How I rewired my morning for radical focus and productivity

Mornings matter more than you think.

It’s been said that the first three hours of each day can dictate the direction of your life. Sure, it can be tempting to sleep into eight, hit the snooze, skip the gym… But what is the real cost? Join with me, as I share my journey of creating a good morning.

It’s sunrise… A chance to get up and make a difference in the world. A fresh start, a new page in the storybook of our time. We arise to new decisions, thoughts, actions and reactions.

With so much to do, to be and become — where can we find the clarity, the energy and the motive to move forward with what today brings us?

It’s called the Early Morning!

And it’s no secret either, but you do have to be awake to gain access to it. While many choose to snooze past it, some take it for all it’s worth. After all, in a busy western world, this unfair advantage is ripe for the picking.

Do you want greater willpower? A mind less scattered? More available time and greater focus to start your day? Well, Don’t let me sell you on it any further! You too can become and Early Riser!

Branson—billionaire, businessman and bestseller. He’s got no office desk, but he’s an early riser!

BE THE BIRD — GET THE WORM

You’ve heard it said; the early bird gets the worm… Well, we’ve all got our eye on something each day to obtain, accomplish or work at. Question is, will we find the time to swoop in and grab it?

With so much competing for our time and attention, it’s no wonder a habit among CEO’s and leaders of the marketplace is to get up earlier than the rest.

...Tim Cook gets up at 3:45am every day to catch up on email, hit the gym, and make a Starbucks run before heading to the office.

...Richard Branson wakes up at 5:45am, even when he’s on his private island, and uses the morning for exercise and breakfast before starting work for the day.

...Disney CEO, Bob Iger rises at 4:30am and uses the early morning to read the paper, exercise, listen to music and catch up on emails.

...Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz gets up at 4:30am to get a workout in (often a bike ride with his wife) — and makes some coffee to get his day going.

What’s the point? Everyone’s short on time, but these busy individuals have found the cure. Waking up earlier.

Mark Zuckerberg doing a morning run with his bodyguards, travelling in Barcelona.

TECHNOLOGY AND THE MORNING MIND

Getting up earlier is has many benefits, most of which stem from the health and wellbeing of our mind. Healthy thinking leads to a healthy life.

So why do we starve our brain each morning of the right fuel it needs to succeed? Yes — I’m talking about YOUR MOBILE PHONE. Or as Mark Manson put it — the new cigarettes in town.

Jim Kwik describes how influential our mobile devices are in the early hours:

“When you wake up you’re in this theta alpha state and you’re highly suggestible. Every like, comment, share, you get this dopamine fix and it’s literally rewiring your brain. What you’re smart device is doing especially if that’s the first thing you grab when you wake up and you’re in this alpha theta state, is rewiring your brain to be distracted.” — Jim K

Remove the mobile phone as your go-to in the morning, pick up a coffee — book or newspaper instead.

To create a healthy morning, remove the behaviour of using your devices as much as possible. Checking emails, texts and twitter as the first thing of waking up is setting your up your day with a fragmented and distracted mind.

…And yet we still wonder why we can’t get deep work done?

Smartphones distract us whether they are on, off, in our pockets, or on a table, and they command our attention even when they are not our own. The best solution for preventing smartphone distraction is to remove it from the picture altogether — Steve M

What we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore — plays in defining the quality of our life.

REWIRE YOUR MORNING

Waking up earlier is powerful. Your mind is less scattered, your willpower is at its highest and you’re less likely to be interrupted.

Imagine getting to the end of your day and realising you didn’t do anything to make your life any better? Sadly, most of us feel this on a regular basis. Why is that? Maybe it’s because our day has been ‘reacting’ not ‘pro-acting’ to life. We spend hours checking emails, scrolling through social and responding to messages. This results in missing out on deep and meaningful work, and rest.

Waking up earlier give you to the time to do the important things each day. Our brain works like a muscle, and get’s tired the longer it’s awake. Each morning we’re bombarded with decisions and information — which tires out our brain and leaves us scattered to the days priorities.

The solution? Wake up earlier :-) Give yourself the time to pause, and before everyone else awake— take a moment to think, rewire and plan your day.

There’s nothing like starting your day with a sense of accomplishment and focus!

GOOD MORNING TIPS:
Use your devices as little as possible in the first hour.
Take a moment to relax, stretch, or meditate.
Drink a full glass of water to get you re-hydrated and cleanse the body.
Prioritise the day ahead so you have radical focus and clarity to begin.
Make your bed! This is correlated with better productivity through the day.

Exercise: Once you’re up and active, your willpower is at the highest point of the day. Make it count.

A ROUTINE FOR SUCCESS

Creating a healthy habit of waking up earlier will benefit you long-term. Every habit we create in life either works for us or against us. Take a moment to think about some good and bad habits you might have…

Every habit you have — good or bad — follows the same 3–step pattern.

1. Reminder (the trigger that initiates the behavior)
2. Routine (the behavior itself; the action you take)
3. Reward (the benefit you gain from doing the behavior)

It is important to know the power of our habits and understand how they works in our daily lives. To learn more on this topic I suggest checking out James Clear article: https://jamesclear.com/three-steps-habit-change

Every habit you have — good or bad — follows the same 3–step pattern.

THE TAKEAWAY: WHAT COULD YOU ACHIEVE?

With a few extra hours each morning, start thinking about what could you achieve when you embrace an early-start lifestyle:

Read up more on current events or a passion niche…

• Write a book, a blog, a song…
• Complete 30/60/90 minutes of exercise to feel pumped and ready…
• Get to work earlier, to have more focus and ‘deep work’…
  Meditate, think, journal and spend time in deep thought before the rush…
• Spend time with your children…
• Imagine, how your life could change from one small decision. It won’t be easy in the short term, but it’s worth it long term.

Commit to getting up earlier, making the most of your first few hours — and watch how your day is rewired for radical focus and productivity.

Thanks for reading!