Win the Morning, Win the Day

I love my bed.

I love having my warm wife next to me.

I love being wrapped up, snug and cosy beneath the duvet, my dogs at my feet.

During the spring and summer months, the sun wakes me up early and in a good mood. I bounce out of that bed, put coffee on, and love to sit in the tranquility, buried in a good book, doing some work, or writing.

I feel great. And, in a fantastic mood. Productive, accomplished, happy.

In the autumn and winter months, though, when it’s dark until 7am, I wake up reluctantly. Even with an additional two hours of sleep, I struggle to open my eyes. Instead of bouncing out of bed, I lay there, grumbling to myself. My Apple Watch insists I’ve achieved my goal of eight hours’ sleep, but my mind argues it’s only been 20 minutes since I closed my eyes.

Once I’m up, everything feels like an effort. My mind starts throwing my itinerary at me, and all of it feels like so much work. “Ugh is that TODAY?!”

By the time I’m halfway through brushing my teeth I do, thankfully, start to feel more alert and more receptive to the idea of operating like a human.

This year, however, I learned something new.

Yep, during 2020, that despised year of doom, gave me a valuable lesson.

In September, I started the 75 Hard challenge. One of the daily tasks required is to workout — twice.

Every day.

In order to do that, I had to make time in the mornings.

Early morning is a special time

By late September, the mornings are getting dark but it’s twilight quite early. So when I first started, it wasn’t too challenging to wake up.

I began waking up around 6am, and quickly set my alarm earlier until I was rising at 5.30–5.40am.

Wake up, clean teeth, get dressed, and I’d leave the house.

My routine was either to walk the dog or go for a run. AirPods in, podcast on, and the streets were mine alone.

Over the 75 days the weather progressively changed — it got darker, earlier. To the point that on my earlier runs I’d witness beautiful sunrises, but towards the end the sun was still hidden away even after I’d returned home.

Some mornings were misty. Some wet. Some almost eerie.

But they were all beautiful, and they all woke me up more effectively than anything else I can remember.

When I got home, I felt rejuvenated. My cheeks had colour, I had energy coursing through me. I’d sit down with breakfast to tick off the next task of the 75 Hard challenge — reading 10 pages.

And then, work.

Momentum inspires action

It’s a remarkable feeling, accomplishing something by 6.45am. It’s also a remarkable feeling to start work having already been so productive — something that we seldom have the chance to experience in the routine 9–5, where the early morning is dominated by getting ready and sitting in traffic.

The result is when I opened my laptop, I was inspired. Raring to go. When I closed my laptop at the end of these days, I noticed I’d got a lot done. My to-do list was torn through, completed with as much difficulty as Arnold Schwarzenegger lifting a 10lb dumbbell.

Quickly, I learned a powerful lesson: by winning the morning, I won the day.

What does it mean to “win the day” though?

To me, it means that I’m in control, not my environment. And it means that I did what I intended to, so that when I reflect on the day later, I feel accomplished. Ultimately, it means doing what I’d planned, doing it well, and feeling good along the way.

How did I do it? With three simple actions, that anyone can do — yes, even you, and you can start today.

1. Intentionality. On Sunday, I write out the activities for the week and assign a day (or multiple days) for achieving them. Then, at the end of each working day I write my to-do list for the next day. To really dial in the productivity, write times next to each task. That way you’ll know exactly what task to do at any given time, and you aren’t losing time to random tasks or wasting mental energy on “trying to decide what to do next.”
2. I didn’t check my phone. I’m as guilty as the next person of checking my phone as soon as I open my eyes. It’s not a good habit. It puts us into a reactive state, our emotions at the whim of whatever notifications we see. Each day, we wake up with a recharged tank of willpower and energy, some of which is used on decisions and brainpower. So isn’t it curious that we willing waste a chunk of this energy by checking emails, news, and social media within seconds of waking up? Now we’re completely beholden to that information. A worrying email, unpleasant social comment, a bad news headline, and suddenly we’re stressed. Worried, Overwhelmed. Enough! Here’s the hack: Set your phone to be in Do Not Disturb from the evening until the morning. Mine is 11pm-7am. That way, when I wake up, even if I do pick up my phone, I don’t see notifications. I can merrily unlock my phone to get to the Nike Run Club app or podcasts, and not worry about what I’ll see. Most days, I didn’t check notifications until after breakfast, when I felt good, collected, and relaxed.
3. I moved. Nothing, but nothing, rejuvenates us like exercise. Personally, I went outside 99% of the time, for a walk or run. But on a couple of days I stayed in and did a stretching routine. My wife did yoga almost every day. So going outside is not essential. But, for me, it gives me an extra boost. The purifying fresh air against the face. The background noises. Getting that cool air into the lungs. A slight chill in the hands. The alertness when crossing a road or watching people starting their own days, remove ice from the car windscreen or starting their commute. Working up a slight sweat. Being indoors doesn’t stop you benefiting from exercise, but if you can get outside, take advantage.

As a bonus, if you’ve got the time then it’s good practice to write your thoughts down. There’s no rulebook for this: you can write down ideas, plan your day, reflect on yesterday, do a stream of consciousness exercise, or map out your future. Whatever you do, it’s a tremendous way to declutter your mind, focusing you ahead of work so you’re not being distracted by your own thoughts throughout the day.

So there we have it.

Take control of your mornings.

The end of 2020 is in sight, but don’t wait until the new year before instilling new habits. Start now, and when January gets here, you’ll have already establish a tremendous new habit to boost your health and productivity.

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