Those Difficult Mornings
Yesterday, we talked about making short versions of your key morning habits. These short versions will really help you out on those mornings when things are not exactly going to plan.
The example of a morning disrupted by small kids was mentioned yesterday. But there are other challenges for all of us without kids as well. Let’s take a look at those.
The late night out
It’s good and healthy to have the occasional late night out with friends. Much like the drinks you enjoy on those late nights, these are all good in moderation.
The key here is to avoid long-term disruption of your sleep pattern. Doing this requires that your late night does not become a ridiculously late night so that you can still get up early the next morning.
An early rise after a late night can be a drag, but your morning routine will make it easier. It also makes going to bed early that following evening so much more satisfying. Try it 🙂
Late night Netflix or gaming binges should be avoided. Such super-convenient addictive entertainment can turn into a self-destructive long-term habit before you know it.
Travelling
If you’re travelling for business, sticking to your morning routine in the hotel shouldn’t be too difficult. It will also strongly benefit your business meetings, making your boss happy.
If you’re travelling for holiday, I think it’s best to just do what comes naturally. If your morning routine is so deeply ingrained that it happens automatically, let it help you to beat all the lazy tourists to all the best spots and watch a few lovely sunrises. If you feel like being a lazy tourist, that’s cool too 🙂
Sleepless night
Sometimes we simply don’t sleep well. Such nights can easily send you into a vicious spiral where you sleep in, fall behind on your day, become more stressed, and have another bad night. And then another, and another…
Here, the critical thing is be break the cycle ASAP. There are two key steps: 1) getting up early even if you’ve slept badly and 2) going to bed early that evening to give yourself enough hours to win back the lost sleep.
Step 1 is the most challenging and the most critical. Those few seconds of discipline can make or break the next couple of days (or even weeks).
When you just don’t feel like it
Sometimes we’re just lazy or demotivated for no apparent reason. The first thing to do in these cases is to honestly assess whether you’ve been pushing yourself too hard.
If so, give yourself some well deserved downtime even if you feel like you can’t really afford it. Just be very careful that this relaxation does not turn into a self-destructive late night.
If there really is no excuse, doing your morning routine with increased gusto can often change your mindset. Give it a go. Just get started and see what happens 🙂
All this becomes much easier if you understand the value of the morning on a very deep level. That will be tomorrow’s topic.
See you then!