Setting your day up well... even in the most uncertain of times.

I abandoned last week’s leadership experiment on efficiency hacks because it felt unimportant compared to the COVID-19 crisis we all face. This week’s experiment, however, on setting the day up right, is probably even more valuable and relevant now than it was when I wrote it 3 weeks ago.

Cut loose from our anchors

I read last week that, “We’ve been cut loose from our anchors.” The daily rituals and routines we live by… the school run, the morning commute, the catch up at the coffee machine… all the things that create rhythm in our days and that lend certainty to our weeks and months are suddenly gone.

It feels like a liminal twilight state of (unsexy) shades of grey.

Within that liminal space, creating new rhythms and routines really helps. So, if you’ve yet to play around with a new morning routine, here’s the original post and experiment I wrote on setting up your day for success.

Let me know how you get on… and if you find this article helpful please share it.

Take care of the corners and the middle will take care of itself

My great-gran was a housemaid at the turn of the last century, and when talking about cleaning, she used to say, “If you take care of the corners of a room, the middle takes care of itself.” Today’s experiment is about applying similar logic to your daily routine – take care of the edges of your day, and the middle takes care of itself.

A few years ago, I started noticing that many of the thrusting Alpha CEOs I was working with in the US seemed to be in some sort of competition to see who could get up earliest. Many of them quoted The 5 am Club as a source of inspiration. In the book, Robin Sharma suggests you wake up at 5 am and spend 20 minutes exercising, 20 minutes meditating and 20 minutes reading or learning. The tag line of the book is, 'Own your morning, elevate your life.'

While I find this approach a little too spartan I 100% agree with the premise. Your first waking hour sets the tone for the rest of your day. An hour of meditation, movement and reflection sets a very different tone than an hour of the snooze button and social media. It’s a little like firing up your computer and deciding which programs you’re going to run today… and I operate best when the programs I open are ones that ground, support and energise me.

My ideal morning ritual goes like this:

1. wake at 6 am
2. 30 minutes journaling and reflecting
3. 30 minutes reading something inspiring and meditating
4. 15 minutes planning my day

I also do a daily ‘evaluation of conscience’ to reflect on where I was at my best the day before and where I need to put more effort into today. I then take my vitamins, fill a 2-litre bottle with enough mint leaves, lime and water to get me through the day and I’m ready for whatever life has in store. I try to do this religiously and if for any reason I miss it, I can really feel the difference by midday, and not in a good way.

Your leadership experiment…

Step 1 - Design your own morning routine. Think of adding elements which set you up well physically, emotionally/spiritually and psychologically, for example:

• Physically — stretching, exercise, vitamins, hot water and lemon, a good breakfast, yoga, time for personal grooming, going for a run
• Emotionally/spiritually — inspirational reading, meditation, prayer, visualisation, evaluation of conscience, music, random act of kindness, connect with a friend
• Psychologically — planning your day, journaling, learning, insightful podcasts, make your bed, set intentions for the day

Step 2 – Design your own evening routine. Include your ideal bedtime and pre-sleep ritual. Top tips include no blue light/mobiles in your room or for 30 minutes before sleep, use of essential oils to help you sleep, your evening ablutions ritual, soothing music or reading.

Step 3 – Apply both routines.. and do it for 5 days consecutively. See what you discover...