Have you ever wondered why you
sleep with your smart phone next to your bed? Does it give you some sort of
comfort to know that your phone is there, so anyone, anywhere in the world can
disturb your sleep and interrupt that crucial time you spend rejuvenating and
recharging your batteries, at their discretion? To me it feels like you are
giving away some, if not all your control over your sleep every night. Empower
yourself and give yourself permission to do what you should be doing when you
get into bed every night, namely to rest and recharge your batteries. Is that
email from an overseas supplier, which comes through at midnight and disrupts
your natural sleep cycle, so important, it can’t wait until morning?
Recent studies show that over 80
% of mobile phone users sleep with their phones in the bedroom. Can you
honestly tell me why you feel the need to have your phone right next to you
while you sleep? Obviously if your son or daughter is out late or there is some
other reason a close family member may need to reach you in an emergency, then
by all means have your mobile phone next to your bed. In every other instance,
give yourself permission to leave your smart phone out of the bedroom. It is no
wonder that so many people feel overwhelmed every day and like they feel like
they cannot cope with their workload. They are switched on 24 hours a day, with
their mind constantly spinning away. They never give themselves permission to
switch off and to rest and rejuvenate. You will astound yourself at how much
more rested you are in the morning, when you allow yourself to switch off and
rest, when you go to sleep every night.
What is the first thing you do
every morning to start you day? Is it grabbing hold of your smart phone, with
bleary eyes, which are barely able to focus, so that you can read your text or
email messages? This is crazy behaviour. You are immediately giving away
control of your day to the whims of everyone, who may have sent you a text or
email during the night. You are allowing these messages to set your priorities
for the day. They see you start your day, in a reactive state, rather than in a
controlled proactive fashion, where you are focused on achieving your goals. Those
text and email messages immediately demand your time and attention and they
take up crucial space in your mind.
You have effectively surrendered control
of your day, to others, before it has even started. Picture this start to your
every day. You are lying in bed, reading messages form marketers, vendors, colleagues
and possibly even your boss, which flood your brain with what they want you to
do, not what you want to achieve that day. What a way to start your day, you
put the needs of some random person, who has sent you a mail, ahead of your
own. You are effectively surrendering control for setting the tone of your day
to someone else. Can you now see why we seem to spin our wheels all day, feel exhausted
at the end of each day, but we achieve very little?
Try the system I have described
below for the next seven days. The
people, who have tried and applied this simple new routine, have seen a remarkable
improvement in the outcomes they manage to achieve. They get more done each day
and they feel far more rested. Set yourself a goal for the next seven days to
try this new daily routine as described below:
Action Idea:
·
Plan your day the night before. Spend about ten
minutes at the end of your day, formulating a simple plan, which will allow you
to know what you need to achieve the next day. This simple process allows your
brain to switch off and rest during sleep and also gives you a head start the
next morning.
·
When you wake up in the morning, do not push the
snooze button, get out of bed immediately and get your day started on a high. I
call this my activation energy; it sets the tone for an energised and powerful
day.
·
Spend the first five or ten minutes, refining
your daily plan. Ensuring that you have time in your schedule to achieve your
three most important priorities. Ensure that you have also scheduled time in
your day to meet your future. This is a time slot of a minimum of 30 minutes
every day, where you invest time working on your life, where you invest into creating
the future you want to live.
·
Once you have control over your day and your
needs are your top priority, now you can open your emails and read your text
messages.
I challenge you to try this new
routine for seven days. You will literally astound yourself with what you are
able to achieve in that week. You will not only get more done, but you will
also feel more rested and inspired. You have nothing to lose and so much to
gain, give it a try. I would really appreciate your feedback on how this new
routine works for you, please drop me an email at Andrew@andrewhorton.co.za and let
me know how things go, when you start your day focused on your needs, rather
than on someone else’s.
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