How to start a good day – step 1 – wake up

city vapor by sebastien rives on productivyou.com

city vapor by sebastien rives on productivyou.comAaah our bed … we love it, we have no desire to set foot outside our cozy duvet while it’s cold outside; it’s dark … brrrr ..  Then we delay a little the wake up, snooze a little bit more until the very last moment !

And presto, we begin at a run, with the shower at full speed, we dress while still  wet and tights do not like wet skin, do they?

We wake up our kids in a hurry, quick ! quick ! Breakfast, bowl of milk, a slice of bread or a biscuit, hop hop hop! … We try to find THE lost sock, a swimsuit because today one of the kids go swimming , we run, we grab a coat, hat, gloves for everybody, we run to the car, and off we go !!!

Zoom we whiz to school or the nanny, we toot everything that crosses our path, Move out of my way! We park in the 4th row, tear off the damn seat belts, quick, mom is late!

Here we are, the cherubs are dropped off, and we dash over to the office. After our daily time in the traffic jam, here we are at the office, a bit messy, one eye with no  make-up (oops) with the impression of having already fought three battles! Pffiou …. how does it sound to you? Yeah, me too ….

Then one day, I told myself that it was no longer a life. I realized that this was not appropriate for my children at  their age, and that was not good at all.

After several tests, trial and error, I found a rhythm that radically changed our lives.

I will describe my approach in 3 steps that now allow me enjoy every morning.

First step: getting up on time.

I know it is not easy. If you are a marmot like me, spend short nights in bed all week and  could happily sleep 10 hours straight, waking up is a nightmare.

So we must make choices.  Be convinced that 10, 15 or 20 minutes longer in bed, causes the whole family to be in a rush every morning.

So we have to build a little retro-planning, i.e. a “backwards” schedule starting from the time we have to leave home, such as:

  • Leave home at 7:30 am (the time takes into account the travel time to get to school or to the office and get there on time)
  • time for preparing children + yourself (shower, make-up, get dressed)
  • time for a real breakfast
  • time allocated to an activity if you practice one in the morning, to tidy up a  the house a little, (tidy the kitchen, make the beds …)

Times should be allowed to achieve each step in a”cool” mode or not too quickly and not in a hurry. We wake up slowly, especially the little darlings!

Let’s imagine the result of the calculation is 6 am. So we set the alarm at 6:00 and at the first ring, hop, we jump out of bed and forward!

It is our goal in this step. The alarm sounds, we get up on time. We start, for example, with our personal preparation, gentle awakening of children, a real family breakfast, kid’s get dressed and we leave the house.

Ideally, the night before, we have prepared the clothes, school bags, sports bag, snack for everyone. The stress of the morning will further reduced.

Note: The best way to reach your objective , particularly if the alarm optimal schedule differs by 30 minutes or more from your current schedule, is to make waking up gradually earlier and get your body used to the new rhythm. You could do that One minute by one minute each day. In parallel, especially if you sleep a few hours per night, you’d do better to advance your bedtime at the same rate.

Small variation on wake up:

I am here sharing an alternative to “wake – up & go”. I am able to manage that when I get up at 4:00 to go and catch a train or a plane. The rest of the time, my brain thinks it’s too brutal and after years of testing it is not the right option for me.

sleepcycle appOne day I discovered a gorgeous smartphone application called Sleep Cycle. I have no commercial interest with this application, but if the publisher wants to make me a gift for advertising, I am not against ;-).

The principle is simple. It is based on the rhythms of your sleep and wakes you up when it’s the right time for you. I set the alarm time (5:30), and I choose the time slot in which the alarm will ring (my choice 20 minutes). This means that the alarm can ring anywhere between 5:10 am and 5: 30 am. When the alarm rings, I can stop it by touching the phone and sleep until 5 : 30 am. Then the ringing will not stop I have to do something, so I’m awake.

For sure I “lose” potentially 20 minutes of sleep compared to the first option, however this suits me best. I have used this application for almost three years now, including  at the weekend, and I am delighted. As well as registering your sleep, you can look at your statistics such as :

  • on the average length of sleep,
  • sleep quality,
  • etc….

This type of application is very common for all types of smartphones, including the connected bracelets. If you think this method is better for you, you will find the application you need.

The choice of the method that best suits you  is in your hands, the main thing is to get up on time and to start the day off right.

That’s the first step:

  • prepare the day before (clothes, school bags, etc. …)
  • calculate the time required to prepare you and the rest of the family from waking up to the time of departure
  • adjust the clock and get up on time (with method 1 or 2).

Soon you will see an improvement of morning stress level. You will drop the children relaxed at school and you will be more relaxed at work.. At least, you’ll be properly made up ;-). And if you fail someday, it’s neither an excuse to give up, nor to flog yourself ! New habits take time to put in place often several weeks. Good luck, you will manage!

In the next article, I will write about the second step to start the day – to stimulate your body .

Feel free to comment on this article, share it on every social network in the universe! Thank you and good morning!

Priscille LIVENAIS
J'ai une passion pour l'organisation, la gestion des projets et les outils de productivité. Mon but n'est pas de tout faire, mais de ne faire QUE ce qui compte vraiment pour mener la vie que je souhaite, tout en sérénité.
Social Network Widget by Acurax Small Business Website Designers
Visit Us On TwitterVisit Us On FacebookVisit Us On PinterestVisit Us On YoutubeVisit Us On LinkedinVisit Us On Instagram