03/07/2018 Morning Routine

This habit was inspired by my best friend Sachiko and integrated with some ideas from my partner as well.

She mostly work in the afternoon so she has free time in the morning. What she does is she goes to gym in the morning as doing exercise is a pain for her but she knows it's good for her. She thinks it's very important to feel that you've already done the most unpleasant things before she starts her day so that the rest of the day she can do whatever she likes.

My partner also does this too. He really enjoys writing and working that requires critical thinkings. He feels morning is the most productive and creative time for him. He managed to work from afternoon so he can do his own stuff and some exercise before he starts "work".

power of journal.jpeg

And me? I really like to work on my own projects that have been postponing for more than 6 months. I started a new role in a new place in December 2017 and it keeps me very busy and I also feel I don't have enough energy and motivation to keep my projects going. Counterintuitively, not doing my own stuff makes me more unease and it affects my work.

I also started to understand doing exercise is very important. I am not a sport person, it's actually opposite. I hate intensive exercise especially running. I love yoga, stretch and walking but with this lifestyle exercise became less important to tackle my daily tasks. I felt sometimes that my breaths got shallow and had pain body. When I noticed, I used to either eat something or get myself destructed by checking emails and social media like everyone does.

simple exercise.jpeg

So what I have been doing recently is to finish the important yet not urgent things that we tend to prioritize before work. This helps me both psychologically and physically because these important things are already done and the rest of the things become secondary. I can focus on work without any negative consequences. For example, these are my morning routine;

  • Meditation for 60 min
  • Write gratitude journal
  • Exercise for 30 min
  • Work on my personal projects for 30-60 min

Try to list up the things that you think really important yet not urgent in your life and create a time to do a minimum dose before your work. First you may feel your day is a bit stretched, but it will eventually help you in many ways.

 

Thank you for spending your time to read this.

Tomoko Yokota