Hate Your Current Routine? Start Waking Up Early

It’s Sunday night and you realize that the weekend is over and that tomorrow you need to go back to work. You won't be able to do the things you personally love to do because there is no time for that freedom.

Believe me, I speak from personal experience. Every day from Monday to Friday, I woke up just 20 minutes before I had to leave for work. Just quickly washing and changing and rushing to work, only to be late by half an hour if not more. My alarms would be snoozing for at least eight times until I gave in and stood up. I would come back home somewhere at around 6 PM, have dinner and feel physically and mentally drained from work. I wasn't able to do anything productive anymore. And I would repeat the same cycle from Monday to Friday, week by week.

When your routine is that monotonous, you don’t have much to genuinely be excited about and look forward to. I believe that humans are meant to create and not just consume blindly, but not much creation can happen when your life is so mechanical, and so deprived of growth in any form.

If you are not the biggest fan of your job right now, the situation is only going to get worse. You might not realize it now, but the clock is ticking and your mind is the plant whose leaves are slowly turning yellow, will soon dry out, and before you know it, they will all fall off. Instead, you want to be a well-nurtured plant, the kind you’d find in a beautiful, blissful garden.

Why wake up early though, what does that have to do with any of this?

The way your day starts has a direct impact on how you will be feeling about yourself throughout the day, and even the whole week. Members of the 5 AM Club could give you a list with dozens of items to include in a strong morning routine. But let's be honest, and a bit practical - what person who already struggles with waking up early would even have time to do a million things at 5 in the morning?!

Your mornings need a structure. This structure comes with doing one thing you choose, that you would actually like to have ticked off your checklist, and doing that right after waking up. You could include exercising (which is never a bad idea), reading, writing, meditating or even making yourself some breakfast. The key is that it should either enrich your mind or strengthen your body. If you focus on either of these things right at the beginning of the day, your day starts on a successful note and you can pass that feeling onto your other tasks.

Do this for 15 minutes, if that is all you can give, to begin with. Instead of 9 AM, try waking up at 8:45 and walk around a bit. Do this for a week. Shift it to 8:30 in the next week. It will already seem easier. Slowly, you’ll have enough time to do three things in the morning and that’s before your workdays even start. Soon enough, you will want to have a list of tasks to do for yourself in the evening too, which most likely won’t even involve Netflix. You will be so consumed by growing and hustling that you probably won't even bother anymore who married whom and who’s going to die in all the series you once used to follow religiously.

I never really enjoyed running but ever since I started waking up earlier, I was like, why the heck not?! I see others do it, let me try to do the same. I started running in the mornings, and to be really honest, it felt great. I was more energized than ever and felt great going to work. It didn't happen overnight though, you have to be a bit patient with yourself and be kind to yourself.

Have a strong what and why, and keep at it. Start small, grow slow and remain consistent.

My whats and whys:

• I work out because it keeps me fit, which makes me feel stronger. It also keeps my mood in check and gives me a sense of accomplishment right when I start the day. 
• I journal every morning because it's a good way to reflect on how I feel and how I want to feel during my day. It gives me a moment to put things on paper and see how I'm actually doing and have a little bit of 'me-time' before people rush in on me.
• I learn something new. That might be reading a book or taking an online course. I want to have learned something new before I do something else. That way, I know that I've enriched my mind and I've grown as a person. No matter how the day will end, I know that I moved the needle forward.

We need to feel in control of our lives.

Your job takes somewhere around 1/3rd of your day, and if you include your commute time, you might stretch it to 1/2 of your day. But it is your decision to take control of as much time as possible: Make your commute part of work or part of personal growth. I utilize mine for reading or listening to audiobooks to utilize that one hour of my day as best as possible.

The remainder of your day is your empty canvas, you are the painter.

You need to have things to look forward to, and the fact that you have something you probably aren’t too fond of (aka your current life), should give you enough motivation to find things that you can enjoy or that would help you grow.

From someone who was waking up just before going to work and didn't enjoy his weekdays, I managed to turn myself into a person who has a lot more structure during his day. Every day, I do something that I actually want to do. I grow mentally and physically and use every day that I am given.

So what is that one thing you will spend your first 15 minutes? Kickstart your mornings, starting tomorrow.