An Exceptional year starts with having an exceptional day, which means starting your mornings right. Instead of recommending 4am yoga sessions and an hour of Sudoku all before breakfast – here are some easy to implement changes which will help get your day off to the right start.
Phones are the absolute worst thing to have in your room at night. Maybe it’s just me, but while setting my alarm, a Facebook notification might pop up or a whatsapp from my buddy, and before I know it I’ve robbed myself of at least half an hour of sleep.
Seriously. It’s been scientifically proven that making your bed gives you a feeling of accomplishment- what better way to start the day than by feeling you’ve already achieved something? It also encourages you to be neater (ie more organized) and lowers your stress because by de-cluttering your space you are also de-cluttering your mind. It also makes a huge difference to your state of mind when you can come home after a long day and you’re able to get into a made bed. If you had a disaster of a day, or didn’t really achieve everything you needed to… hey, at least you made your bed!
It’s the more civilized equivalent of having a bucket of water thrown over you, and it really does help to freshen you up and wake your senses. It sounds so simple, but instead of taking 15 minutes just to wake up, it helps get you moving right away.
Breakfast shouldn’t be negotiable, after all it’s the meal that kick starts your energy levels for the day. We say eat it outside because most blogs of this nature will tell you to go outside and meditate for half an hour every morning… and while we all would love to strive towards that, this is all about making simple changes that you’ll be able to stick to. So for now – take 10 minutes to meditate over that slice of toast, take long sips of coffee, and soak up the morning sunshine!
Once you’re out the front door, don’t “ease into your day”. Checking your emails is not work. Make it your mission in life to nail that one big task first! If the things you dread are conquered by lunch time, you’ve got the rest of the day to sail through everything else, without anything hanging over your head.