How to Start The Day Motivated | Give Yourself A Head Start Every M...

You wake up in the morning, laze around in bed, ruminate over what you did the previous day and think about planning your day ahead - but only after you have had your fill of coffee. I know it sounds familiar even though you may not admit it so easily. The truth is, daily motivation becomes easy if you work on it first thing in the morning. When you can start your day with a high level of motivation, why start motivating yourself later in the day?

Let me give you an example from my personal experience. Ever since I changed my schedule and started the day with physical activity I have found that it charges me up wonderfully for the entire day. A few minutes after my morning ablutions, I have a cup of tea and a slice of bread to give me some energy. Then I am quite set for any activity, whether it is work or exercise.

The first activity for my morning is always a jog for at least an hour. Actually it is a mix of a walk plus a slow run, since a continuous run tends to hurt my feet, with a muted pain through the day(I'm getting old!). I measure my run with a free app called Runkeeper which gives me various statistics about my activity. It also gives me some encouragement with a voice prompt every few minutes or after certain distances.

It makes my morning walk/jog interesting to say the least and also a encourages me to do better and improve the statistical averages every time - although I churn out similar figures every day. This one hour pumps up my adrenaline for the day, enough to keep me in good spirits. The oxygen intake and blood circulation during the run also clear up my mind and ensures a sharp brain ready to tackle any mental task thrown at it. The best part about the morning exercise is that it makes me feel supple and energetic throughout the day until the evening.

You don't really have to go for a run in the morning or even a walk per se, though an outdoor physical activity would be highly preferable. The fresh air outdoors is certainly rejuvenating in the morning. But I can imagine the plight of those who stay in very cold parts of the world where it may be snowing several days in a year. I myself would stay indoors if it snows where I live.

I am just lucky to be living in a warmer part of the globe where going for a jog in the morning is possible throughout the year. The winter months do have a cold nip in the air but a few minutes of a jog or brisk walk makes me forget the cold.

If you would like to stay indoors you can take up yoga as a daily activity or you can also use a treadmill to do some walking or running. I have seen YouTube videos of people doing workouts at home which is also not a bad idea. Buying a treadmill or a cross trainer for the home is a very wise investment. As they say, health is wealth. Not to forget how much you may end up spending on medicines in the long term if you're unwell due to poor health.

Let's move on - have a list of things to do ready in the morning. Spend a few minutes each night before going to bed to note down 3 to 5 things that you must get done the next day. Not more than 5 in any case. The thing is, if you list down too many things you will spend more time trying to choose what you need to do first and then next, and chances are you will not complete much when the day is over.

Most people don't know exactly what tasks to do during the day and in what order. They decide as the day unfolds - no wonder they are not able to accomplish much! Having a list ready every single day banishes that feeling of being lost forever.

Go one step ahead and list the tasks out in the order that you will do them. A great idea would be to list the toughest task first. This would mean that as you complete each task you will be going from tough tasks to the easy ones. You will feel really good by the time you have finished your tasks.

Don't forget to take breaks and refresh yourself. Trying to finish all the tasks for the day at a single stretch may cause a burnout if you do it for several days. Your motivation will drop in the long term. Spread the tasks out so that you have a break in between tasks. I follow the Pomodoro technique which works in slots of 25 minutes with a 5-minute break, for a total of 2 or 3 hours at a time. I find that it works well for me.

If you follow these simple tips you will find that you look forward to each day, filled with motivation and energy.

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