So last month I listened to "Good Morning Good Life" by Amy Landino.
Amy has an awesome YouTube channel and I've been following her for years.
Some of the productivity tips that I talk about all the time were things I first heard
on her channel like calendar blocking or learning how to make time for everything So of course
I was curious to hear what she has to say about morning routines in her new book.
In this video I'll be talking about a few of the ideas in the book that stood out to
me the most and that I believe will be useful for you in a general way, but without spoiling
the experience of reading or listening to the book by yourself.
One of the biggest cores of a balanced and productive morning routine is eliminating
decision fatigue.
Decision fatigue is that feeling you get when you lose half an hour deciding on almost meaningless
things like which cereal you'll want for breakfast or what's the color of lipstick you'll be
putting on today.
Those choices are really not that important for your overall well being that morning,
but you still spend a lot of time thinking about those things without even noticing it.
Furthermore, because you're still sleepy and trying to deal with a whole day ahead of you,
you'll take more time making those choices and will feel more frustrated when making
them.
This will make your morning much more stressful.
Eliminating your decision making time will make sure you reduce as much as possible any
lost time in the morning.
You can do this by pre-selecting a bunch of things the night before, programming an app
to decide things for you or sending valuable info to your phone, or laying out things in
the morning that will help you remember what you should be doing.
Being realistic is fundamental.
There is no such thing as a perfect morning and you will always find obstacles.
Having other people around the house will disturb the perfect flow of morning habits
you'll try to achieve and having a smartphone beeping constantly during those early hours
will achieve the same result.
The message here is that creating a balanced morning routine isn't the same as being a
morning person, or actually finding a lot of enjoyment and peace in the morning.
You should strive for something a little better, or at least more efficiency, and then give
yourself a pat on the back for it.
Don’t compare yourself to others.
Not everyone is able to start the day off with a smile.
You may be going through a hard time.
You may be sick, or worried that someone else is sick, or maybe you’ve been through a
heartbreaking experience.
If you don’t feel joy the moment you wake up, that’s fine.
You’ll get through this.
**"Planning only prepares you for what you can expect to come ahead"** but life will
always get in the way.
Even if you plan your morning by the minute, there's almost a one hundred percent guarantee
it won't go exactly like that.
The secret here is to learn how to get out of the rut and stay as consistent as is allowed
and not as consistent as you want to.
Finding at least one or two habits per morning that you need to guarantee that will happen
is a way to kickstart your morning.
These can change throughout time but will make you feel at least a little bit more accomplished,
even if you don't do anything else.
Right now, my two habits that surely happen every morning are doing my skincare routine
and taking my dog on a walk.
It can be something entirely different for you but what really matters is that you get
into a streak of always being able to complete at least one or two habits in your morning
routine before you start incorporating more activities.
And of course that the thing that will help you the most in gaining that major motivation
boost is trying to make the morning the most creative and ambition-driven part of your
day.
Amy is a true believer that you should find your passion - and by finding your passion,
you’ll find the fuel you need to be energetic in those early hours.
Learning a new skill or a new language, or working on a major project, as practical as
it can be, will work as the core of your routine - that passion will justify why you’re waking
up so early and all the other small habits will revolve around that major creative outlet
as a way to support it.
You’ll eat, go on a walk and shower because you want your body to be prepared to engage
in a creative or challenging activity; you’ll exercise, do your skincare routine or clean
your house because you want to feel your best and want to prepare the space around you accordingly
for that task.
You should also remember that planning out your morning routine in your calendar is a
good way to make sure that you’re weighing your priorities correctly.
Saying “yes” to a new event or a new task to complete is saying no to something else.
Piling up things in your schedule because you’re seeking other people’s approval
or looking forward to staying busy all the time isn’t a good way to invest your time
into a hobby or an activity that actually makes you feel like you’re developing your
skills or simply feel joyful.
That’s why it’s important to bring at least a little bit of mindfulness to your
morning through bullet journaling or morning pages *or do laundry* and simply allowing
yourself to do other more mundane tasks while being aware of what you’re doing and feeling.
Crossing tasks off your to-do list isn’t necessarily a sign of productivity or a successful
day - putting mindful thought behind that to-do list and figuring out where it gets
you headed is what will help you create a morning that ir worth waking up to.
If you feel uncertain about what you should be doing with your newly found morning time,
a creative challenge or productivity class may offer some guidance and help you discover
new topics and interests, and get you started on that side-hustle that you can do at home
and help reinforce your budget - and to get inspired and delve into thousands of courses,
there's no one out there better than Skillshare.
Skillshare allows you to learn almost anything for less than 10 dollars a month.
They have thousands of courses on management and business, productivity, photography, writing,
languages, illustration and design, music, cooking and so on.
I’ve installed a paper like screen protector on my iPad and I got so addicted to that old
feeling of drawing that ’m currently watching this class on Digital illustration and learning
how to properly work with Procreate.
Spending time doing more creative things is now part of my morning routine so getting
help developing those skills is definitely something that creates a lot of joy in my
life.
And even if you're not willing to start paying 10 dollars a month for classes, that's not
a problem because the first thousand people using my promo code will have two months of
classes for free, no strings attached.
Using this promo code also tells Skillshare that you came from my channel which is always
nice if you enjoy my content and want to keep supporting our study corner.