Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Habits and discipline make our lives worthwhile. Dedicating our lives to our work or a purpose and building a lifestyle around it comes naturally to humans. But, balancing all of this with a pandemic wasn't easy at all. Even though the concept of work-from-home seemed appealing initially, as the time-phased, all was not merry. We found ourselves on the Ancient Mariner's ship stuck in the middle of a sea, waiting to sail again. And while we waited, we forgot the importance of discipline, and our routine slipped away. Today, we will look at six morning habits that can help you come to terms with the ongoing situation and make working from home a lot easier.
Before COVID, the lifestyle of most employees revolved around their office hours. Right from the time to wake up in the morning to plan some personal work. Our office schedules and business deadlines consciously or unconsciously drove our lives. Until one day, we simply ceased going to office. Not only the office, but we also weren't going anywhere thanks to the outbreak of the highly-contagious virus. Our lives, as we knew it, came to a halt. At first, we believed it to be a temporary phase and thought this too shall pass. Little did we know, everything outside and within us will change forever.
To compensate for our stress levels, we allowed ourselves to sleep a little more, eat a little more, binge watch a little often, and do everything to stay centered; Without being aware of these habits' ill effects. Resultantly, we allowed our mixed emotions to guide us through-out the day and impact the way we work. It altered our commitment towards work, and we found ourselves forgetting tasks, procrastinating, or pushing deadlines as per our disposition.
However, it is not late to re-look at the daily routine and change the pattern, to change our lives. You may consider this article a reminder to do the same and, if need be, print and stick the following morning rituals to set the tone of the days as per your will.
1. Hitting the snooze button – Sleeping does have a great effect on your body and so does waking up at the right time. What do we mean here? Our body & mind follows a pattern of falling asleep. It passes through 5 different stages, where REM is a deep sleep mode. This happens several times throughout the night. To quote a medical site, "Most dreams occur during REM sleep, and it is thought to play a role in learning, memory, and mood." By virtue of the circadian rhythm intrinsic to humans, our alarm generally blares at the end of a sleep cycle. Hitting snooze is like preparing the body to start yet another sleep cycle, to finally wakeup in the middle of the REM stage when the second alarm blares. This ends up sending a shock to your entire body and mind.
In short, hitting the snooze button transports you into a distorted sleep cycle, and you wake up feeling irritated, lazy and rushed. Not to mention, sometimes with just 5 minutes to spare between you waking up and that scheduled team call.
2. Checking your phone, first thing in the morning – While you may find yourself addicted to directly check your phone notifications right after switching off the alarm, it is not healthy for your brains. As per medical experts, checking your phone first thing in the morning leads you towards distractions and can cause anxiety.
Checking multiple messages, notifications, etc., is like allowing external stimuli to capture your attention to start your day as per the agenda of others. Your own plans take a back seat. Instead, you must keep the internet off in your phone until you have made yourself comfortable in your skin. Ideally, devote your first waking hour doing something that rejuvenates your mind and body.
In fact, checking your phone the last thing before sleeping has a negative impact too. The blue light emitted via a phone’s screen influences melatonin, the hormone responsible for a healthy sleep cycle. Blue light can also damage your retinas. So how can you break this pattern? You can engage your mind to plan your next day. It will not only help you maintain a healthy sleep cycle but save you from feeling rushed the next day. Let’s discuss this in detail in the next point.
3. Planning your day – It is not a good idea to plan your day after waking up. While you may feel it is obvious to wake up and start planning your day but know that the plan you are making is impacted by how you feel after waking up and not what ought to be done.
The ideal planning routine
First, it is crucial to plan your day a night before. This will save you time the following morning and allow your body and mind to get into the flow as per the plan already set for the day.
Second, to set the day rolling, you just need quickly run through the plan you made last night, tweak it if need be and kick-start your day!
4. Not Skipping breakfast – After 6-8 hours of sleep, your body needs fuel to work through the day. Skipping breakfast impacts your brain function and limits your abilities, both mental and physical. Since all physical activities are a result of a complex process of neuron communication. Our body’s inability to effectively carry-out this communication process impacts how clearly, quickly and thoroughly we can think and respond. You may find yourself committing many mistakes or a victim of mismanagement if you have been irregular with your breakfast schedule.
It is ideal to eat breakfast before you start working. Eating meals, breakfast or lunch, while checking emails or attending team calls is doing both things only halfway, whether or not you realize it.
5. Stretching your body – Small acts of moving and stretching your muscles go a long way. Spending at least 10-15 minutes every day to perform basic body stretches can have a magical effect on your mind and body. Stretching can activate your body’s natural reward system leading you to “feel good” post optimal level of exercising. Another benefit of indulging in stretching is stealing some time out the day you can claim as the “me time.” It allows you to clearly demarcate the energy you put for yourself and also for your work afterwards. It is especially important if you feel that all you do through the day is your office work and that there is no other reason for you to live. So, dedicate some time to move your muscles to feel happy, healthy and in control of your body.
6. Rising early – Yes, we know it is a cliché, but let's face it – (1) It affects our mood and health positively and (2) most humans need a constant reminder on this! When it was about commuting to office, people were following a mechanical pattern. But now, when you are saving on the commuting time, it has become a norm for most people to wake up just before the business's opening hours. However, rising early impacts your mind and body whether or not you have to go somewhere. You will notice your productivity level, focus, and energy go up if you a serial early riser. It also makes you calmer than before, allowing you to come up with creative solutions to solve any challenge quickly.
Need help in how to resume waking up early? – Start waking up 10 minutes before the time you woke up the earlier day. Keep doing this until you have found an ideal time to wake up.
Conclusion
Our minds and bodies continue to learn, develop and grow in their abilities. Therefore, keeping a tab on daily routine shapes our lives and impacts how successful we can be at work. While work-from-home allows you to manage office work as per your energy levels, it is essential to check your habits to live and work effectively. Here, balance is pivotal, wherein you are the centre. We are past the phase of "may the force be with you", and now you are the force! And you impact everything around you. The morning rituals we discussed in this article will help you stay focused and rediscover your commitment to your work and career goals.
This article was originally published on PERSOLKELLY India blog here
