Good Beginnings: How to get ahead of your day

Being someone who suffers with Attention Deficit disorder, concentrating can be extremely hard for me. That is not to say that I can’t concentrate when I need to, but with all the distractions out there from social media to tiny babies- it can sure be easy to lose my place and end my day feeling ineffective. That is why it is so important for me to get a head start on everything else by starting my day off right: No, I am not going to try to sell you any product or service here folks- just this tiny piece of advice. Get ahead of your day-

There is a definite time of day, no matter where you are when it seems like the world is waking up. T.V personalities sit around oddly shaped tables with what appear to be cups of coffee, school buses trudge up and down the street, and babies and toddlers do the most horrible thing- they wake up… HUNGRY. By that time the chance to get anything productive done has dwindled to about .05% and the chance of doing anything remotely related to self care is even less.

So how do we solve this problem? How do we get it all in without burning the candle at both ends? How do we make time for all the things that we need to do without adding hours to the day? We can’t, can we?

We sure can.  We get up early.

I am not talking about getting up 20 minutes early folks, I am not even talking about an hour (cause I tried that and it just is NOT enough time.) I am talking about getting up with the roosters. I am talking getting up with the Sun, or even before…

Now before you run screaming for the hills, just hear me out…

What if I told you that the reason that you feel so opposed to getting up early is actually because of everything that has been associated with it AND that if you commit to trying this for 30 days (who can’t do something for a measly 30 days) then not only will you change the way you feel about getting up early, but you will actually improve your quality of life AND productivity.

That’s what I thought.

So there is this motivational speaker named Hal Elrod and he has a program called Miracle morning- and what this program essentially does is give you a head start on your day. You can read more about Hal and his program HERE. http://www.miraclemorning.com/ The idea is that you get these things done before all the distractions of the world “wake-up” and you find yourself much more productive before you even used to be awake.

I admit when I first heard about this idea of waking up early my first thought was probably similar to the one you are having right now…

But I AM PRODUCTIVE! I JUST GET STUFF DONE AFTER THE KIDS GO TO BED…..

Yeah, okay. Here friends is why that doesn’t work:

1. At the end of your day (work, being home with kids, watering plants etc) the last thing anyone wants to do is more work. This is when we feel we earned the right to decompress. Out comes the phone and the pinterest and the glass of wine, and the work things get pushed till later.. because we earned time off. Before we know it those things get pushed right off the agenda and into the next night, when the problem has compounded or they become so urgent that we find ourselves completing them last minute and with minimal care and effort.

Come on we have ALL been there.

2. Trying to access your freshest ideas and energy at O’ dark thirty is a recipe for disaster and by the time you actually focus enough to really access the task at hand, it’s morningand you have worked through the night. If you plan to get any real sleep (and sleep is SO important!!) you will be waking up sometime after noon. And I don’t care who you are, waking up after noon makes anyone feel like a loser.

So in order to get ahead of our day, we need to figure out what are the items that we simply MUST get done- and that INCLUDES self care!!! You can not serve from an empty vessel my friends, and if you think you can go on burning the candle at both ends forever, well you can’t- AND even if you could- what kind of life is that????

So for me the essentials are:

1. Prayer/Gratitude- The best way to bring more abundance in your life is to be thankful for what you already have. “The secret of having it all, is knowing you already do.”
2. Water- You are supposed to drink 8 glasses a day, and as the day goes on I am a lot less concerned about water. The more I can get in while I can still think the better.
3. Reading- In the morning my house is quiet, no dogs, no babies, no tv- and my super distracted mind can actually process thoughts. Ten minutes a day is all I need to actually keep up with a book.
4. Hygiene- It’s really hard to tackle the day with a dirty mouth and gunk in your eyes. So I brush my teeth and wash my face to wake up my skin and keep the dragons at bay.
5. Writing- Just like I am doing right now. I either work on my book or journal, or write this here blog for you lovely folks
6. Day planning- I plan my weeks out on Sundays but when it comes to planning a day ahead of time I run into the same problem I run into when packing for a trip: I don’t know what I am going to want to wear on what day so I have to bring EVERYTHING. I need to plan my day- that day, and so I use this time to come up with some items I want to get checked off before my head hits the pillow. Usually at least one of these is self development, and one is working toward a huge goal I have.

That is my list. Yours might be totally different and that is the point. These need to be the things that will get YOU up and moving and feeling productive before the afternoon soaps start.

So as awful as the word EARLY sounds, if you want to, you can re-program yourself to be a morning person. You can disassociate the idea of rise and shine with your mom waking you up for school, and you CAN add hours to your day. Before you know it, this apparent sacrifice will be much more like a gift.

You’re welcome.