Mornings can be tough. Maybe you went to bed too late, maybe you drank one too many glasses of wine the night before, or maybe you’re just not a morning person. Whatever your reason for not liking mornings, here are four ways to help you turn your AM nightmares into productive moments.
1. Do some exercise
Morning exercise is an effective and healthy way to wake up your body and mind. A little exercise will help you think clearly for the rest of the day and invigorate your sleepy body so it powers up and runs smoothly.
You don’t need to be running for an hour every morning, try doing between 7-25 minutes 6 days a week. For instance, you could walk for 10 minutes one day, and swim laps the next, do an at home circuit routine one morning and run stairs later in the week.
A bit of light exercise is not only good for your body, but you will feel a definite increase in your concentration and alertness levels on mornings when you wake up and get the blood flowing.
2. Eat breakfast
We’ve all been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it is. Whether you choose bulletproof coffee, a piece of fruit, toast and eggs, or a green smoothie, breakfast refuels your body after the night of sleeping (literally breaking the fast), and you will feel that burst of energy throughout the morning.
It’s important to note that pre-made breakfast foods are often high in sodium or sugars, cereals are one of the main culprits here, so make sure you’re limiting your consumption of foods of that nature and always check the nutritional information on the food you buy.
3. Write an achievable ‘To Do’ list
The difference between a ‘To Do’ list and an achievable ‘To Do’ list, is the word achievable, which happens to be the most important part. If you write a list of all the things you have to do, you are setting yourself up for failure. Yes, you have to clean the living room and make an appointment for a checkup at the dentist, but does that need to be on your list of today?
An achievable ‘To Do’ list is a list of the top few things that you need to get done that day. You need to have triaged your full list of things to do and consolidated it down to the things that are most necessary for productivity and success.
4. Pick 3 ‘wins’ for the day.
Speaking of success, while you’re waiting for the coffee to brew or your toast to brown, have a think about three things that you can and will achieve that day.
Did you do exercise that morning? Yes, well that’s win #1. Are you giving a presentation later? You’re going to nail it and that will be win #2. Ticking off all the items on your achievable to do list will be win #3.
It’s important to walk into your day knowing that you can make it a productive and positive day full of achievement and success, even if the feeling of that success is largely due to having completed small tasks. The difference that a mindset like this will have on your overall well-being and productivity is enormous.
