How to Reclaim Your Morning and Rock Your Day!

How to Reclaim Your Morning and Rock Your Day by Cathy Jacob at CathyJacob.com

Does your day feel out of control before you get out of bed in the morning? Does the incessant dinging of your smartphone get your heart pumping faster than a morning run? Do you find you’re staring down 500 emails before you’ve even gotten out of your jammies.

If the first 30 to 60 minutes of your morning adds stress rather than reducing it; depletes rather than fuels you; makes you feel like a failure rather than confident and in control, it’s time for a new relationship with mornings.

Don’t let anyone tell you there is one right way to begin your day.

Consider this:

  • Novelist, Patricia Highsmith, started her day with a swig of vodka that she kept conveniently beside her bed;
  • Composer, Franz Listz, rose every morning at 4 and went to church before beginning a day of work;
  • Benjamin Franklin liked to “air bathe”, sitting naked in his chambers for the first hour of his workday.

I found these examples in an entertaining book by Mason Currey called Daily Rituals, which examines the morning routines of over 150 famous artists, thinkers, philosophers, and scientists of the last 400 years. What the book illustrates in these varied, fascinating, and sometimes bizarre rituals is that successful morning routines are as varied as the individuals themselves. And that when applied consistently, they seem to result in good work.

If you’re tired of having your day spin out of control before you’ve had your breakfast, here are 5 strategies to reclaim your morning and help you rock the day.

1) You do you.
Are you a religious adherent to the adage, no pain no gain? Have you secretly yearned to join the Navy Seals? And be honest here, do you get a little jolt of pleasure from inflicting pain on your body?

If this is you, your ideal ritual might include a 4:00 a.m. alarm, followed by 100 push-ups and a loud “Boo-Yah” as you step in front of an ice-cold shower. You’ll never be welcome anywhere near my morning, but hey, if that’s your jam…

If your first few morning moments are more akin to a bear emerging from hibernation and it’s unsafe to be within 10 meters of you before you’ve had your morning coffee, a more gentle and slow beginning to your day might be in order. Think yummy, luxurious, and pampering – some light stretching or yoga or a morning walk in the sunlight.

Or is your typical morning a trail of poopy diapers, cereal food fights, and nuclear temper tantrums?  In this case, consider a routine that includes a slow pee, deep breaths, and noise- canceling headphones playing soothing tunes behind a locked bathroom door.

Morning rituals work better when they work with you, your preferences, and your circumstances. 

2) Start the night before.
Take a few minutes at the end of the day to put up some guardrails for your whiney and weak morning self. Make decisions the night before or develop rules for yourself that eliminate the need for decisions.

Choices offer too many exit ramps off your commitments to yourself. Establish a ritual that allows you to press play and repeat.

Your morning self will thank you.

3) Don’t let your morning self near your smartphone!
Nothing will unravel a productive morning faster than answering that one text or checking that email that just came in. Stay out of that rabbit hole, Alice! Keep your phone away from your bed (I keep mine in a cabinet by the front door). 

Put your phone and other devices on Do Not Disturb until a pre-appointed hour when you are ready to engage with the world (the later the better). If you need to, let your colleagues know that you’ll be offline until a particular time and encourage them to do the same. Counter to your organization’s culture? Stay with me.

In an experiment conducted by Harvard Business School Professor, Leslie Perlow, she convinced executives at Boston Consulting Group to allow employees in one of their teams to completely unplug for one day a week during the workweek. The results? “Consultants found more enjoyment in their work, better communication among themselves, more learning” and “a better product delivered to the client.” (Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success ina Distracted World by Cal Newport, (p. 57).)

4) Start small and make it easy.
I know people (okay me) who were so obsessive about creating the perfect morning ritual that it took three hours to complete. Short and sweet is the ticket. And forget perfect, go for workable.

The key thing to remember is that success depends on creating conditions for yourself to succeed. Find ways to take the decision-making and hassle out of the process. For example, if you choose to start your day with 20 minutes of yoga, think through the steps to make that happen and eliminate steps, decisions, and barriers to just doing it. Maybe you always wear the same outfit; maybe your yoga mat and yoga video are all set up ahead of time, the fewer obstacles between you and that 20 minutes of yoga, the more likely you are to make it routine.

5) Try not to miss twice in a row.
What I can say from experience is that as soon as you commit to a morning ritual, life will conspire to throw up obstacles. Think of these setbacks as an opportunity to build your perseverance and recovery skills.

When you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up. Don’t dwell at all. Simply commit that tomorrow you will begin again.

The big benefit of a consistent morning routine is its intentionality. There is something about beginning each day on your terms that signals to your inner self that you are in charge. Does it mean that the universe will magically align and deliver everything your heart desires? Not likely. In fact, the rest of the day may unravel the moment you pick up your phone. What it does do is get you off to a quality start and that is the first step to building greater agency in your life overall.

Cathy Jacob

I'm Cathy Jacob. I am a writer, coach and co-founder of Fire Inside Leadership. After two decades of coaching leaders on how to inspire while navigating the challenges of demanding careers and lives, I’ve created this site to share the best of what I’ve learned from my courageous clients and leaders in the fields of psychology, leadership, philosophy and neuroscience on what it takes to live an inspired life.

4 Comments

  1. Vanessa McBay on January 30, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    Hi Cathy, great blog. I’m going to try and set up my morning routine that sets me up for a successful day. I’ve been thinking about this so your advice is timely.

    • Cathy Jacob on February 4, 2022 at 7:24 pm

      Thanks Vanessa. So glad the timing worked. Let me know how it’s going.

  2. Andrea Anderson on February 4, 2022 at 8:00 pm

    Weak and whiney morning self…. does that ever describe me. And you’re absolutely right, I get even more petulant if my morning routine gets jigged. Like this morning. No power. No hot water. No boot camp. But I did have the coffee that I had made last night and put in a thermos in anticipation of a power outage…..at least THAT did not suck. And seemingly, it helped my little bratty morning self get over herself. Your blog just affirmed for me the importance of my routine, the little morning rituals I have, and I am now thinking about additional decision points to make in advance so as not to be distracted from getting into my big girl pants for the day!

    • Cathy Jacob on February 7, 2022 at 7:07 pm

      Lol! I love this, Andrea. Nothing like a power outage to throw you off your game. Glad you got the coffee, at least.

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