I never was a person too interested in the news, in fact, I tell my clients not to watch the news, but I recently felt I needed to learn about what was happening in the world because it was having an impact on me. I soon noticed how I was immersing myself in and looking at more news. I was losing myself in my phone watching daily news stories unfold.
As the days went by I found I was especially becoming more active on my phone when I woke in the morning. What had started as a desire to learn about what was happening in the world turned into time idly spent procrastinating on the internet.
I Had To Make A Change…
When I noticed I was spending more idle time on my phone in the morning I knew I needed to change something. I’d become agitated at the time I was losing and it was leading me to feelings of discontentment throughout my day.
I was noticing how it was affecting my productivity.
I had to make the decision to make my well being and business a priority over the mindless procrastination is was consuming myself in. One of the biggest struggles for many entrepreneurs is procrastination -it causes stress and has a negative impact on productivity, so it’s important to check in with yourself to make sure you’re using your time efficiently.
The trouble was I gave myself the excuse I needed to have my phone next to my bed – I like to optimize everything so binaural beats and meditation apps help me get to sleep and I was using my phone as an alarm clock. I decided to drop my excuses and remove my phone from my bedroom for good.
Create Better Habits
It’s important to have self-awareness of what is happening in your brain as you’re going to sleep and when you’re waking. The time in the morning between when you’re drowsy and fully awake is critical because internal programming is still happening within you when you’re half-asleep.
If you immediately jump on your phone before you’ve properly woken up you’re interfering with the natural rhythms of your mind and body. I noticed how I missed waking up feeling present and grateful and I knew I had to re-set my habits.
I wanted to stop being idle, set my morning off to a positive start, and be more efficient.
If I moved my phone just out of reach, I knew I’d find it tempting and grab it to take it back to bed, so I decided to ban my phone from my bedroom and swap it for something to help me.
I initially looked for meditation alarm clocks; there are devices that have sleep therapy but don’t have an alarm, and light clocks wake you up with light instead of an alarm. I wanted something combined so I searched on Amazon, read a lot of reviews, and found a low-cost alarm clock that had a series of meditation sounds on it. Check it out here.
I used the new alarm for the first time last night and I just had a great night’s sleep. When I woke up, my phone was upstairs and instead of distracting myself on my phone, I woke up normally, without any distractions and without my mind being programmed by whatever I was seeing in my newsfeed straight away.
I felt completely different.
Calm Mornings Lead To Calm Days
I want to become more efficient in the time that I have. I want to be able to sleep as best I can and I want to be as productive as possible, but more importantly I want to be as calm as I can.
Think about how more peaceful your mornings will feel if you also make the decision to wake up without any distractions, have more time to gather yourself, move calmly through your morning routine, and spend time with yourself so that you can start your day from a calm, confident place.
Small Adjustments Make Big Differences
Especially during this time, even small adjustments can make a big difference in how you’re leading your life. Even if you’ve had a specific routine in the past that served you, it doesn’t mean you’re applying it now. I’ve had different routines with my phone, but when an event happens it’s easy to slip back into old habits.
Today my morning was very different from my mornings over the past month – I felt relaxed and calm. That came from making a decision and wanting a better start to my day.
I don’t want my phone in my bedroom. My room is my sanctuary where I’m able to wind down, sleep well, and wake up without any distractions – this allows me to start my day in my best possible place. Maybe you can consider that for yourself too.
If feeling calm, procrastination or sleep is a challenge for you, my Super High Performance program is designed to enable entrepreneurs live and work in the space of total calmness.
