You know how breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Then, in the same way, the energies that you take in when you start your day are equally as important. This is huge for me as I am no morning person and waking up requires an alarm … okay, a couple of alarms set 10 minutes apart. One is to remind me that another day is here, the next is to remind me that I am employed and the third one is to remind me how crazy the traffic is in Nairobi and that I cannot afford to get late to work. You wouldn’t really call that a healthy way to deal but it worked.
I never considered having a morning routine. I knew I had to do a couple of things in the morning like tend to my nappy hair, pack my lunch (supper from the night before) drink a glass of water and clean up. I also knew that I did not have time in the morning for anything, even a cup of coffee to get me through morning traffic.
I was getting by which on some days is all that is required of us really.
One thing that I did not include earlier is that logging into my socials and checking my emails was part of my waking up process. This was usually between the second and third alarm. Seems like something harmless, right? I would find myself scrolling, catching up on Twitter tea and even bumping into news accounts that someone had shared.
Something wasn’t right. My energy was off!
I realized that social media is a space I cannot control. Yes, there are tools to help me create a safer space but this is not guaranteed. I would find that after those 10-15 minutes, my mood for the day would be set. This was a mix of highs and lows that left me vulnerable. I would find myself very irritable, anxious, confused, forgetful and angry. These mixed feelings would run all through the day so you can imagine dealing with a hostile client on top of being extra moody! I would be worn out by midday and literary count down the minutes to home time.
My resolve was that the light from my screen (which I set on auto-brightness) was what was affecting me. So I went on a week cleanse. No phone use for the first 15 minutes after I wake up. I felt different and figured it was the light that was the root of my uncontrollable mood swings. So the genius idea I came up with was that I would disable the auto-brightness setting and go back to my old routine of socials in the morning.
If you are laughing at how silly this move was, then you are not alone. I can now laugh out loud at how I played myself. I went back to feeling anxious and it would get harder on days when the media was doing the most. I decided to see how other people hacked their morning and that is where I got a couple of tips on what a morning routine should entail for one to be more productive.
Let’s be clear, my morning does not have time for all of these things on most days because I also need to work on time management but I do try to include these simple game-changers into my day and so far so good.
I’ll share them so that you too could see what you would want to incorporate into your morning routine.
1. Stay away from your phone for the first 15 minutes after you wake up
Emergencies are exceptions to this rule. However, if it is an official email that you could not take action on until you get to the office, it doesn't count as an emergency. If anything it is a distraction and is not worth it. I used to check for office mail while at home and all that did was just get my mind fixated on that first thing I was to do immediately I got to the office instead of being present for my morning. This meant I would forget to even carry my lunch because my mind was on that Client who wanted their contract ready before midday.
Just like that, you just freed up 10-15 minutes in your day. Isn’t that something?
What I do is that I did not go extreme with this. I do this religiously on weekdays but on weekends, especially those where my day is free, I will get lost in the Pinterest hole. It's my cheat time. One minute I am looking at black art and the next, I am picking out curvy fashion pins for my boards. I love that app! Peep my account here.
One of the upsides to this is you don't have to deal with the outside world which time and again has proven it is against any positive moves we try to make. Resist the urge to go on social media or even watch the news in the morning.
2. Do something for yourself in the morning
This screams chamomile tea for me and it could mean coffee for you. There are so many things you can do for yourself especially if you have that 8-5 job and I haven’t factored in the hour and a half (Rongai people cannot relate) it takes for the commute back home which is draining! You might not find time to do anything for you. You remember that 15 minutes we just freed up because we are not on our socials? That’s the time you can do you. Sit down with your beverage and try and figure out how your body feels, stretch, take a couple of breaths, write down some of the good things that happened the previous day or take your time prepping for your day.
3. Write down a list of things you want to do that day
Lists are so important. I cannot count the number of times I have said this in the past week. Check my Instagram post on making lists. I think creating a list in the morning is effective. What I do which I found works for me is when I find something that needs my attention the following day, I key it into my memo and then keep adding to the list as tasks increase (adulting is an extreme sport!).
However, having them on pen and paper is something I have been trying out and it feels more real once I pen it down.
Bottom line is you making a list in the morning will help you stay productive and even know that you don’t have to burden yourself with random tasks that don’t need your immediate attention all week.
4. Listen to something inspiring
I don’t know who needs to read this but save ‘Dundaing’ for later on in the day! When I used to live in a thin-walled bedsitter in Rongai, the type of songs people woke up to! I think this is why I didn’t trust my neighbours because how do you wake up to hard metal. Podcasts and audio-books are a good way to go. If music moves you, create a morning friendly playlist for your commute to work because music is powerful and you want to listen to the right type of music to set the pace for your day.
There you go!
Four simple hacks that can change your entire day. The good thing about these four hacks is that you do not require hours to get these done. Furthermore, you will have the energy to face your day. I haven’t even started on how achieved you will feel because you took the time to be intentional about the type of energy that you took in at the start of your day. Who knows, maybe making a few changes to your morning routine might make you realise that you are a morning person!
I have a podcast episode on starting your day right that you should definitely check out after this, all you have to do is click here
To doing the work to stay productive and present for each new day!
Love,
Sabali
