During the lockdown I could really feel my mental health starting to wane somewhat and so I decided that I had to get some advice on how to stop myself from slipping. I found a guy called David Serna, this enigmatic and truly inspiring life coach who spoke so much sense in his videos and they helped me a great deal. During one of his videos he mentioned how important it was to start the day right, and this was something which stuck with me. I began to think of ways in which I could kickstart my morning, what I could do to launch myself into the day.

Eventually I decided on the following and I have been doing these each morning since, and they have massively helped me out.

Quick Notes

I spend the first 5 minutes of my day writing down some notes, I will write down 2 positive things and I will also write down 5 tasks which I have to complete during the day. Sometimes I have more tasks but I keep it to 5 because that is a manageable amount to complete and it is a volume which I am more than happy to complete.

Making My Bed

I always remember this army guy telling me the importance of making your bed when you first wake up, and to be honest he was absolutely right. The point here is that once the bed is made there is no temptation to go back to it, there is also the first job of the day which you have completed and that can springboard you on to completing more tasks throughout the day. Always make your bed when you first get up.

Avoid Tech

I always make a point of avoiding tech for the first hour after I wake up. The reason for this is that the last thing which I need when I wake up is to be bombarded by emails or to read about all of the bad and negative news that there is. That first hour is for me, it is to wake up and feel good before launching into the day, this is something which I can’t do if I grab my phone as soon as I wake up, as this just puts me in a bad mood.

Meditate

Some people talk about meditating at the end of the day to decompress but personally this is exactly how I want to start my day. Staying calm and organized allows me to concentrate and have high levels of focus throughout the day. I also find that if I can mediate in the morning that throughout the day I am better equipped to deal with stressful situations. This is something which I would really recommend and the reality is that t only takes 15 minutes each morning for you to switch off, the results are absolutely amazing.

This is the routine which I like to use, and the one that keeps me on the right track.