Waking up on the wrong side of the bed..
Sure, it’s an overused idiom to explain one’s negative outlook on their day from the second they wake up. But people tend to forget that their mood really can affect the rest of their day if they allow the day to take control of their mood, rather than taking control of their mood themselves. This whole wrong side of the bed idea started with the Romans. They believed that if you got up on the wrong side of the bed (the left side) you were destined to have a bad day and that nothing could alter that. Well, we’re going to challenge that age-old theory. Below we have listed a few simple ways that anyone can take control of their day and make sure it’s a good one from start to finish.
1) The”first few”: Right when you wake up each morning, what do you do? Typically, people reach for their alarm which is usually the one in their phone. From there, it’s quite easy to transition to checking any emails or texts. If this is what you do, then this the first thing you need to stop. You might think that going straight to your emails is proactive and will start your day off right, but in actuality, it works against you. In doing so, you’re now allowing yourself any peace of mind. Instantly you’re bombarded with information, deadlines, and above all else, an intensely bright phone screen. Instead, you should spend the first few minutes to gather your thoughts and think about your day. It’s your “me” time to calm your mind and to plan the kind of day you would like to have. Mindfulness exercises are proven to be associated with helping with stress, focus, and mental/physical health. When you actively take part in how the rest of your day unfolds, rather than allowing the day to simply happen, you take charge.
2) Appreciate: This in my opinion is the most important item on this list, and it’s because we all just simply don’t do it enough. The problem a lot of us face is that we are bogged down each day with things we HAVE to do. We allow tasks, deadlines, appointments, meetings, and responsibilities to control what we do, when we do them, and how we do it. Most of us rarely tell ourselves, “I am in control of how, when, and why I do the things I want to.” It’s also not necessarily our faults that we do this to ourselves. Our jobs and families take top priority which leaves very little time and energy to just focus on ourselves. So how do we find a middle ground? By taking a few minutes out of the day (best to do it in the morning, but really can be done whenever) to appreciate all that we have. When you appreciate what you have rather than focus on what your life is lacking, you’ll realize just how lucky you are. And by doing so, you’ll instantly improve your day.
3) List: After getting in your “me” time and finding appreciation in all that you have, move onto creating a list of all that you want to accomplish in the day, week, month, etc. It helps to put into perspective your goals and how you plan to go about achieving those goals. I love making lists because it allows me to organize and prioritize. Also, it gives me such satisfaction when I can cross an item off my list! If you don’t already have a list going to help you stay organized, do so today. It can be chronological, most important to least, least fun to most enjoyable (and vice versa). Whatever works for you.
4) Always keep learning: School doesn’t necessarily stop once you graduate and move into the real world. For as long as you want to stay ahead and grow as an individual, you need to constantly keep reading, learning, and understanding the world around you from all aspects of life. Stay up to date with world events, technology, politics, different cultures, etc. And above all else, continue to grow and be open-minded so that as you keep life from feeling like it is at a standstill – something that can easily happen when you stick to starting your day off on the wrong foot.
5) Exercise: This isn’t everyone’s favorite thing to do, but it needs to be done. Whether it’s as casual as taking a walk with your dogs, or hitting the gym, just get your body moving at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. Just get up and do it. And think of how happy you’ll be afterwards! Exercising, quite frankly, is too good for you to not include it in your day because it releases endorphins, boost your metabolism, increases energy levels, and is a great escape!