We’ve all been there. Whether you’re a self-proclaimed “morning person” or not (I am not), you’ve had those days where the energy required to physically remove yourself from your bed feels equivalent to running ten marathons. I get it. I hear you. I feel you.
Recently, I’ve been working remotely like the rest of the world and find it increasingly more difficult to get up every day. Yet I feel worse and worse about it every day. Something about rolling out of bed five minutes before clocking into UltiPro, teeth unbrushed, walking into walls because I am nearly blind and haven’t put my contacts in yet doesn’t exactly get me energized to accomplish my goals for the day.
However, here are three things that take 30 minutes or less that DO.
Start your day with a yoga session.
If you’re a morning workout kinda person, be my guest. Shoot for the stars. I admire you, honestly. Start your day with a full-on workout.
But while I’m still working up the discipline to be a morning workout person, I’ve found I still crave and benefit from some type of non-strenuous movement in the morning. My personal fav is Yoga With Adriene – if you don’t already know her, brace yourself because she will change your life, I promise.
She has playlists for every occasion, but a good starting point is her 30-day yoga camp. Or, if you’re also like me and don’t always feel like committing more than 15 minutes of yoga to your morning routine, check out her Yoga for Busy People playlist with videos anywhere between 10-20 minutes long.
Journal your intentions for the day (and follow up).
In a journal – physical or digital – take as little as 5 minutes to jot down a few things you want to focus on or accomplish in your day. This can be as simple as “Practice mindfulness on my walk” or “Drink 2 liters of water”, or as big as “Apply to that job I’ve been thinking about”. Then, at the end of the day or the next morning, assess whether or not you stuck to your plan.
I didn’t think it would work, but I recently started doing this and found that it truly did motivate me to do what I said I would do and hold myself accountable. Even if I was overly ambitious in my intentions for the day, if I even accomplished one of them, I was proud of myself.
This practice not only gets your day off to a positive start with goal-setting, but builds confidence in your ability to do what you say you will. Which in turn inspires you to do it again the next day and to continue building your confidence in achieving your goals slowly over time. I use this journal but there are plenty out there, or go all out and make a DIY one or use Google Docs . Whatever works for you and will motivate you to use it every day.
Read (or listen to) something that will motivate you.
Reading a self-help book that motivates you to reach your goals? Read a quick chapter of that. Listening to a podcast about climate change that motivates you to work towards saving the environment? Listen to an episode. Interested in the impending housing crisis that will ensue after the eviction moratorium is lifted? Read an article about the latest updates from the local newspaper.
Whatever it is that will set the stage for your day and remind you of your purpose and goals in life, or that will at least educate you and expand your mind, start there. Work it into your morning. Instead of scrolling through Instagram or Tik Tok for an hour in bed, focus your content consumption on areas that you care about and that will ultimately keep you on track to your long-term goals.
The Actionable Mindset 