How To Set Yourself Up For Success
It always baffles me how people fail to plan ahead.
It just makes sense to me that if you MUST to be somewhere, work, school, wherever, at 8:00 a.m. that you should start thinking about it before you go to bed the night before. And, unless it’s the first day of school or your first day on the job, you go to those places all the time so it’s not a surprise that you have to be somewhere early in the morning.
Yet, too many days start like this:
- 5:30 a.m. 1st alarm
- 5:39 a.m. 2nd. alarm
- 5:48 a.m. 3rd alarm
- 5:57 a.m. 4th alarm
- 6:06 a.m. 5th alarm, usually followed by some kind of mumbled whining as you stumble out of bed
- 6:07 a.m. Decide that some dry shampoo will work for today and no one will notice if you skip shaving, again.
- 6:09 a.m. Reset alarm for 6:45 and curl back under the blankets
- 6:15 a.m. 6th alarm! You forgot to turn off your other five backup alarms. Spend the next five minutes doing that. Get a social media notification before you finish and spent the next 45 minutes scrolling your favorite site.
- 7:05 a.m. Let out a few curse words when you suddenly realize you are late.
- 7:06 a.m. Pull the third outfit out of your closet and remember the heel for the shoes that match it broke last week, finally settle on the first outfit you considered because it’s really not THAT wrinkled. Rush through your hair and makeup, don’t notice that you only put in one earring.
- 7:30 a.m. Stuff a donut into your mouth and rinse it down with some water because you don’t have time to make coffee.
- 7:35 a.m. Begin your Daily Hunt For Your Keys, finally find them in the couch cushions. For the 5,000th time vow to find a designated place for them when you get home tonight.
- 7:45 a.m. Leave for your 20 minute drive to work, break more than a few traffic laws.
- 8:03 a.m. Arrive at work and manage to clock in just 16 seconds before the end of the 5 minute grace period, proud of yourself for beating yesterday’s record of 14 seconds.
- 8:05 a.m. Greet everyone in the office as you walk to your desk, offering to make a drink run in about an hour because you really need some coffee today.
Clearly not the best way to start a day.
What can be done?
You don’t have to be a morning person to have successful days.
With some planning and preparing you can develop new habits that will not only start your days off on the right foot, but will also flow over into other areas of your life and make you calmer, more productive, and more fun to be around.
Yes, it will take some work and some self-discipline, but consider what could happen if you don’t change your ways…
- You repeatedly oversleep and lose your job
- You have to wear the same outfit several times in a week because your other outfits are too dirty or in disrepair to wear.
- You develop health problems and gain weight from your poor eating habits.
- You actually can’t find your keys causing you to use a rideshare which not only costs quite a bit of money, but also can’t get you to work on time.
- You cause an accident from your crazy driving, or get a series of expensive traffic tickets, eventually causing you to lose your license.
These kinds of scenarios happen all the time. And they are completely avoidable.
Yes, I know you are tired and busy and hate planning ahead, but the alternative looks like it might be worth getting over those obstacles.
Here are seven tips to start your day off on a more pleasant note:
- The night before, decide what you will wear the next day and what you will eat for breakfast. Check your outfit for needed repairs or stains, and set out everything you will need including shoes and jewelry. Set up your coffeemaker so all you have to do is push the button in the morning or invest in a coffeemaker you can program to start at a certain time.
- Figure out a regular schedule for laundry, meal prep, repairs, etc. These things have to be done anyway. You can do them at set times throughout the week or you can do them at 1:00 a.m. when you realize that ALL of your work clothes are literally dirty.
Life doesn’t have to be a constant stream of emergencies. Be kind to yourself and just take care of the things that need to be done.
3. Set ONE ALARM! Just do it! Train yourself to hear the first alarm and get out of bed. If you get to bed early enough the night before you will get enough sleep, but if you stayed up too late you will still get more sleep with just one alarm because you can set it a half hour to an hour later than usual and actually stay asleep during the time you would be cursing your alarm.
4. When you get up, stay up. Get started on your day. Have a routine for getting ready and just do it. The more often you do it the faster it will become and you may even be able to gain an extra bit of sleep from the time you’ll save.
5. No social media, television, etc., until you are completely ready to go. Enough said.
6. Actually keep that vow to find a permanent home for your keys, glasses, purse/wallet, and anything else you need to walk out the door in the morning. Your blood pressure will thank you.
7. Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early. If everything goes smoothly you will have a few extra minutes to enjoy a second cup of coffee or visit with a coworker, or just sit in your car and think for a few minutes.