I'm not a morning person. I'm generally up and working by 7am, but only reluctantly. Coffee helps, but only mildly. The most productive portion of my day is 11am - 3pm. I'm just not that morning guy.
But I get up. We all do. The working world seems to operate that way.
And there is a great deal of intrinsic drive to me getting up every morning: so much time and so little to do. Wait. Strike that. Reverse it. Little projects, big projects, contacts and sales. Making sure I've left something good in place of a day passed.
But even with all the mental push you can muster, with all the good intentions you scrape together, I know some of you are still thinking "but I just don't want to get up!" And physically, early in the morning, your body just doesn't want to rise to the occasion. So what to do?
Little commitment, big payoff.
Here's a little exercise that I do on a regular basis:
- Turn and sit on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor. (Yes, you can do this in the dark with your eyes closed.)
- Begin rotating your shoulders forward, as though you were rowing but without the arms involved.
- Take a deep breath. Hold it for a few seconds. Slowly exhale. Then two more like that.
- Now reverse direction of the shoulder roll and take 3 deep breaths.
- Instant jump in alertness.
The rotation of the shoulders gets your body morning, even if on a minor level. The specific motion helps to open up the lungs. The deep breathing - paired with your opening lungs - delivers more oxygen to your brain, naturally making you feel more alert and awake. Even the grumbliest of morning grumps will feel more awake after this brief moment.
[NOTE: For those of you who - like me - spend most of the day in front of the computer which lends itself to non-optimal seating positions that may naturally shallow breathing: this exercise is a great pick-me-up to re-seat and re-invigorate yourself a couple times a day.]
So now you're out of bed. Go smile in the mirror and get off to a great week!
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