Every morning I glance at my phone to see what time it is when I wake up. I also check the temperature.
This morning an article popped up that caught my eye. “3 morning habits to help you be happier and more productive at work, according to psychologists” by Morgan Smith on CNBC.
I have an established morning routine that I have followed for years. I developed the routine while reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I journal three pages. It’s a brain dump consisting of everything that’s making me anxious, plus a to do list for the upcoming day. Then I use an app called Laudate and either read or listen to daily Bible readings followed by prayer. Last, I go for my morning walk.
It’s a routine that helps me feel grounded. I was curious what the article would say about morning routines and if my morning routine hit their three suggestions to be happier and more productive.
I’m missing the first step.
Set an intention for the day.
Your to-do list might be doing more harm than good, psychologist Jessica Jackson warns.
Checking your emails, calendar or to-do list soon after you wake up “immediately starts the day off on a stressful note, and tells your brain to go into panic mode,” Jackson, who is also the global clinical diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging manager at Modern Health, tells CNBC Make It.
Instead, Jackson recommends all of her clients start their day with an intention meditation: taking a few minutes to sit in silence, take a couple of deep breaths, and choose a single word, or sentence, to be their “north star” for the day.
“You can tell yourself, ‘My intention for today is to feel successful’ or ‘I want to be comfortable today’ and think about what you can realistically accomplish in the next 24 hours to feel that way,” Jackson explains. “It can also be a single, powerful word like ‘gratitude’ that will guide how you react to and reflect on whatever happens throughout the day.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/18/psychologists-morning-habits-to-help-you-be-happier-more-productive.html
Step two I do with my morning pages. The suggestion is to set an offline ritual and stick with it. My morning walks also fit the bill.
Step three is to have fun. I thought I was missing that also, but I play Wordle every morning. That’s my bit of fun. We realize how important recess is for kids at school, the article explained. But what do we do for fun?
What is your morning routine? Do you hit all three of the steps in the CNBC article?
My dentist told me that he had set a rule not to look at his emails till he gets to his offices.
That’s a good idea. He’s giving himself offline time.
Indeed, a great idea.
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I’ve been switching it up of late…my goal for the new year is:
1) sit on my cushion and listen to a song to welcome the day
2) drink a glass of water
3) take vitamins and drink glass of water
4)feed pets
4) check texts and emails
5) wrote the first ten things that come to my mind (I’ve been reading a Julia Cameron book on listening and it’s such bs it’s turned me off her)
6) look at schedule
7) write a post
8) go to gym
9) walk dog
Sometime the gym/dog/blog get switched up depending on the rest of my day and who’s home
I think it’s really important to know what’s up for the day as you start out…you might need to psych yourself up for something
Sometime
I like your listening to music to start the day. I may try that. Also I’ll avoid the Julia Cameron book on listening 🙃
I do not work, so the Morgan Smith’s rules do not apply. However, when If first get up, my routing starts with a porcelain trip (and so does yours, you just skipped that part), followed by a dog walk, putting on the first load of laundry, then…and this is a biggie for my morning….I log onto the net and see whose feelings I can hurt. It gets my blood flowing to send snowflakes into a tizzy before the first cup of coffee.
😂
I don’t really have a morning routine other than I usually read blogs while I watch the early news. I literally have all day open and flexibility without commitment except on my Monday science days with the grands. My routines tend to come later in the day.
It sounds like you have a quiet peaceful time to yourself in the morning. If the news doesn’t aggravate you 😊
I let the dog out for a pee and feed him breakfast, pour myself a coffee and sit on the sofa. I did The Artist Way this fall for about four weeks. Some of her questions were very helpful for me, but the spirituality and affirmations were just not my thing. I’ve continued the morning pages, though I might sometimes do fewer than three. One thing I’ve been doing is selecting an emotion from Brene Brown’s latest book, “Atlas of the Heart” and writing about it. I feel my emotional vocabulary has been deficient and this has been a good exercise. I didn’t think my brain would have anything to say in the morning (I write the most in the afternoons), but I was wrong about that and I’m glad to do something offline before checking email, news and playing Wordle (and the Spelling Bee pangram). Shower and work most days. Walk the dog.
I take what’s useful from Julia Cameron and leave what’s not alone. I’m not familiar with “Atlas of the Heart.” I’ll have to take a look.
I love Wordle! I call Cin every morning and we do it, together. So far, my max has been 39
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This is really helpful. Thank you for sharing.
I’m glad you found it helpful 😊