The importance of the first hour of your day.
We’ve all been there… your day starts, the kids are hungry, clothes need finding, teeth need brushing, everyone needs to get out the door. You’re managing the best you can but you’re already feeling overwhelmed with the demands of the day. Is there a better option than to wake up and hit the ground running? Absolutely.
Waking up an hour before your kids.
Yep. I said it. I know this seems like something that would surely make your morning worse. (Or maybe that’s just me since I’m most decidedly NOT a morning person) How can getting up EARLIER make my morning better?!
The reason is that how you spend the first hour of your day sets the tone for how the rest of it will unfold.
By waking up and doing a few specific things you will be able to greet your kids with your cup already overflowing. You will be able to respond to situations instead of just react. Your days will improve because you will have invested in yourself before anyone else was even awake!
As Robin Sharma shared in his book “The 5AM Club”,
“Take excellent care of the front end of your day, and the rest of your day will pretty much take care of itself. Own your morning. Elevate your life.”
In the solitude of the early morning hours you can hear yourself think, you can reflect on your life, fill your heart with gratitude and open your mind to goals you want to achieve.
Waking up early: A keystone habit
When you regularly make time for yourself this way, every other area of your life improves. It’s a keystone habit that causes a cascade of other good things in your day. When you feel great having woken up and smashed goals and it’s easier to respond to your kids the way you want, see the world more positively, make better eating choices and move your body more. It’s an upward spiral of pure awesomeness!
Say goodbye to revenge bedtime
“Revenge bedtime procrastination refers to the decision to delay sleep in response to stress or a lack of free time earlier in the day.” (Eric Suni, Sleep Foundation) When people feel like they have very little or no leisure time to themselves during the day, it can feel rebellious to stay up late after the kids go to bed even though you know you’ll be tired the next day. You might watch TV, eat snack foods, scroll social media etc.
Most of us don’t realise that revenge bedtime is actually bankrupting our motherhood. Late nights very quickly lead to chronic sleep deprivation and have a direct impact on our ability to cope the next day. It’s harder to get up the next morning, we’re snappy with the kids, we have less energy to cope with the demands of parenting and react to their behaviour instead of thoughtfully responding. We grow bitter and resentful at having no time for ourselves and so we stay up late again the next night to finally have some ME time.
Add to that a poor sleep can actually make you eat more the next day. Studies have shown we eat about 400 extra calories than we usually would after a poor sleep. (Melanie McGrice) We are also more likely to reach for fast burning carbs for quick hits of energy meaning the quality of those calories is poorer.
Research explains this is because sleep affects hunger hormones, ghrelin (the hungry hormone) and leptin (the fullness hormone). Sleep also affects the stress hormone cortisol. Lack of sleep increases ghrelin production making you feel hungrier and decreases leptin production meaning you don’t get the right fullness signals so you overeat. Less sleep means more cortisol production as well which leads to fat distribution around our midsection and leads to increased irritability.
Impulse control is also highest in the morning and lowest at night. This is why it’s easy to have a healthy breakfast and then eat a whole bag of chips in front of the TV at night. We’re more likely to give in to cravings and indulge during those few hours to treat ourselves. This can have a negative impact on our health and weight.
So what feels like some well deserved ME time after the kids go to bed is actually harming us in more ways than one. However, going to bed earlier means we actually get productive, cup filling ME time in the morning that improves every aspect of our life.
How to start waking up before your kids
If starting your morning with an overflowing cup sounds like your jam, I highly recommend getting a copy of Robin Sharma’s book, “The 5AM Club.” My simple summary here in no way does it justice and I cannot recommend it highly enough!
Robin recommends 5AM as the ideal time to rise and rock. You can begin with 6:00 or 7:00 if that works for you, so long as it’s an hour alone. I began with 6:00 and then moved to 5:00 as my body got used to the routine and I began to crave even more space for peace.
Set an old school alarm or other non-phone alarm (I use my Fitbit) and as soon as it goes off GET OUT OF BED! If you hesitate for even one second your brain will start to make excuses to not get up. Don’t let it! At first it was a bit disorienting to be asleep and then suddenly standing next to my bed! However, with time it soon becomes normal. You will feel completely energised in 20 short minutes!
Once you’re up and at ’em, Robin lays out an amazing routine to get the most out of your first hour. He calls it The 20/20/20 Formula. Three 20 minute pockets to start your day in the most positive way imaginable.
Pocket #1: Move
Drink a glass of water and then get moving! Moving vigorously first thing in the morning not only wakes you up but releases BDNF – Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor – which supercharges your brain for the day ahead.
You can do simple body weight exercises like squats, pushups, situps, standing oblique twists, skipping etc. The important thing is you need to make sure you SWEAT!
A big game changer for me is getting exercise out of the way first thing! I would often find myself trying to squeeze in time do it but get interrupted with the kids or things to do. My frustration at not being able to take care of myself would grow and bleed over into other areas of my life. Taking care of myself as the number 1 priority of the day means that is ticked off the list!
Pocket #2: Reflect
Spend the next 20 minutes meditating, journaling, praying and reflecting on your life. I began by meditating for 5 minutes and then moving on to journaling however I soon noticed my body wanted to keep going when the 5 minutes was up! Now I divide this time with 10 minutes of meditation and 10 minutes of journaling.
I write anything that’s on my mind. How I’m feeling about this new routine, any issues going on in my life, things I’m grateful for, anything! Once I’ve done that I write a short paragraph about how I would like my day to unfold. Sharma calls this a Pre-Performance Script. I visualise in detail how the day will go and how I will feel when I achieve the the goals I plan. For the rest of the day I simply follow that script! (Of course things may come up and that’s normal!)
I find that by doing this I am able to -respond- to situations rather than just -react- to them. Interestingly, I notice myself referring back to my Pre-Performance Script throughout the day. I can tap into my early morning self’s wisdom and keep myself on track.
Pocket #3: Grow
The final 20 minutes of your power hour is dedicated to your growth. You can read a book on any topic that interests you (The 5AM Club perhaps?), listen to a podcast, study online, or listen to an audiobook.
This time invests in your growth in whatever area you choose. The impacts of your increase in knowledge could positively impact your relationships, your job, your business, your faith, your healing, your health… the possibilities are endless!
The Benefits
I honestly could go on forever about how transformational this model will be for your life. Here are just a few of the things you’ll experience.
- Once your hour is up… you will be absolutely brimming with excitement and energy. You’ve already smashed so many goals that the rest of the day will seem a breeze!
- Your cup will be overflowing by the time you greet your children. The first line of my Pre-Performance Script is always, “I greet my family with joy and playfulness.” Our children seeing us bright and smiling as their first impression of the day start their day on the right foot too!
- Increased performance and results in all aspects of your life.
- Greater life satisfaction and feeling of contentment.
- Better sleep at night. (Getting up at 5 means I’m definitely ready to sleep and no longer toss and turn when I go to bed.)
- Improved health, energy and vitality so you can keep up with your kids and feel confident in yourself!
If any of those things sound good to you… by all means get yourself this book STAT! There are so many deep and impactful models in it that you cannot help but be uplifted and renewed in your quest to live the best life possible!
The more fulfilled we are as parents, the better we are able to respond instead of react to our kids. Aligned responses improve our connection with our kids and that connection in turn improves their cooperation. It’s a beautiful upward spiral!
Your connection counts… more than anything!
❤️❤️❤️
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