Give Yourself the First 30 Minutes

Waking up 30 minutes earlier can sound terrible when you are already exhausted. I am not a morning girl and waking up even 5 minutes before my 5th alarm goes off is grueling. That extra half hour (or even 5 minutes) of sleep can feel far more valuable than stretching, journaling or sitting quietly with a cup of coffee. But the payout is SO worth it! If 30 minutes feels out of reach, start with five and gradually work up to giving yourself the gift of the full 30 minutes.

Gifting yourself those 30 minutes can completely change the way your day begins.

Too often, we wake up and immediately start reacting. Stress enters our lives before the coffee has a chance to wake us up.

• We check our phones.
• We open work emails.
• We look at messages.
• We start thinking about meetings, deadlines, errands, appointments and everyone else who needs something from us.

Before we know it, we are already mentally at work before we have even taken care of ourselves, and the stress has begun before we are prepared for it.

That is why I love the idea of protecting the first few minutes of your morning. Before you jump into your first call or start answering emails, give yourself a little time to simply be.

• Spend a few minutes meditating or praying.
• Stretch your body.
• Do five minutes of exercise to get your energy up and your body moving.
• Put on music you love or listen to something that puts you in a positive frame of mind.
• Make your coffee.
• Eat breakfast.
• Sit down for a moment and journal your positive affirmations.
• Read your goals for the week, month and year to keep your mind focused on your why.

None of these things need to take very long. Even a few intentional minutes can help you feel more grounded before the demands of the day begin.

I also love taking two minutes to journal. Write down a few things you are grateful for. Then write down your goals. One thing I like to do is write them as though they have already happened and feel gratitude for what I am working toward. It shifts your focus from everything that could go wrong to what you are building, creating and moving toward.

Then take a minute to organize your day. Instead of creating one overwhelming list, separate it into three simple categories:

1. What absolutely needs to happen today.
2. What you would really like to accomplish.
3. What would be great to get done but can wait if it needs to.

That small distinction can take so much unnecessary pressure off your shoulders. Not everything is an emergency. Not everything has to happen today.

And before the day gets away from you, take care of your future self too. Set a reminder on your phone to stand up and stretch. Block a few minutes for lunch. Remind yourself to drink some water. Schedule the walk instead of hoping you will somehow find time for it later.

Will every morning look like this? Of course not. Some mornings you will oversleep. Some mornings something unexpected will happen before your feet even hit the floor. Some days you will meditate, journal, stretch and make breakfast. Other days you may have enough time to drink half a cup of coffee and take three deep breaths before your first meeting. That is okay. I repeat, that is okay!

The goal is not to create another list of things you must do perfectly.

The goal is to build a habit of taking care of yourself before you spend the rest of the day taking care of everything else.

When you begin your morning feeling a little more centered, a little more organized and a little more intentional, the rest of the day often feels different too.

Thirty minutes may not change what is waiting for you, but it can change the way you meet it.

Your story matters, and your next chapter is yours to write.