When you wake up in the morning, the first couple of hours of your day are the most vital in ensuring you have a productive day. Sleeping in late, having a hangover, or skipping breakfast often leads to a decline of work done in your day. College can be overwhelming and tiring, but always sleeping late and waking up late isn’t ever a great decision.
Having a well-spent morning is one of the most powerful tools that one can possess. It creates a daily routine in your schedule that helps you achieve numerous tasks throughout the day. College students struggle at time management because they don’t set out their days correctly – whether it is sleeping in and skipping their classes, or getting distracted every minute and not finishing their work.
Everyone wants to feel like a million bucks when they wake up in the morning, but many people rarely have the motivation and dedication to schedule a proper morning to have a productive day. In college, probably the last thing on a student’s mind is, ‘What am I going to do in the morning to ensure I get everything done throughout the day?’. Crazy, right? No college student is going to be thinking about perfecting that aspect in their life when they have a million other things to worry about. That’s why it’s important to create an effective morning routine so it becomes a habit.
Your ability to maintain a constructive day depends on the work you put into how you wake up in the morning. Three simple steps can create a big difference in your routine and make you feel like a rock star in the morning, even before you actually start your day.
Working Out
Working out pumps up your body for the day while listening to music that fuels you. I plug my headphones into my ears and zone out everyone else at the gym when I workout in the morning. This creates a space for you to physically feel yourself getting stronger when you are lifting those weights. Sometimes not speaking to anyone before you even workout is good for your body. Literally the first thing you do is go to the gym and workout. This tells your body and shows your mind that this time is only for you.
Eating Breakfast
You’ve all heard it before: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast in the morning gives you the fuel you need to get yourself going for the day. Working out helps your body and mind get ready for the day, but breakfast allows you to get through the day.
Ever wonder why you feel like crashing even before you get to lunchtime? It’s probably because you skip breakfast all the time. Nowadays, breakfast is referred to almost as an ‘option’ or ‘suggestion’, rather than as an actual meal. However, missing breakfast will start to catch up to you when you slow down through the entire day.
Writing Down Goals
We have 24 hours in the day to finish everything we have to do on a daily basis. In college, we try to pack even more into our schedule, because we want a social life, good grades, and to be able to sleep a decent amount of time each night. Typically, we can only ace two of those three aspects, or try and do all three mediocrely. Writing down everything that you need to get done in the morning in a planner is crucial. Some people use their phones, calendars, or a notebook, but either way, any form of organization will allow you to get through your day successfully.
The motto that everyone should live by in the morning is simply this: focus your attention on the top three things you want to get done today. Aside from small tasks, what is your main focus for the day? This allows you to narrow down your main responsibilities for the day so you don’t get sidetracked from the hundreds of things that are on your mind.
Feeling like you are ready to kill the day is not that hard. With all three steps combined, you create the perfect morning ritual for yourself. Each aspect holds special value that allows you to develop a habit in being the best version of yourself each morning. Now go kill it.
Sabah Ali
#theclockisticking