onfession: I’m not exactly a morning person. I’m not not a morning person but I do really like my bed and I don’t like leaving it much. Mornings are just the opposite of relaxing which is why most people struggle with them. Here are a few things I do to make sure every day start with a totally kick ass morning.
Get your shit sorted the night before
Unstack the dishwasher, pop on a load of washing, tidy up the lounge room and lay out your outfit or gym gear for the next day. It makes such a huge difference to morning productivity and it takes 20 minutes tops. Pop on some music or your favourite pod cast and use it as a lovely wind down, screen free exercise to prepare yourself for bed.
Do not sleep with your phone next to your bed
I’m so dead serious about this. I banned my phone from bedroom two years ago and it’s been a life saver. I’ve even given up getting my phone in the morning and bringing it back to bed with me. My phone is not welcome in my bedroom at all. If I want to use my phone, I’m not in bed. It’s that simple. The blue light messes with your circadian rhythms and it makes you super reluctant to get out of bed because you have the world at your fingertips. Ban your phone from your bedroom. Do it.
Use food as a reward
I’m a bit weird because I’m one of those odd people who doesn’t like showers. I just find them really boring and I can’t do anything at the same time so I tend to procrastinate. I combat this in the morning by not allowing myself breakfast until I’ve had my shower. I love food and I want to get it in my gob ASAP so I jump in the shower pretty quickly in the morning. If you have a morning task like walking the dog that you dread a little bit, make yourself do it before coffee or food so you have a lovely reward when you’re done.
Write down 3 things to do before midday
I adore the three things concept where you write down three things to get done in the day but I love it even more if I give myself a midday deadline. Write down three tasks that you absolutely have to have done by midday today and get them done. It will totally free your mind for your afternoon tasks and you’ll get in to a fabulous groove of completion that you’ll want to continue through out the day.
Fake a positive attitude
Sometimes if I’m really not feeling it in the morning, I pretend my life is a movie montage of a perky blonde American college student or Cher from Clueless. There’s nothing like thinking you have an audience to make you try super hard to put on a good show of going for your morning run, packing the dishwasher, grabbing your perfectly constructed healthy lunch and then strutting out the door.
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
How do you get going in the morning? Any killer morning productivity tips to share?
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
Oh before I forget Crochet Coach launches properly THIS THURSDAY! So get in quick if you want pre-sale pricing.
7 Comments
-
I leave an outfit out the night before (doesn’t work, I always hate it by morning) and do the bare minimum to my face so I can get out the door as early as humanly possible.. then I hustle to get to work by 7-8am depending on how insane my household is. I have a cheery playlist for my drive to work and I love my job- I’m always excited to get there! Knowing I have somewhere good to be definitely helps with the urge to procrastinate. This was funny, I liked it 🙂
-
Author
Oh my goodness this comment made my day. How lovely for you that you love work and you’re stoked to be there.
-
-
This is great advice. Like the thing re the phone but I use my phone to read and also for an alarm clock. Might have to look at a kindle and an old school alarm clock.
-
I use my apple watch which isn’t connected to my phone after 9pm at night! It’s perfect.
-
-
I wouldn’t say I’m a morning person, but I do get up early (I usually have the morning to myself as my partner sleeps later). Agree with doing all your prep the night before – that’s a bit time saver.
I tend to have coffee first thing in the morning and remain in my pjs until the last half hour before I leave for work… which actually just makes me not want to get dressed.
A few months ago I was put on thyroid medication which requires me to take it half an hour before food (including coffee), so I switched to getting up, taking my medication and then getting ready straight away first to kill that 30 minutes before I could have my coffee. It’s kind of made me reduce my procrastination time because I’m ready to go before I have breakfast or stuff around on the laptop.
-
Me too! My partner sleeps late. Isn’t it weird how new things like that can totally alter your morning routine?
-
-
YES! I agree! Showers are boring and I procrastinate. I kinda have to on weekdays for work but Saturdays – I’m learning to shower when I get up so it’s done and out of the way (that sounds really weird!). I use my yummy smoothie as a reward for taking the shower. I also use that same smoothie as a reward for doing a workout before breakfast.
LOVE your idea of pretending to have an audience while you’re getting ready. Funny how movies can affect you that way. (And Cher in Clueless – I like the scene were she’s curled up in a chair, studying, looking utterly at home and relaxed and herself – when someone knocks at the door. I think of that and wish I had the same air of confidence and comfort being myself!)
