8:00am. Alarm clock has just gone off and the snooze button has been pressed.
What now?
This is one of the most important decisions of the day. It’s at this moment that the tone for the entire day is set. Will I jump out of my warm, comfortable bed and embrace a new day full of opportunities? Or, will I take the extra nine minutes I have been graciously given by the snooze button on my iPhone?
Prior to this week, I have always chosen the second option. After pressing the snooze button, I adjust myself, pull the covers back into position, and close my eyes with the hopes that I will have the energy to get moving before my nine minutes is up. Then I repeat this process at least twice.
During the 20-30 minutes I spend wasting away in bed, I ruin my morning with every passing second. Let me explain.
When I first wake up in the morning, my mood is nonchalant. It’s during the following moments where how I feel about the day is determined.
When I press the snooze button and stay in bed, the only things that pop into my mind are things that need to be done and other stressful items to be addressed in the day ahead. Every moment things continue to pile up and my mental todo list expands to the point where I feel defeated before my foot has even hit the floor. By the time I do make it out of bed, at the last possible second before being late, I have a negative outlook on the day ahead because I feel overwhelmed.
After finally taking the time to sit down and realize that this is why I always feel so crappy in the morning, I finally forced myself to jump out of bed immediately, and the difference was well worth it.
This morning, I put my alarm clock on the opposite side of my bedroom, because I knew I would need some assistance giving myself a jumpstart. My alarm clock is plenty loud so when it went off at 9am, I rose from the dead and got out of bed to shut it off.
As inviting as my bed still looked, I walked out of my bedroom and began knocking out the things I needed to do before leaving for work. I was quite shocked at my mood. Rather than sluggish and defeated, I felt… good. I had started things earlier than usual so I had some extra time. I took advantage of this and gathered my thoughts and gradually swung into full gear.
In the past, if there was something happening that I was looking forward to during a certain day, that would get me out of bed pretty quick and I remembered being a little peppier on those days. That’s how I felt today.
Rather than staying in bed allowing myself to be mentally overwhelmed by things that aren’t so bad, I got up and got to them. When I did start thinking of things to do, I was already checking them off of my list. I don’t know about you, but when I check something off my list, I feel good. Today that counteracted any feelings of being overwhelmed.
All I did was give up my 9 minute cycles of wasting away and as a result, I started my day feeling prepared and ready to take on anything thrown my way.
You should try it because it’s definitely worth it.
