It’s no secret that I lean more toward being a night owl.
In fact, I’ve spent years convinced that I should wait for my late night second wind to get my best work done. Hence I’ve spent a few decades working and studying while the house sleeps, often awake into the wee hours of the morning.
Of course this has meant rarely have I been bright-eyed and bushy-tailed much before 8am (and that was on a good day).
I’ve craved long sleep ins, and before I had my babes-in-arms my aim was to stumble out of bed closer to lunchtime on the weekends.
Once those babes came though my nocturnal habits got even worse. I even began putting things off throughout the day, with a crazy plan to stay up late and work uninterrupted while they all slept.
This has been my well-worn path and one I follow easily when under pressure, even though I know it doesn’t allow me to show up as the best version of me, let alone think and perform at my best.
You see, when I wake up groggy and cranky, lacking enough sleep, it only serves to make my day seem hard and heavy even before my feet hit the ground.
And worst of all, if I’ve over slept and waited to the very last-minute to get up I usually don’t have time to prepare myself emotionally and mentally for the day ahead.
You know the drill…. alarm goes off, you hit snooze, again and again until you can’t hit snooze anymore. Now you’re panicked, you’re running behind and heaven forbid if something goes wrong or a kids loses a shoe you’ll lose it before you’ve even left the house.
Somehow your time seems to be getting gobbled up by an invisible time monster and your cup of tea has gone cold on the bench.
The rest of the day gets lost to a thousand things you can’t recall, amidst a haze of busyness as you struggle along trying to keep up.
Once again you contemplate staying up late to try to catch up. (rinse and repeat over and over)
“What will it take for me to get some rest, time for me and have an ease filled day?” you whisper, maybe not too silently.
The solution, and there is one, starts by choosing carefully how you begin each day.
I now dedicate the first 30 minutes of most days to essential and life changing actions that I know support me.
How, you ask? Well I go to bed earlier so I can get up earlier, and trust me this has gotten easier now my days run more smoothly. In fact I’m often relaxing, list checked off, sipping herbal tea and covered in relaxing essential oils well before bedtime.
The first 30 minutes of my day are devoted to sacred self-care actions like meditation, journaling, stretching, reading, silently, sitting with nature (even if that is with a squawking kookaburra), yoga, walking the dog and quietly considering my long-term vision and daily intentions.
I vary the routine, nothing is carved in stone. Currently its 10 minutes of meditation, followed by 5 minutes of gentle stretches, I then read aloud my monthly intention and prioritise my day in my planner.
After that I’m good to go…
My morning routine is designed to set an emotional tone for my day and focus my attention and energy on what matters most to me….. well before the world begins to make its own demands.
This means no phone, email or social media until I have completed my routine and planned out my day.
If you never have time for you. If you’re feeling rushed, overwhelmed and like life’s current is dragging you along faster than you can keep up, then maybe start dedicating the first half hour of each day to you.
What you choose to do in this sacred time is up to you, (that feels good already doesn’t it?)
The secret is to spend the time on powerful actions that will support you to show up and perform at your very best. The rest is up to you.
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