Getting focus, flow, and deep work has been a real freaking battle to me.
So day in day out I have been learning how to conquer my day by doing some simple and small but effective things in the early morning.
I know it!. All these things might be obvious, but sometimes we make our lives a mess because of the obvious when we bet on the complex and unknown things.
We underestimate the impact on our brain when we drink one or two glasses of water first thing in the morning.
When it comes to having a plan for today to get things done, you often use a to-do list in the best case. For sure, this was good in the past, but now this doesn’t work according to different researches.
You should write the results you want to get at the end of the day instead. It’s a more effective, motivating, and realistic way.
Those two simple prior facts are only the first ones on the list we are going to talk about through this post. So let’s jump to them right away.
The list — a quick access
If you are a busy person so you are not willing to complete the reading, or simply you don’t want to deep dive into the whys you should do all these simple but powerful things, here is a quick list.
- Drink one or two glasses of water first thing in the morning, your body and brain will thank you.
- Write down the three or five results you want to get at the end of the day. Throw away a to-do list, bet on a list-results, instead.
- Hike out or do a sort of exercise from five to ten minutes. Just walk out or stretch is enough to inject a little bit of energy into your body, and your brain will start to release dopamine.
- Go out and explore things with symmetry. You will get unexpected feelings and emotions.
- Nourish your body and mind with sunlight.
- Clean up your workspace.
So there you have!. Yet if you are like me, who like to go deeper and make a better understanding of why I should do those things in the morning, come with me to enjoy the reading together.
Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning
Photo by Johnny McClung on Unsplash
I usually wake up around 4:30–6:00 every day. After I defeat the zombie sleepy mode, I wash my face and go to grab a glass of water.
After I researched the benefits of this, I forced myself to stick to that small but powerful action as part of my early morning ritual.
Since then, I have been doing it, so now it works in autopilot mode. Of course, in the beginning, it was hard, but I stuck gradually to that habit.
By drinking a glass of water, you are protecting and rehydrating your body.
Our body is ~70% of comprised water. So, as you might guess, it needs it. We need to drink an essential amount of it since it is also vital, so the body needs it to produce enough of it.
I started out drinking one glass of water, but I suggest you if you want not only to drink one but two glasses to rehydrate your brain faster and better.
Remember, you come from being sleeping from around 6 to 8 hours with no water consumption.
Takeaway
The most important part of drink water first thing in the morning is the fact that your brain is fueled to keep an optimal activity and to increase the neurons’ connections.
Your daily productive will be affected by the level of hydration in your body and brain. So drink a glass of water should be the first action to a daily hydration routine and this will be crucial of how you conquer your day.
Write a top result list — not a to-do-list
Provided by the author: A TO-DO LIST
A to-do list gives you what to do, but it avoids the most important thing — what you are going to get by doing it.
One of the problems of a to-do list is that it will make you frustrated when you realize you cannot complete them.
According to this Harvard Business Review article, to-do lists don't work.
I have been using the to-do list since I have memory. But most of the time they didn't work. I don’t know if this only happens to me, but I dare to say that you have experienced this sad story too.
Having said that, I learned that the most productive and successful persons don’t use a to-do list; they write results they want to get for the day.
Let’s look at this next simple comparison, so you can have a better understanding of what I am talking about.
TO-DO-LIST
- Make 20 cold calls.
TOP-Priority-Result List
- Get my first client
As you can see, the to-do list tells you what to do but what really matters is the outcome of doing it. You will make 10, 15, 20, or more calls but the goal is to get your first client no matter how many calls it going to take you.
Work out or moves for 5 minutes
Working out and moves create emotions. Your body and brain feed on emotions to work at a high level — Author
I know it now, everybody has an ideal environment to either workout or even just walk. I am one of those. This is understandable.
But I have to say it. This is just another excuse. I live in a small house in the countryside, you can’t imagine how difficult is to work out either inside or out.
The street is too narrow that barely you will see a sidewalk, so it’s dangerous to run or walk there. There are not several places to exercise like gyms, soccer fields, or sport centers, just to name a few.
I have been working out for several months in my small house using anything I already have.
So let’s stop making more excuses and let’s jump into the powerful benefits you are missing by not working out or movements in the early morning.
The first one is that your brain stays more active all day. It’s a really powerful mind game in your favor. You will feel it just after you cross from a passive to an active mode.
Also, moves in the morning make you feel happier. You will get the number of endorphins to get started with good vibes.
Go out and explore things with symmetry
Photo by Who’s Denilo ? on Unsplash
Before jumping into the working out routine, I usually go to the courtyard and look at things with symmetry. I have discovered fascinating things and incredible emotions.
I like the trees with the same form and proportions, the way the bricks are aligned and how their lines and shapes are connected, how plants are organized in the garden, the wall details, and ornaments, etc.
That small action set me in a relaxed mental state. It releases a sense of ordering and calm. It makes me feel connected and focused.
That gives me an entire feeling of control and balance in all the areas of my life — professional, personal, social.
Nourish your body and mind with sunlight
Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash
Impact your mental and physical health by getting sunlight.
I remember the slow recovery process after I broke one of my arms while playing soccer. I read a bunch of things about how to get better than fast as possible.
One of the things that caught up my attention was the sunlight-5-to-15-minutes routine that experts suggest healing bones faster and make them stronger.
Every single morning for two months straight, I went out for 15 minutes to get sunlight. It helped me a lot. It speeded the recovery process up. Now it helps me more to conquer my day.
Sunlight not only helps your bones by creating vitamin D, it also stimulates your brain to make serotonin and decrease the excess of melatonin.
By getting exposed to sunlight early in the morning will also help you a better sleep. Some research has shown that it is helping people get to sleep at night.
Clean up and make a tidy workspace
Whenever I read something related to the benefits behind cleaning up the workspace — my sacred space, I was so skeptical. I didn’t believe that a such small action has any impact on my productivity and how I achieve things during the day.
That skepticism ended up once I started to do it for several days. I started off to see how a tidy work environment impacts my mind and hence my productivity. I felt more focused, motivated, and committed to whatever I had to do.
Having said that, it proves what research has shown. A cluttered workspace can negatively affect your stress and emotions.
Summing things up
Conquer your day means to get focus, deep work, and flow during the day.
That is a matter of doing simple, obvious, and small things in the early morning.
One of them is drinking one or two glasses of water first thing in the morning. This will impact how your brain will work.
You will see a different outcome if you throw away the old-school to-do list and starting off creating a result-list, instead.
Moves and exercise create emotions. Make sure you do this for at least 5 minutes every single day.
I hope this post turned out helpful for you. See you in the next piece.