Does this sound like your typical morning?
The alarm goes off, and you automatically grab your phone (after snoozing a few times) and scroll through the recent headlines angrily mumbling to yourself . . . browse through a few vapid social media (infinite) streams for a while . . . maybe check your email and see that your boss shot you some “no rush” emails at, wait, 1 a.m.? . . . and then finally drag yourself out of bed to snag a quick shower before rushing off for a day of sitting in front of your computer.
The issue with this morning routine is that it’s fully reactive and not moving you toward your goals — so, let’s make it better.
Here are some categories to glance through and pick your top three. You don’t need to think about how they can work together or how they can fit into your already packed routine. Just pick three:
- Self care routine
- exercise
- hair
- skin
- cold showers
- yoga
- green juice / smoothies
- water
- meditation
- Reflection routines
- brain dump
- journal / morning pages
- bullet journal
- affirmations
- intentions
- gratitude journal
- compliments to others
- compliments to yourself
- listen to music
- Critical path routines
- choose 1-3 hard things to accomplish today
- schedule an important meeting with a 1 over 1
- write down 1-3 new ideas for your job
- write down any accomplishments from the day before so you have a list for your next performance review
- write down 1-2 new chapter/blog ideas
- Learning routines
- new language
- new skill
- learn to code/build a website
- new area of the law
Checklist for getting going:
- Look at the list you created and pick the most simple routine off of it. We’ll start with this one for the next 3 weeks. It’s all about momentum.
- Take that one item and see if you can simplify it even more. For example, if you chose “write down any accomplishment from the day before”, your task is to just start with one. Or if you’re re-building a reading habit, just read a single sentence.
- Finally. . . make a calendar reminder to yourself to review your progress in 22 days’ time. If you are still doing the habit, then layer on the second one from your list above and make a new calendar reminder. If not, then see if you are able to make it even easier, or perhaps pick a different habit to try.
Pro Tip. Anchor the new routine onto an existing one so that you have a physical reminder to do it (i.e. take the book you want to read and put it right in front of the coffee pot).
Great! So . . . did you set the reminder?
Stay awesome,
A + J 🌱
