Start Your Day Out Right!

Have you ever wished that you had more hours in the day?

Have you ever been frustrated by the fact that no matter how you rearranged your activities, you still ran out of day before you got to the end of your list?

Have you ever taken vacation days so that you could get caught up on your work?

I’ve experienced the first two, and while I was in the US Air Force I saw others do the third. Typically they would say, “I’m here, but I’m not here.”

If that’s not an oxymoron, I don’t know what is.

I’ve written and rewritten a schedule more times than I can count, and it’s gotten to the point where I’m almost afraid to take the time to do it again because I’m almost certain that something will happen that prevents me from getting through the first day, never mind the whole week.

Have you ever reached that point?

If so, then I have a suggestion which I hope will help you.

 

Before we get to it, let’s back up for a minute.

When you turn on your computer, what’s the first thing you look at? Or when you get up in the morning, what are you doing with your phone?

What I’ve discovered is that precious time is lost by early morning distractions.

• Checking email
• Visiting Facebook or other social media
• Reading the news

And none of those things is bad in and of themselves. But the problem is timing. When you make them a priority, it can throw off everything else you do in the day.

What I’m saying is that you have to discipline yourself to start the day out right.

One of the most effective ways I’ve found to do this is to change the Home Page on my browser.

What’s your Home Page?

Is it your Inbox?

Is it social media?

Is it your favorite news website, or something else?

All of these, in one form or another, are entertainment, and as you know from your own experience, it’s all too easy to move from one thing to the next with your morning coffee. Before you know it, you’re rushing out the door for work because you’ve lost time that could have been better spent doing something else.

I’m speaking from experience. I’ve done this. And when I deviate from the plan, the same thing happens to me.

 

My Home Page is Google’s Calendar. Maybe you use something else or nothing at all. I recommend that you use something and make it your Home Page. That way, when you open your browser, the first thing you’ll see is what you have scheduled yourself to do for that day.

It will be a mental trigger to help you start your day out right.

 

This is a habit that you need to develop. You’ll have to do this every day for a couple of months in order for it to become routine; and anytime that you allow yourself to slip back into your former habits – checking your email, reading social media, and so on, whether it’s on your computer or your phone – you’ll reinforce the neural pathways that have prevented you from changing thus far.

If you want to start your day out right, then you need to do what’s right.

Only you can decide what that is; but recognize that whether you change your routine or not, that is a decision.

It’s up to you to choose the one that works for you.