You’ve already hit snooze six times, placing more value in those 9 extra minutes of sleep than in things like enjoying a cup of coffee, having breakfast, or even taking a shower. Winter mornings are especially tough, trying to crawl out of your little heated cave made of blankets, placing your feet on the cold floor to get your day started, SNOOZE! One huge problem with sleeping in until the last minute and then rushing off to work, is that you really start to feel as though your job controls you, that you have no spare time to yourself, hardly enough money to even do any budget travel, and that all your best energy goes towards your boss’ goals and dreams as opposed to your own.
One habit which can literally transform your life is to start your morning earlier. It might be tough in the beginning, but it is completely worth it. One hour is all you need to get your day off to a great start. You can relax, enjoy a healthy breakfast, sip your coffee, read the newspaper, exercise, talk with your spouse, your kids, get some work done on that project you’ve been putting off. What you’ve done by giving yourself one extra hour is you’ve taken some control of your day back. You go into work when you’re ready, not in some sort of scramble against the clock. You get to devote your fresh brain towards your own work and projects, giving it the focus it deserves, and when you come home after work, you can actually relax because you already got your work done in the morning.
Automate a proper wake up:
When that alarm clock goes off you start your day off stressed and alarmed. By smartening your home with technology you can wake up in a more natural fashion, feeling more refreshed and less like smashing your alarm clock with a baseball bat. You can set both your thermostat and your lights on a timer, so that at the appropriate time, the room temperature begins to rise, as well as the lights which begin to fade up, imitating the rising of the sun, waking you up more gradually instead of yanking you out of your peaceful slumber. You can also install speakers throughout your house, controllable from every room, and you can have your favorite music CD or the sounds of nature to gradually increase in volume as well. But don’t forget, set all your timers one hour early!
How to maximize your mornings
Now that your up you want to make sure you maximize that hour before heading out the door to work. If we were all Doc Browns from Back to the Future, then we’d probably all have automated breakfast machines which would crack and cook the eggs, fry the bacon, toast the toast, brew and pour the coffee for us, without having to lift a finger. Unfortunately we’re not, but that doesn’t mean we can’t automate our mornings, but most of the work can be done the night before:
-Prepare and pack your lunch in the evenings so you can just grab and go in the morning.
-Buy yourself a coffee machine with a timer, and set in to go off when you wake up. The smell of coffee brewing is a great start to the day and it will be ready as soon as you step out of the shower.
-Ask your significant other or your kids or train your dog to bring the morning paper to the breakfast table.
-If you’re lucky enough to have someone in your life to prepare breakfast, awesome. If not, a few quick breakfast ideas include:
- Bowl of cereal with chopped fruit and milk
- Scrambled eggs, toast, sliced tomatoes
- Yogurt with granola and chopped fruit
- Fruit smoothie in the blender
- Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and blueberries
So now you’ve woken up naturally, you’re showered, shaved, informed and on a full stomach, and you still have that extra hour to write that novel or screenplay you’ve been neglecting; go for that morning jog (hopefully before you’ve showered and eaten!); learn a new song on the guitar; enjoy your family etc. And best of all, you don’t feel controlled by your job.
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