifications right when I wake up has worked wonders for getting my mind into Alive Mode/Thinking Mode. Also, it puts some light into my eyes, which trips my “Wake Up Brain! Sensors”. As you can tell, it’s all very scientific.
I’ve finally gotten to where I’m in a consistent morning schedule, and it feels amazing. There’s plenty of other improvements to be made, but this will undoubtedly give me the edge that I was always looking for.
Tell me your secrets to being more productive in the mornings in the comments.
