Rethinking your restarts (especially the start of the day)

How many of us start the day by picking up our phone and scrolling, whether it's email or some form of social media. I find I do this not only at the start of the day, but at other key transition points throughout the day. Many times when I only have 5 minutes between finishing a project or in between meetings, I find myself opening up WSJ.com or news.google.com to see if anything new has happened or, maybe worse, scrolling through the same messages in my social media.

My thought process is normally something like this, "I better check if there are any fires" or "I only have five minutes and I can't invest the 'brain time', let's check the news or see if I can razz one of my friends on social media". Clearly quadrant IV activities for all you Stephen Covey fans out there.

So in honor of a couple articles I recently read, I am putting my imperfect 'restart plan' into action and will edit and reframe as I learn and practice. Already I know I will need to add some strengths, goals, and values. This will help make sure that not only am starting from a place of energy and bringing my 'best-self', but also focusing my time in a planful and impactful way.

Here is my weekly challenge. Create a start of the day doc. I put mine right in the front of my notebook that goes everywhere with me. This will be what I look at when I only have 5 minutes or to kick off my work day.

If you need some accountability or some thoughts, email me (or message me for the trendy social media types) and I will share some top level thoughts or at least be someone that follows up to see how you are doing.

As always, love to hear your feedback or how you are starting your day or how you handle your restarts through out the day. Feel free to start a conversation below!