Do you want to know a great way to start the day?
This is perfect for the procrastinators out there, but really this will work great for anyone.
Let’s get straight into it.
Table of Contents
1. Plan the Night Before
Why would you want to plan your day the night before?
When we get everything out of our head and onto paper, we allow our subconscious mind to process all of it which will help us organise our day.
If we have tonnes of things to do that we have been putting off, writing everything down before we sleep will also help us take our minds off it so we get to sleep quicker.
Here’s how to plan your day the night before.
Get a pen and piece of paper or notebook and just start writing things down you’ve been putting off recently. They don’t have to be things that you need to do tomorrow, and you don’t need to prioritise them.
Just write whatever comes to mind and let your subconscious do the rest.
Also Read: Facts About Procrastination We All Struggle From
2. Get a Decent Nights Sleep
A good start to the day should start with a good night’s sleep. If you don’t sleep well, then it’ll be a lot harder to focus on getting things done during the day.
Getting an early night is a great way to start the day. This is because when we sleep earlier, we will be closer to our natural circadian rhythm, which helps us get into a deeper sleep and feel more refreshed in the morning.
If you struggle to sleep early or are used to staying up late, then you could try getting to bed 30 minutes earlier and waking 30 minutes earlier to form a new routine.
3. Fall Asleep Fast with This Powerful Habit
There are a couple of things I do to help me sleep if I’m struggling.
Try the 4-7-8 breathing exercise. Whilst lying in bed, close your eyes and breathe in for a count of 4 seconds, then hold your breath for 7 seconds, and out for a count of 8 seconds.
You’ll start drifting off very quickly, usually within a few rounds of doing this. Just keep it up until you fall asleep.
Here’s a video that shows you exactly how to do it.
You could try a supplement like Melatonin which is the bodi’s natural hormone for promoting sleep. 5HTP is another good option if you can’t get Melatonin in your country.
One more technique you could try is taking a cold shower before bed. It doesn’t have to be freezing, just enough to bring your body temperature down slightly.
There are many benefits to a nighttime shower in preparing you for a good night’s sleep.
4. A Simple Trick to Get Out of Bed in the Morning
If you check your phone first thing in the morning, it’s safe to safe you go to bed with your phone. It’s also possible that you use your phone as an alarm to wake yourself up in the morning, right?
If this is the case, why not try something new?
When you go to bed tonight, set an alarm on your phone and then leave your phone in a separate room. When your alarm goes off in the morning, you must get out of bed to turn it off.
This will also motivate you to get out of bed because you’ll want to check your phone like you usually do.
Don’t do what I used to do though and bring my phone back to bed when I first started doing this exercise.
An even more powerful variation is to use an alarm clock and not touch your phone until you’ve finished your new morning routine below.
Checking your phone afterwards could be your reward.
5. Adopt a Morning Routine
Every successful person follows a morning routine, and that shouldn’t be any different for you.
Your morning routine can be changed and adapted to suit your own needs, but it’s important that what you try, you stick to it to form the habit.
Below are some specific habits I’ve formed in the morning to start the day effectively.
6. Listen to Something Motivating
Listening to an uplifting audio in the morning is an excellent way to get you motivated for the day. And you can find tonnes of them for free on YouTube.
Just search “morning motivation” in the search bar and press play on your favourite one.
Or you can listen to this one, it’s one of my favs!
7. Drink a Glass of Water
Drinking water first thing is a great way to start the day. Even better if you can add lemon juice in it. Triple points if you add pink Himalayan salt in it.
8. Do 20 Reps of Something
Jumpin jacks, high knees, lunges, push-ups, whatever you like. Just start doing one of these and complete 20 reps.
That’s it!
Sure, you can do a full workout routine if you like, but if you struggle with procrastination, you’ll want to start off small.
9. Do a Quick Breathing Exercise
Now you are going to clear your mind by breathing.
I want you to set a timer on your phone for 7 minutes.
Then start the timer and breathe in for the count of 3 and breathe out for the count of 9.
You can breathe through your nose or mouth, it doesn’t matter. And you don’t have to get the pace perfect, just as close to 3 seconds in and 9 seconds out as you can.
When you’re done, you will feel extremely calm and ready to take on your day.
10. Your Top Three Priorities
Now get your list you made last night and take the three most important things from this list to work on today.
Write these three things down and focus on the most important one first.
Try not to worry too much about completing all three. Even if you only complete the first task that you start, that is something to celebrate and praise yourself for.
To make this first task easy, it’s a good idea to break it down into smaller steps.
Each of these steps could take anything between two minutes and two hours. If they take longer to complete, then I suggest taking breaks in between.
You could try using the Pomodoro technique, where you set an alarm for 25 minutes and carry out your task. Then when the 25 minutes is up, take a 5 minute break.
Conclusion
If you only manage to complete one of your top priorities or only even half of one, keep this up the the rest of the week and you will have a successful week ahead.