Yesterday I stumbled across an article detailing a roughly 30 minute process for starting your day successfully which I decided to try out. The premise of the article was that by starting with the right kind of basic activities your day would go better and it detailed a process that psychologists and/or other researchers have found to be very effective for many people. One of the keys they stressed was to not get sucked into your phone when the day begins by answering emails, checking the news, playing games, etc – in short, being reactive or falling into a rut rather than being intentional to start the day. Here is the process it outlined for when you wake up:
- 2 minutes of positive affirmations about how today is or is going to be a great day
- 5 minutes of prayer or meditation with gratitude focus
- 5 minutes of journaling or (less recommended) listening to a recording of your positive affirmations
- 5 minutes of listing what needs to be done today
- 10 minutes of connecting with family
The positive affirmations don’t feel natural to me but I’ll try them. The prayer is something I want to do but have rarely been consistent doing. The journaling in the morning runs counter to how I have always thought about journaling (do it at the end of the day to write about the day) but it’s worth trying this way. Listing what needs to be done sounds wise. Connecting with family sounds good except that nobody wakes up within half an hour of me waking up so that might not work.
I’m hoping that following this routine as much as possible plus adding regular morning exercise will upgrade my whole life.
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