Still not a morning person...

After three weeks, I accept I am not a morning person, at least not in the conventional sense.  I don’t immediately jump out of bed, fully awake and ready for the world.  Instead, I view myself as just a minimally-productive person in the morning. 

(Does Frankenstein still laugh at me when I wake up?  Yes.  But at least I’m getting stuff done.  Meanwhile, he is still looking for his brain.)

I’m currently reading One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler by Tsh Oxenreider, and one of her ‘bites’ is to make a morning routine.  It’s a series of events you always do in the morning to get yourself ready for the day.  Inadvertently, that’s what I had done (although, not so eloquently stated) and I’m here to tell you, it works.

Now, when I wake up, I know EXACTLY what’s up next.  I drink my water, clear out the dishwasher, make my breakfast, read my devotional, and make up the bed.  After the bed is made, I’m alert and ready to look at my to-do list and get cracking.  If I am working from home or have an appointment elsewhere, my morning routine gets me going. 

The first few tasks vary from day to day.  Sometimes, I edit a blog post or update our financial documents.  Other times, I open up my Pocket app and select one thing I earmarked to read – this keeps me up-to-date on my various interests.   As a result, there’s a snowball effect.   I find myself completing the important but mundane tasks earlier in the day, leaving ample time for my creative endeavors during my energetic early afternoons. 

The bottom line: I am alert and more productive in the mornings all because I took the time to create a simple, 30-minute routine. 

For those who are morning people, I recognize that you also have a morning routine, but your routine probably only consists of waking up.  I also think that every person requires a different routine.  Some may take 5 minutes to complete theirs, others a couple of hours.  The principle remains the same:  know your strengths, acknowledge your weaknesses, and set yourself up for success. 

Interested?  I highly recommend it.  You could start by going through the process I outline here.  Or perhaps your routine consists of a few tasks you need to just get out of the way, such as starting a load of laundry or exercising.  For those that don’t have much alone time, maybe your routine is dedicated to mediation, praying, or journaling so you can tackle your day centered and rejuvenated.

Honestly, it seems so simple, but only after decades of life did I stumble upon it.  It makes my weekdays start much more smoothly.  On the other hand, the weekends remain a problem for me because I get really spoiled.  D enjoys making breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings, so I dawdle around while he graciously (and deliciously) makes veggie omelets or blueberry pancakes from scratch.  (Seriously, I LOVE that man.)  So on those days, I gladly allow myself the luxury of waiting until the afternoon to be productive.

What are your plans for being more productive in the morning?

The dawn of a morning person

I love my mother.  She’s a morning person – fully awake as soon as her eyes open.  Even though half of my DNA originates from her, my circadian rhythms move to the beat of a different drum.  My mom has nearly completed her to-do list by the time my brain has figured out how to construct complete sentences instead of grunts. Frequently, I pray that those recessive genes would turn on magically and I could become super-productive before 9 AM.  Where there is a will, there is a way.  Hopefully.  Maybe.

Here’s my chance to become more efficient with my time.  Put words into action.  Generally speaking, I’ve made do, but I believe there is definitely room for improvement.

First step:  Set my goal. 

For my typical morning, it is 10 AM before I think about what I would like to get done for the day.  For some of you, that’s awful because I wasted precious time just waking up and going through the motions.  I know, sorry.

My goal is to be actively attacking my daily agenda by 9 AM, eliminating 60 minutes of unproductivity.  (Please, be patient with me.  Baby steps, here.)  The words actively attacking may seem a bit much, especially since I have more energy in the afternoon.  But here, active means that I am intentionally getting things done that contribute to my larger goals, no matter how small or mindless the task.  

Second step:  Identify the bottlenecks.

The first one is obvious:  I wake up like Frankenstein no matter how much sleep I’ve gotten that night.  Sometimes, I set my alarm 30 minutes before I need to get up to perform the ritual that is getting out of bed.  While there are possible external influences that contribute to my morning condition, such as a bad diet or poor sleep patterns, I am choosing not to focus on how I wake up.  Maybe in round 2.

Another, more approachable bottleneck is my lack of direction in the morning (when I can sometimes be seen walking like Frankenstein).  While I do have to-do lists, I don’t always have a game plan.  No plan of attack often results in working hard, but not smart.  It takes longer for me to do things because I am working in fits, moving between multiple tasks without finishing one before the next.  Furthermore, I tend use the excuse of ‘not being awake’ to not do anything of significance and dawdle at the computer.  Not so organized, right?

Third step:  Get an action plan and work it.

The plan begins the night before, where I group things on my to-do list into mindless and mindful categories.  The mindless items require little thought to complete and are a great starting point for me.  Examples are:  filing paperwork, flagging and deleting email, updating budgets, searching for new healthy recipes, defrosting items for dinner, planning afternoon workouts.  The idea is to have about 45-60 minutes worth of stuff to get done.

(If you’re curious, some of my personal goals are to try new and healthy meals, increase my aerobic threshold, and save up for our big vacation.  So, all of these mundane tasks are important in the long run!)

Next, since my brain wants to take its sweet time waking up, I decided to create a warm-up routine to get it going.  It’s super simple:  pour glass of water and drink it.  Repeat.  Empty dish drain and/or dishwasher.   Make breakfast and eat it.  Make the bed. 

Then I’m off to start attacking the mindless items on my to-do list first, followed by increasingly mindful ones. 

I’m giving myself 3 weeks to try this plan out, to see if it works.  Stay tuned!

Any other ideas I should incorporate into my plan?  What has worked for you?

A Proactive Way to Deal with Surprises

Normally, my day doesn't begin without a 'TTD' (Things To Do) List and a schedule.  If I missed an appointment or meeting, chances are that it did not make it into my planner.  In a nutshell, my life seems to make more sense if I have it all worked out in advance. So, needless to say, surprises (unless they are on my birthday) are generally not welcome in my world because they can easily disrupt my plans.

But as we all know, "surprises" are an inevitable part of life. Things USUALLY don't go our way. So over the years, I've developed an approach to flexibility that allows me to handle those surprises. It includes:

1) Learn to roll (and block) the punches.

Sometimes, we have to be ready to have our ideas and plans kicked to the curb. Honestly, this first step is all about approaching the day with the right attitude.  Realize that STUFF happens and it's okay if we get knocked off course.  Dust off your knees, try to identify the top (I usually aim for 1 or 2) things that have to be done that day and focus only completing those tasks.  Or perhaps, ditch the schedule altogether if an emergency calls for your full attention.  The only concern is if these so-called 'punches' are landing more often than not - that's when the next steps can be extremely helpful.

2) Be realistic in making your schedule.

Do not follow the methods of airlines - overbooking is not necessarily conducive to productivity. I, too, want to maximize my day and get the most out of it. However, overextending one's time can lead to missing more important things, like a friend's birthday party, your niece's soccer game, or that meeting with a potential client. The litmus test: if you secretly say to yourself "there's no way I'm going to get all of this done today" before you finish writing your list, chances are you're overbooked. And if you're overbooked, surprises can send you into a level of stress and anxiety that are not healthy from any viewpoint.

3) Add buffers to your schedule.

Consider travel time and incorporate it into your time frames so that you are not promised to be somewhere before you even have a chance to get there. Add a few minutes in your scheduled times to work on projects for unintended interruptions, like phone calls from your Mom or a surprise visit from your boss. Unless its in the same building or area, try not to schedule back-to-back appointments. So if something "unexpected" does happen, you have a bit of a cushion to rearrange and reschedule things if needed.

I hope this helps, as it has helped me gain a better understanding of my own capabilities without pulling my hair out to get there. Here's to living in an optimal condition!!!