Early bird or night owl? Find the best ways to conserve your energy and keep a balance through your day. There’s lots of research to prove that morning is a vital time to “prime your pump” for the day ahead.
Meditate? Journal? Read? Exercise? You choose.
The key is to do something every morning that ignites your day. The best is to do what makes you feel ready to meet the challenges ahead of you.
Whether you jump out of bed ready to get going or yawn and click the snooze button for that extra 15 minutes, it all has to do with your circadian rhythm. That internal biological clock definitely has a hold on you.
What time of day were you born?
I always ask my coaching clients what time they were born. It has become an interesting non-scientific study and what I have found is that those born in the wee hours of the morning do tip toward the early bird scale while those who came into this world later in the day have a bit of night owl in them.
Regardless, most studies show that Benjamin Franklin had a powerful point saying “Early to bed and early to rise makes a “wo/man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
Here is a pick and choose list, and if you can do at least four from this list of fifteen, you are on your way to a more effective and positive day ahead. And that means, being able to handle disappointments and conflicts with more grace and ease also.
- Stay in bed for an extra 5 minutes. Think about someone you want to acknowledge in person, by phone, email or text during the day. Just one person will be enough to “rev your engine” of appreciation.
- Change hands every day when you brush your teeth. This keeps you alert so that you do not fall into a traditional pattern of always doing the same thing the same way and will light up your creativity center.
- Read a poem or verse from a spiritual text. This will give you a larger view of what you are about and what really matters underneath the daily grind.
- Listen to music while you are getting dressed. Make it either classical, inspirational or sing along. Hint: anything by Mozart, Gregorian chants or some Beetle songs seem to make a big difference in creating inner harmony for the day.
- Stand on a stone. Find a large enough pond stone that you can put under your foot, then change feet. This is a way of grounding you to keep you connected with the earth. Even if you are in a high rise apartment this will give you a great feeling of those childhood days of running around barefoot outside feeling footloose and free.
- Push against the wall. Sorta like exercise. Hands on the wall and push as hard as you can. You will feel better as you wake up your body. However, there is another purpose. See, in your mind’s eye, you pushing the wall out beyond its boundaries. Imagine it moving an inch, a foot, a yard. Take that with you though the day, you are a mover and shaker!
- Have a smoothie. Yes, become like Bill Clinton (and you know how great he looks). He “smoothies” everyday so I’m told. You can do kale/blueberries/coconut milk and some ginger and feel amazing. Lots of recipes on line.
- Pass on the coffee. Green tea can give you a buzz if that is what you need and it is friendlier to your gut.
- Write in a journal. This is another 5 minute process. Take the time to put down random thoughts or the top three to-do points that come to you spontaneously. Don’t sit and stew about this, just write and let it go, as the song suggests.
- Smile at your family (or yourself if you are alone). Just the act of moving your lips into an upward position sets lots of internal hormones into action that defeat negative stress. Not in a smiley mood? Fake it till you make it.
Pick and choose and get your day off to a better start. Experiment. Do some one day and see how you feel and think. Get into your own groove.
Let me know if there are others you think are good. These have been a mainstay for me even before I get in the car and start my phone calls.
And, these even work well on weekends and on vacation to keep you centered and ready for whatever the day has in store.
Originally published at Inc