Productivity by Morning

Productivity by Morning

Goals are hard. With a full-time job, a wife, and the general responsibilities of living, it can be tough to find the time to accomplish all my daily goals.

But…are there really not enough hours in the day, or am I just squandering the time I’ve been gifted?

Sweet, Sweet Sleep

Anyone who knows me, knows I can put away some zzz’s. I stay up late, and I sleep LATE. Ten hours of uninterrupted rest is often the minimum of what it takes to get me out from beneath those warm covers, snuggled up against my pup, lost in misty landscapes of my dreams.

But…then I have to wake up. That takes at least 30 minutes of scrolling through Facebook. Then there’s showering, getting dressed, finding something to eat, preparing and eating it…hell, by the time I’m done eating, I’m almost ready to take another nap. Even if I can somehow resist the urge to drift off for another hour or so, I’ve likely gotten involved in watching something while I ate, and now I need to finish it. Or maybe I need to find JUST the right video to play in the background while I’m writing.

First, though, I have to read over what I’ve already written. You know, make sure it’s going in the right direction and that I have a firm grasp of the story I’m trying to tell. Oh, the dog needs to go out. I should probably play with him for a bit, wear him out some. Oh, the plants aren’t looking too good. I should weed them and water them while I’m thinking about it.

By the time I ACTUALLY get to the point where I’m really writing, most of the day is gone.

Fed Up

I finally realized the reason why it was taking me so long to write my chapters, why I was struggling to hit my reading goals, why I didn’t feel like I had the time to eat healthy and work out, why I was growing more and more frustrated and stressed.

Luckily, the reason…was me.

Life can throw any number of roadblocks and detours in our way that limit the amount of headway we can make on a daily basis. Health problems, money issues, caring for another person, work, relationships. Some of these hindrances are outside our ability to control, and that sucks, but I’d wager most of them can be greatly affected by the right plan and mindset. In other words, we can change ourselves to affect our problems.

A Scientific Approach to Mornings

The way I see it, how I start the day will influence how the rest of the day goes. But it’s not enough to propose some anecdotal thesis without some good, solid science to back it up. So let’s talk about what it takes to wake up early, feel rested, and prepare ourselves for a productive day. This is the step-by-step break down of the morning routine I’ve adopted, based on the teachings of prominent neuroscientist and tenured associate professor in the departments of Neurobiology, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, and Behavior Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, Andrew Huberman. You can find more of his wisdom on YouTube. He’s awesome.

Step 1: Go to Bed by 11pm

This is step one because, if I go to bed too early, I’ll get too much sleep and waste my time in a different way, and if I go to bed too late, I won’t get enough sleep and I won’t be able to properly function no matter what. Due to my bartending job, getting to bed by 11pm isn’t always possible, but I try my best, and on nights that I get to bed later, I move my wake time up an appropriate number of hours.

Step 2: Wake at 6am.

If I wake by 6am, I can get most of the wake up, get ready, and prepare steps done in two hours, giving me a large amount of the day to work on my important personal projects. I set one alarm, and when it goes off, I get up. I don’t play on my phone. I don’t check Facebook. I sit up, throw on my start-the-day clothes (these get reused daily) and I head immediately to the kitchen.

No snoozing the alarm? No hanging out in bed? NO. See, what I’m trying to do is override bad habits and build momentum. If I give myself time to think about getting up, or time to play on the Internet, that’s more chance for my brain to settle in and make it harder to move forward. I want to basically rocket out of bed and move rapidly on to the next task to build that momentum. Objects in motion move easier than objects at rest.

Step 3: Hydrate

The reason breakfast has its name is because we have effectively been fasting since our last meal, and breakfast is the way we BREAK that FAST. This doesn’t just apply to calories. Over night, sweat and respiration reduce the amount of water stored in our cells, and if we want our bodies to perform at high levels, we need to replenish those stores as quickly as possible.

HOWEVER. There are some healthy do’s and don’t’s when it comes to morning hydration:

• DO – Drink something with electrolytes. Potassium, magnesium, and sodium are all lost in the water we excrete, and they will need to be replaced. Sodium plays a critical role in helping our cells maintain the right balance of fluid. It also helps our cells absorb nutrients. Magnesium helps our cells as they turn nutrients into energy. Our brain and muscles rely heavily on magnesium. Potassium works right alongside sodium, and is also very important to proper heart function.
  
  To prepare for the day, a good dose of each is optimal. LMNT packets (can find here on Amazon) are a FANTASTIC way to get this, though they can be a little pricey. Liquid IV (can find here on Amazon) is also good. A bit cheaper without as many flavor options. Pedialyte (found here on Amazon) is another option, and its only a dollar a day! At the very least, I can add some sea salt to my water. I drink two full glasses of room temperature water, one with an electrolyte additive, before I do anything else.
  
• DON’T – Drink anything with caffeine or sugar YET. There is a chemical called Adenosine that our bodies produce throughout the day that it uses to induce sleepiness. Basically, as the day progresses, the body accumulates Adenosine, and as the amount gets higher and higher, the body begins sending fatigue signals. In the morning, within the first two hours after we wake up, the Adenosine system isn’t fully functional, and our body is working to eliminate yesterday’s buildup. Caffeine basically blocks the body’s ability to accurately read how much Adenosine we’ve accumulated, inducing temporary feelings of wakefulness.
  
  The problem is, any caffeine consumed before the Adenosine system properly wakes up also blocks the body’s ability to eliminate yesterday’s accumulation, which means once the caffeine wears off, we crash. If we can wait two hours after waking to consume caffeine, we can avoid the crash.

Step 4: Go Outside / Get Light in My Eyes

Certain colors of light tell the body how to react to the time of day, and getting unobstructed sunlight in our eyes helps get things moving. These signals help regulate our circadian rhythms, and improve mood and energy levels. I like to go out into my backyard and play with my dog, check on my veggies, pull weeds, ect. Of course, this is easy now that it’s summer, but I plan on bundling up and doing the same later in the year.

But…what happens when the days get shorter? Well, I made sure to replace all my inside lights with daylight colored bulbs, but if that’s not enough, I might end up purchasing an LED light box. Here’s a link to an inexpensive light box that will do the trick. It’s important to get 10 – 15 minutes of light exposure, in whatever form we can.

Step 5: Reading

How else am I going to meet my reading goals? Plus it’s a great way to prime my mind for writing here in a bit. I read for at least 30 minutes, and if I can do it outside to get more light to my eyes, even better.

I’m sorry. Do you NOT have anything good to read right now? WELL, A SOLUTION IS BUT A CLICK AWAY.

Step 6: Workout

The myriad benefits of working out are far beyond the scope of this article, but do something. Move your body. Walk. Pushups. Air squats. Something. Do it. It will also help you fall asleep easier later.

Step 7: Eat, Caffeinate

I’ve been practicing intermittent fasting for many health reasons, so I generally like to work out fasted and wait to eat until I’ve been up for while. I also avoid simple carbs to keep from cashing due to blood sugar issues. I don’t eat until 2 hours have passed after I wake up.

Caffeine, if not abused or taken too early after waking, has been shown to focus and energize the mind. Studies have proven that caffeinated subjects scored better on tests of mental function. 200 mg is all that is necessary to see benefits. However, studies have also shown that caffeine intake in excess of 700mg per day can lead to increased urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium. We don’t want that! We’ve tried to get more magnesium in a previous step! So once you hit 6th cup of coffee, maybe stop.

Step 8: Cold Shower, Dress, Go to Work
One last step before we get to work, and that’s to make ourselves presentable. I might be able to just show up to my desk with messy hair and sweats, but I tend to take my work more seriously when I’m dressed for success and feeling clean. I take a little extra time to pretty myself up and enjoy the boost to my confidence before heading to the office.

But…what is this cold shower crap? That sounds awful! Well…it’s not exactly a vacation, that’s for sure. The benefits are ENORMOUS though. And we aren’t talking about the WHOLE shower, just 1 – 3 minutes of it! Check out all the awesomeness:

• Immune Booster – A cold shower releases numerous disease fighting agents into your bloodstream, which means any lurking sicknesses that haven’t yet reared their heads get attacked early and hard. The cells that are released are called leukocytes, and the cold tells them to go out and do their job.
• Boost Metabolism – Need to burn some fat? Cold showers to the rescue! See, most of us that carry a little extra weight have what’s called ‘white’ fat. White fat doesn’t do much but act as storage. However, most people don’t know about the existence of something called ‘brown’ fat. You see, brown fat actually burns calories just by EXISTING. And the neat thing is, as you take more and more cold showers, you will naturally convert white fat to its brown counterpart.
• Improved Circulation – Have high blood pressure or diabetes? Cold showers might help! See, the shock of cold puts the body into survival mode and recruits additional resources that increase blood flow. As you do this more and more often, the body gets REALLY good at switching quickly and efficiently.
• Better Skin and Hair – Our bodies are actually pretty good at taking care of our skin and hair without any help from outside agents. Cold showers help preserve the natural sebum on our skin and hair and help them stay hydrated and healthy. However, if you have acne problems, you might want to limit the cold water to areas that don’t break out.
• Improved Mood and Focus – Cold exposure releases three hormones that stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, giving you 30 minutes or more of a boosted mood similar to what you get from working out. In fact, this effect is similar to what you get from drinking coffee, so some people might find they don’t need as much of the black brew to function after a good cold shower.
• Muscle Recovery – Soreness after working out is normal. It means you’ve damaged the muscles and the body will need to repair them. Cold exposure helps the body recover from this damage faster, as it forces more blood into the damage areas and speeds up the healing process. That being said, some studies show that cold exposure too soon after an intense workout session can be counterproductive to muscle GROWTH, so be aware.
• Strengthen Your Mind – You first impulse when that cold water hits you is to jump out of the way, but if you can overcome that and persevere, you will slowly train your mind to react similarly in OTHER circumstances outside the shower stall. It teaches you NOT to overreact when stressors occur.

Step 9: Get to Work

By this point, I’m good to go! How I plan and execute my workday is outside the scoop of this article, but maybe in a future entry. In the meantime, I challenge you to adopt this daily morning routine for one week, and come back here and tell me what it’s done for you! Feel free to make adjustments to fit your individual lifestyle, but I’m eager to hear how it affects your productivity!

As always, thanks for reading, and let me know in the comments what you thought!