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I know I am not the only one who hits snooze for what feels like a bazillion times in the morning before grudgingly rolling out of bed. It's an epidemic. I feel like, especially in the United States, our society is SO wired to Go! Go! Go! that we are literally THAT exhausted! But our fatigue doesn't change the fact that we still have responsibilities to fulfill while still, somehow, caring for ourselves. So, what if we could just get past that alarm clock each morning as if it were nothing? What if our feet could hit the floor with actual intention? It's possible! Here, I am going to tell you how to have the most productive morning of your life!

First, you have to lose the hatred for your alarm clock.

What did that poor thing do to you?! Seriously. YOU set the alarm; it is loyally doing precisely what you told it to do! No more banging that “sleep” button. Forget about tossing the darn thing. (Okay, you don't have to forget about tossing your alarm clock, but how about starting with no longer actually tossing it?)

Recognize that your alarm clock is a tool to help you achieve your goals. It is a key component of having the most productive morning of your life. If you cannot be trusted to quit abusing your alarm clock in the aforementioned ways, try plugging it in across the room — or in an adjacent room! — so you physically have to get up out of bed to turn it off.

The key, then, of course, is to STAY out of bed! 😉 (And, I can tell you, if I can do this successfully on SOME kind of a regular basis with an “unseen illness,” I am convinced ANYONE can!)

Start your morning routine every evening.

Whaaaat?! I know you're scratching your head at this one. Hear me out, though. If you want to have the most productive morning of your life, you need to start the night before. The thoughts you go to bed with will, likely, shape the thoughts you wake with the next morning. How are you setting up your tomorrow for success with the things you do at night?

Okay, so, if you're with me so far, you're already thinking ahead by moving your alarm clock to a spot away from your bed (at least until a habit is formed, right?). What about your nighttime routine? What are your biggest obstacles to having your most productive morning? How would your morning improve if you addressed those obstacles the night before?

Be intentional about your bedtime unwind routine.

If your first thought is to roll over & go back to sleep, what can you do to help change that? Pulling the blankets up over your head is certainly not going to help you have your most productive morning, right?

Typically, for me, I simply was NOT looking forward to what my day had in store for me. This resulted in those bazillion taps of SNOOZE. My thought was, if you are super excited to get your day started, you probably won't be as likely to have to convince yourself to get up in the first place. SO, I started paying attention to my nighttime activities. Instead of watching television in bed until Mr. Sandman took me away, I started reading (or listening to on Audible) books that fueled my brain & made me want to hit the ground running in the morning. Nighttime is the perfect time to read motivational mindset type books. I find I go to sleep peacefully & by morning, I am excited to implement something I learned from my reading the night before.

Go to bed at a decent hour.

Even better, go to bed earlier than you even think is necessary. Honestly, this is where people scoff at me. It's okay. Go ahead. Get it out of your system! I won't take offense! I was once huffing & puffing at the suggestion of going to bed early too. BUT, here's where I get a little tough-lovey with you: What do you do at night? Most people veg out in front of the television too tired to do anything productive. If it isn't the television, it's something equally as unproductive, isn't it? Why not take your booty to bed & read those mindset books & start unwinding properly instead?

When you go to bed at a proper time, getting up on time — or even EARLY! (gasp!) — will, over time, get sooooo much easier! AND, when you wake, you are less likely to do mindless things with your morning as you would, exhausted, in the evenings. Going to bed early is one of the best things you can do toward having your most productive morning of your life.

Force yourself to hit the ground running.

You've put the effort into your nighttime routine, so make it count in the morning. Have you read Mel Robbins' Five Second Rule? Basically, you count backward from five whenever you encounter something you're afraid of doing or hesitant to do or just plain don't WANT to do. Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Then GO! You go actually DO that thing. Don't think. Just count, then DO. The key is to always count BACKWARDS because you can't just keep counting when you reach one. Do that a few times & it will start to be habit. Apply it to more than getting out of bed in the morning when you master this one.

Take care of yourself first.

It feels selfish to put ourselves first, but, in reality, we cannot fulfill our responsibilities or take care of our loved ones if we are not first making sure our cups are full enough to share. Your first few activities in the morning really need to be for YOU. Go start that pot of coffee. Sit down & do your devotional or meditation time. Fit in some yoga or a run. Write in your journal. Whatever it is that will feed your soul & give you some peace to carry with you throughout the rest of your chaotic day, do that. THEN, hit the shower & go about your business as usual. You'll be surprised at the difference it makes — toward your most productive morning AND toward your day as a WHOLE… &, hey! If you're being intentional about your evenings & getting plenty of rest, this will get easier over time & just KNOWING you get YOU time in the morning will be what springs you out of bed in the morning!

Don't try it once & declare it a failure.

Um, everything worth doing takes a little time & effort. Just because you try this routine once — or even for ONE week! — & it doesn't work for you or you are exhausted still or insert-whatever-excuse-you-have-here, doesn't mean it can't or won't work for you! It takes 21 consecutive days to start to form a habit. You need to CONSCIOUSLY make an effort for at least three weeks. Having your most productive morning can happen frequently if you just put the effort in. It can become a part of your routine you no longer have to think about.

Tweak it to make it your own. If mindset books don't get you revved up, try writing in a gratitude journal at night or using a meditation app. If all of that is too “fluffy” for you, simply write a list of things you can do with your newfound morning YOU time. The point is, you probably WILL feel exhausted from waking up earlier than you usually do or have a hard time training your body to wind down earlier than normal. BUT, it is WELL worth it in the end! That, I can promise you. You'll be on your way to the most productive morning of your life in no time!

Want to continue this conversation?

I looove chatting! Pop over to the Calculated Chaos Community, where women gather to boost confidence & embrace chaos while building each other up. You can post questions straight to the wall over there for the community to discuss! You can also get a direct line to me by shooting me a message or emailing retajayne@confidenceandchaos.com.