What does it take to get a good start on the day? Meditation, a good breakfast, some goal setting and a bit of anti-email checking? If there’s one thing certain about routines, it’s that there isn’t a certain routine that fits everyone’s personality or work schedule.

So what to do? We live in a time of a million distractions a minute. One barely wakes more than a few minutes before they’re whisked across the world into people’s vacation photos and crashing news headlines. Is this healthy? Is this a good way to start the day?

Most people would agree it’s not. But the alternative is too daunting: a seemingly endless checklist of items that feels like you’re about to take off in a multi-engine aircraft. Exercise. Check. Goal setting. Check. Fruit smoothie. Spend some time sponsoring an orphanage. The truth is, most of us aren’t ready to take over the world when we first wake up.

So instead of all that, let’s create a path of least resistance. When will power is low, we need to create an environment where it’s DIFFICULT for us NOT to do what’s best for us and the upcoming day.

Let’s look at the common barriers to a quiet, productive morning. The start of our day should be like the harmonious swelling of an orchestra before the start of a symphony. Energy will be building; thoughts and ideas aligning.

ELECTRONIC HITCHING POST

Let’s imagine our internet connected gadgets like they’re little masked bandits. They sit there on our nightstands, plotting through the twilight hours, ready to whisk our still sleep-grogged minds as soon as we open our eyes. Where will they take us? We have no say in that. We’re being abducted.

Let’s take control of this situation. Don’t plug these minuscule marauders in next to your bed! Put them across the room. Put them in another room. Flip them face down. Put them on mute. Put your journal or diary on top of them. They should be the last thing you get to as you start your day.

THE MORNING ALCOVE

Now that we’ve temporarily disabled our swarm of distracting info drones, let’s talk about creating a Space. A capital ’S’ space. This space will be for you. Specially designed for you to sink into, holding a steaming cup of coffee. It needs to be easy, it needs to be close, and it needs to be comfortable.

Find yourself a nice slouchy chair. Prepare a playlist full of swelling, lyric free music (try not to use your computer for this, be wary of the kidnapping prowess of anything Connected). Have a pen and notebook nearby. Notice I’m not dictating certain things that must be accomplished during this time. Think of this as a coffee date with yourself. If that seems too cloy and cutesy, think of this as Earnest Hemingway sitting by the fire and sipping a Parisian Espresso, reading over his notes. If that seems too nostalgic and exotic, then I’m sorry, you’ll have to form your own picture.

Now make a list of everything you feel like you should accomplish in the morning. Cross out everything but the most important of those items. That’s what you’ll start out with. Maybe it will be goal setting. Maybe reading. Maybe free-thinking and jotting down ideas. Start simple, something you enjoy and will look forward to every morning.

Do it! Avoid thinking of this as a routine. This is the golden hour. This is chapter one of your day. Write down a few things you’re thankful for. Anything. It will make a difference in your outlook, I promise.

You’ve created your comfortable morning space, you’ve banished your electronics to a later hour, you’re spending some productive time with yourself. The next step is to make this a habit. A habit starts with commitment. Commitment starts with you realizing the benefits of a certain decision. If you were to commit to spending half an hour in the morning in this Space, thinking and planning, how would it benefit you right now? How would it benefit you in a year? Write these answers down. That’s your currency. Every time you feel you’re too tired, that you’d rather just drift around online in a mindless stupor, that list is what you look at. Pick yourself up, put on a fuzzy robe, splash your face with some cold water and let your mind prepare itself for the day.

Go ahead. Get your coffee ready, your chair set, a nice glowing lamp assembled and an old leather bound notebook set up. This is the start to a better day!





—T. Jara Morgan