As the season begins to change, so do schedules. Days get shorter. Routines — even leisurely ones — are upended. If you have children or care for children, school arrives on the horizon and with it comes bus schedules, homework, time to make lunches, and getting dressed and out the door at a specific time. If you don’t have children or they’ve left the nest, it might mean coming back from the lake or cabin if you’ve been able to work remotely. If you look far enough down the road, you’ll see holidays up ahead and all the chaos (and love and family time) that those tend to offer.
Even knowing this takes place every year, many of us still seem to be blindsided by it. The first thing to get tossed by the wayside is our own personal routine, our commitment to our mental and physical health, and our own pace to the day — whether that was leisurely or action-packed. It is with that understanding, that change is coming as fall approaches, and the need for keeping our own health top of mind is paramount that we turn to the topic of morning routines.
Some beginning thoughts on morning routines
Whether you’re leading a team, building a company or committed to your own personal projects, morning routines appear to be a clear differentiator from others in terms of how good you feel and how productive you’ll be. Tim Ferriss, a #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, best known for The 4-Hour Workweek, is a big proponent of the morning routine. Here is what Tim says about morning routines and investing in yourself:
“Investing in yourself is the most important investment you’ll ever make in your life. . . . There’s no financial investment that’ll ever match it, because if you develop more skill, more ability, more insight, more capacity, that’s what’s going to really provide economic freedom. . . . It’s those skill sets that really make that happen.”
With that in mind, let’s look at a few things Tim recommends to start your day:
- Make your bed. “It’s hard for me to overstate how important this ritual has become. No matter how s***ty your day is … you can make your bed. And that gives you the feeling, at least it gives me the feeling, even in a disastrous day, that I’ve held onto the cliff ledge by a fingernail and I haven’t fallen. There is at least one thing I’ve controlled.”
- Meditate. “This allows me to get 30 to 50 percent more done that day with less stress.”
- Try some light exercise. This is not meant to be a full-on workout, rather it’s meant to wake up your mind and your body. Try five to ten reps of push-ups, squats or sit-ups.
- Journal. Here, you don’t need to write down every thought, or hope or dream. Tim recommends writing down three things you’re grateful for and three things that you feel would really make the day great. One other helpful thing you could try writing down: everything you’re anxious about — get it out of your mind so you can move on with your day in a more relaxed state.
Try creating your own routine
It’s more important to find a routine that works for you — and that might mean experimenting. Is meditation working? Keep going. Don’t like morning pushups? Cut ‘em. Don’t be shy about mixing things up and trying something new: you might be surprised at what it can do for your day.
More ideas to add to your morning
Just like you, the team at Goomi Group is always looking for ways to add healthy moments to our daily routines, and sometimes the easier that is, the better. So in addition to sharing one of our favorite tricks from Brene Brown (“I try not to go downstairs in my pajamas. I try to go in my workout clothes.”) we also wanted to share a few ideas we use that you might be able to try for yourself — and they really don’t add too much time to your probably already busy schedule:
Set an alarm every day — even on the weekends. Your internal clock craves consistency. Whether you set it for 5:45 a.m. or 8:45 a.m., it doesn’t matter, it’s what works for you. Just remain consistent so your body can get into a routine. Of course when we say alarm, we really mean a mechanism for waking up. It doesn’t have to be the alarm bells of an iPhone. Get an old bedside clock that only plays the radio. Or consider a wake-up lamp. One thing we like at Goomi Group is a lamp that automatically syncs with your circadian rhythms and slowly grows lighter as you get closer to the time you want to get up. We find it peaceful, relaxing and it feels much more natural.
Meditate — but do it while laying in bed. One of the biggest misconceptions about meditation is that you have to do it sitting up on the floor. If that doesn’t work for you, don’t move a muscle. Set your intention or fire up Headspace while you’re still laying in bed in your pajamas.
Take just one breath. Think you’re too busy to do something active before you start your day? Start with one breath. One big cleansing breath deep into your lungs. When you’re ready, take two. Do one push up. Everyone has time for one push up. One breath. One push up.
Read one page. Don’t have time to read a book? Us, too. But it’s so important. Keep one book on your bedside table and read a sentence, a page, a paragraph, before picking up your phone, or even rolling out of bed. Does that feel like too much? We also like the Blinkist or Lucid apps which provide easy-to-follow summaries of the big ideas behind many popular business, philosophy and self-help books. (Including Tim’s.)
Seasons are always changing, our lives are never in stasis and every day is a new opportunity to start a new routine. We hope some of the ideas above spark something for you — and yes we recognize it might be difficult if your alarm is not gentle wind chimes but a toddler asking for help flushing the toilet. Be gentle with yourself. Set an intention to start slowly, to listen to what your body and mind are asking of you. And if you’re looking for more help and direction we have more blogs for you, including: 5 Easy Ways to Take Care of YOU and Short Meditation: The Time to Relax is When You Don’t Have Time for It.
