I was stressed out… by people trying to help.
It was just after lunch, in the office, writing a speech for my boss to give at the upcoming conference.
After 3 failed attempts to come up with a solution my boss was getting frustrated… So was I.
My coworkers chimed in with their input which led to playfully harassing me and my ideas. I knew they were joking, but I was stressed out and the bantering was making my anxiety go through the roof.
Normally I have the best attitude in these situations, and I encourage people to be hard on my work so that I can make it as good as possible… but this time I felt isolated and beat down.
After another minute I couldn’t take it, so I excused myself.
I said I’m going out for a walk, and then I left the building before my anxiety got any worse.
The 15 minute walk helped me to clear my mind. Then it hit me… I’ve got so much anxiety because I have been slacking on my morning routine!
I hadn’t meditated in like a month. I was hitting the snooze button instead waking up with intention. I was sleeping in longer instead of waking up early to pray, read, and journal. I was slacking off with my morning workout routines.
My mornings had gotten so sloppy. I had been so focused on work that I didn’t even notice how out of control things were getting.
That explained the anxiety. So I made a mental note to myself to go to bed early that night so I could get up one hour earlier the next day.
I finished my walk, finished up my work in the office, and drove home.
It was just like every other day, except this time I knew what I needed to do and I had a plan for doing so.
I had clarity.
Instead of staying up late playing video games (Skyrim), I was in bed by 10 with my alarm set to wake me up at 6:30.
I went to sleep with purpose.
The next morning I was up at 6:30, immediately chugged a big glass of water, put my clothes on, made coffee, and then sat down in my room to meditate.
6:35 – I closed my eyes and spent 10 minutes praying and meditating in silence. I felt peace.
6:45 – I took a sip of coffee, opened up the notes app on my phone, and spent the next 30 minutes writing a blog post. I felt motivated.
7:15 – I made breakfast (eggs and a spinach & almond milk smoothie), and then read a book while I ate. I felt inspired.
7:45 – I did 20 push-ups and 20 jumping jacks just to get into my body (20 reps of anything is not a workout). Then I took a cold shower and got dressed for work. I felt energized.
8:00 – I left for work (30 minutes earlier than normal), got to work early, and had some extra time to enjoy another cup of coffee before the craziness of the workday started. I felt calm and prepared.
Once 9 o’clock rolled around I took another stab at the speech and came up with an acceptable solution in less than 30 minutes.
I floated through the rest of the day with ease, despite it being packed full of stressful last-minute preparations for the upcoming conference.
My anxiety was gone, I did better quality work, I could make quicker decisions, and I could think clearer than I had in weeks. On top of that I was friendlier and smiling more, and I was way more productive the whole day.
Going through a morning routine made an amazing difference in the quality of my day and my level of productivity.
When you think about it, having a morning routine is like a life-hack to help you accomplish more and get more out of life.
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