I am not a morning person. There, I admit it. As a man, Dad, and leader, I guess I should be. I’m just not. Over the years, it may have gotten a little easier, but I’m still a zombie in the morning. I often joke around the office that I quit every morning for the first 20 minutes after my alarm goes off.
That being said, I’ve learned some things over the years about how to be a better non-morning person. Here are 3 keys…
1. Drink water first thing
This helps greatly. The first thing I do (after stopping by the bathroom) is go to the kitchen and down a bottle of water. There’s something about the cold and refreshing ability of the water that wakes me up and gives me a better outlook on life. Sometimes, I’ll drink another with my God time later too…. just depends on how I feel. Of course, coffee isn’t far behind either!
2. Go to bed when you’re tired, not at a certain time
This one sounds counter productive, but it works. Instead of telling yourself you have to go to bed early in order to be refreshed, go to bed when you get tired. There’s nothing worse than watching the clock and thinking, “I have to go to sleep now because I’ll get 7 hours.” Go to sleep when you’re tried. You’ll eventually fall into a rhythm after a few weeks of getting up early. You’ll be tired when you’re supposed to be.
3. Plan a few small tasks before big, early tasks
I’m a big fan of doing the hard and dreaded things on my task list in the morning. However, as a non morning person, I have to warm up a little. Sometimes this means that I answer a few emails first thing in the morning or outline a blog post or even clarify what I can hand off to someone else during the day. Either way, it’s me warming up. This is usually just about 20 minutes worth and then I’m in the zone and good to go on tougher tasks.
Are you a morning person? Have you tried any of these? What helps you get going in the mornings?
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