5 Ways To Power Up Your Morning and Maximize Your Day
You don’t need to get up that much earlier.
I’m a guy who likes his sleep but also tends to have many responsibilities in the morning. I don’t have the luxury — as much as I would like otherwise — to hit the old snooze button a few dozen times or three. I need to be up and productive at a fairly obscene hour of the morning.
My biggest freelance clients are located on other continents with their exotic and mysterious time zones and all. That means it’s not unusual for me to have emails I need to respond to at criminally early hours and sometimes some rush work.
This is on top of getting my family up, fed, and ready for their day as well.
So you see…
I need a morning routine that can fulfill three criteria:
- It needs to get me in a productive frame of mind.
- It needs to lay the foundation for a productive day overall.
- It can be performed relatively quickly. I have deadlines, dammit.
The good news is that it doesn’t take a lot to start your day off right.
You don’t need to get up an hour earlier than you need to just and commit yourself to a gamut of meditation, mile runs, and writing in your journal while breathing through your diaphragm and contemplating the universe.
Here are five things you can do that won’t take up much time at all that I’ve found do wonders in getting me ready for the day no matter how goddamn early it is.
Water first. Coffee later.
Unless you’ve figured out a way to drink in your sleep, you very likely wake up a bit dry-mouthed. Whether your sleep was four, six, or the legendary eight hours, those are hours spent slowly dehydrating.
Upon waking, drink a couple of cups of water. It could be a full 12 oz bottle if you’re a bottled water drinker. I use a filter on my tap, so I’ll gulp down juice glass and then have another to drink more slowly. The point is to get some water into you.
The coffee pot can wait. I’m not going to tell you not to enjoy your morning caffeine. Just the opposite. But coffees and sodas aren’t going to hydrate you as well as a good, old-fashioned glass of water.
And it takes just a minute or so. Do this, and you’re off to a banging start.
Get physically active right away.
No, put those jogging sneakers away! That’s not what I meant. Who the hell has time to jog, anyway?
You just want to get your blood pumping for a bit. It could be five — just five — minutes of knee bends and twists. It could be a few minutes of physical chores around the house, like taking out the trash and sweeping the floor.
Five minutes. Ten minutes. You won’t need more than that to get your body and mind awake.
Got a dog? Instead of just letting them out into the yard to do their business, take them on a walk around the block. Or at least to the corner and back. They’ll appreciate it, and if you have a dog as big and boisterous as mine, you’ll get a hell of a quick workout.
Nurture a positive attitude.
I’m not going all New Age on you and suggesting you start writing down affirmations or chanting mantras or anything. Instead, as you’re going through your morning, think about what’s going to be good about today.
If you wake up feeling negative or angry, ask yourself why and work out why you’re mad and if it’s really worth feeling bad about. Mentally, try to turn your attitude around to one that is more positive if you can.
They say physically smiling can significantly help with this. I’ve tried it, and I’ll say this… it doesn’t make it harder to feel better.
The nice thing about this tip is that it can be done while you’re drinking your water or doing your five-to-ten minutes of physical activity.
Find something interesting to listen to. The news doesn’t count.
I’m a big fan of podcasts. It’s like talk radio I can customize to my interests. And there is no shortage of podcasts to listen to. I have my Alexa run a playlist of my favorites, and I usually switch them up a bit every couple of weeks. I’ll listen to podcasts on freelancing, creativity, business, comedy, pop culture, gaming, or whatever strikes my fancy that week.
By this stage, I’m at my computer conducting triage on my day’s work and figuring out what needs attention before the clients in Japan go to bed, or the ones in England go to lunch. I won’t listen to any news — not for a couple of more hours at least, and only for about fifteen minutes at the most.
What’s nice about the podcasts aimed at freelancing or creativity is that it helps me start the day feeling like a professional. That is to say, I get into a professional mindset listening to other professionals — and I sometimes pick up some useful advice or insights.
The comedy and gaming podcasts are great, too. I’m not a total stiff.
If podcasts aren’t your thing. That’s okay. Sometimes I take a break with audiobooks obtained through an app tied into my local library. I’ll even go wild and call up a stand-up comedy album off Amazon Music or YouTube (to listen to, not watch).
I suppose you could listen to music as well. I prefer to save music for later in my workday. In the morning, I tend to get going more effectively when it’s other people talking on my playlist.
You do what works for you. The idea is to get your mind engaged in listening to something that moves you forward.
Yeah, okay. Take a break and read something.
This quick morning routine is all about getting ready and running quickly, and it seems like I’m not giving either of us much time to breathe.
But breathing is important. So is taking a break.
Once the triage is done and I’ve at least addressed any emergency or rush tasks, and before the noise and chaos of getting the rest of the family up ensues, I like to take a quiet reading break.
Sometimes I go through the mailing list offerings from the previous day. Sometimes it will be the “Talk Of The Town” section of The New Yorker on my tablet. Or a chapter of a good book. I’m in the middle of Vacationland by John Hodgman. Great stuff. Highly recommended.
If you’re a coffee person, go ahead and have your first cup while reading. Or tea, if you’d prefer. I’ve been waiting a little longer before my first coffee. I’ve come to dig grapefruit-infused seltzer water. No sugar. No weird aftertaste.
Don’t judge me. It’s good.
The essential thing to focus on now is those fifteen minutes of some quiet reading or, if you’d prefer, just some quiet time. Take some deep breaths. Feel connected to the world and your role in it.
When break time is over, you’ll be ready to tackle nearly anything.
What works best is what works for you.
I get that everyone is different both in what they respond best to and what their needs are. I’m a freelancer with specific types of clients and particular family needs. My routine reflects that.
Your best routine will reflect and address your needs.
The point of a piece like this is to show you there are alternatives and that if you don’t have time for a long morning routine, you have options for a shorter one.
- Water
- Brief exercise
- Positive attitude
- Something good to listen to
- A breather
You can start your day hitting the ground and running and not feel run-down because of it.
Now go get ’em!
Thank you for reading. I’d love to share more with you via my Bi-Weekly Word Roundup newsletter sent to subscribers every other Sunday. It will feature news, productivity tips, life hacks, and links to top stories making the rounds on the Internet. You can unsubscribe at any time.