How to Motivate Your Mornings
We all know that working from home has its perks – no commuting to work, more autonomy over your day, no limitations on what you can and can’t eat in the communal lunchroom, the list goes on. But there are also a fair amount of challenges. Like, how do you drag yourself out of bed any earlier than 10 minutes before you have to log into the computer when you don’t have to commute an hour or more? How do you stay focused on your day-job when your house chores are staring you right in the eye? How do you separate your day and be productive while your partner or children, or pets (or all of the above) are screaming for your attention? In this series, we’re going to cover all of those topics and so much more!
So first, let’s start with the most important – how can you get motivated to start your workday when you work from home? It is so easy to fall into a lax routine when you’re working from home. You don’t necessarily need to get ready right away because you’re not going to see anyone so what’s the point anyway, right? Not so much.
Go to Bed Early!
This one seems like a no-brainer but is so much harder in reality. You have so many other things demanding your attention that it seems like there just aren’t enough hours in the day! Well, honestly there just aren’t. But staying up until 2am trying to get everything done just makes you more exhausted for the next day and even more likely that you’ll actually have to re-do and fix some of the things you did when you couldn’t see straight. So take yourself to bed with enough time to get at least 6 hours of good sleep. You’ll be more productive the next day and it will be easier to get up when the alarm hits in the morning.
Get Cleaned Up!
I’m not saying you have to set your alarm 3 hours before your workday starts – but you still need to give yourself enough time to properly wake-up. Take a hot shower or freshen yourself up and put on clean clothes. I’m not talking about a three-piece power suit, but a fresh pair of leggings or joggers and a clean basic tee go a long way!
Eat Something!
Whether you’re a coffee or tea drinker, most of us need that little pick-me-up in the morning, so make sure you are giving yourself not just time to make a cup but to actually enjoy it. How many times are you stuck re-warming your coffee or just drinking it old and cold because you got wrapped up in another task? By indulging in that little caffeine hug you’re doing more than just going through the motions each morning and are also likely to drink less than usual when you play the top-up game. But don’t forget to partner this with a glass of water and some breakfast! Some rye toast and a scrambled egg are a great little energy booster and take all of 3 minutes to make so a win-win there! If you’re not much of a breakfast person – a smoothie or a protein shake is a great starter to get your brain moving and get you over the hump until lunch.
Get Started!
Now you’re ready to dig into your day! The best way to start is to go through any new emails and voicemails so you can respond to anything that’s urgent. From there it will be easier to prioritize your day – especially since you won’t still be half asleep or struggling to answer emails and have a bite to eat and sips of burnt or cold coffee – or my personal favourite, cold, burnt coffee.
Getting into a good routine does take a minute – or 21 days’ worth of minutes to be exact. But I’m betting that by the end of the first week you’ll already notice a difference! You’ll have more energy at the beginning of each day and will even have more productivity and alertness thanks to it. You can start this slow if you aren’t able to go cold turkey. Start by setting your alarm 20 minutes before you normally do, and then go 20 minutes earlier than that and so on until you’ve hit that magic number that lets you get yourself together and ready to tackle your day! You got this!
