09To rise and shine in the morning is rather the exception for you? Here are some tips to survive a stressful day with a twinkling eye!6 AM: The alarm clock rings. And will beep in 10-minutes intervals as of now. Until we decide to get up and escape this dreadful sound.
Today, I’ll go to bed earlier, I promise…
7 AM: Take a sleepy shower, turn on the radio, curse the cheerful radio host.
8 AM: Damn! Missed the bus. A crowded subway to go to the office instead.
9 AM: Wishing for the end of work.
You all know the feeling! To rise and shine in the morning is rather the exception. It’s not a lack of sleep though that makes you want to stay under your blanket all day long (adults need between six and eight hours sleep). The reasons are rather these to-dos and tasks, making you shudder before even starting the day. Topics like sleep, organization and self-motivation are shrouded in myth, studies and guidebooks. Therefore, we all know that our own structure and some self-imposed rituals can help us to start the day more easily. These are our top 5 tips to challenge the above scenario.
1. Good Night!
A successful day start assumes a conscious completion of the preceding day. That means: spoil yourself! With a dinner in your favourite Italian restaurant, for example, a good book, the new Netflix series or a wild dance in your living room. What’s important: the decision, to leave your work and to spend some free time must be taken deliberately. These activities should be enjoyed to the max, without a bad conscience, otherwise it’s a half-assed job. If open tasks, however are still sitting inside your head, just put these on a to-do list to make sure that nothing gets forgotten to be well prepared for the next day. It’s essential that you don’t take your stress and these to-dos to bed. By the way: your body rests best if smartphone and computer are shut down at least 30 minutes before you get to sleep. With this in mind… good night!
2. To-do Lists
Once, the to-do list game has started, it’s rather impossible to stop it again – the simplest list can be a tremendous support in terms of your daily routines. An upcoming trend in the living section are planners with blackboard paint. The paint does not only save your walls but notes and drafts embellish your interior. If you prefer to organize yourself the digital way, apps like “Keeping Task Master” or “Wunderlist” free your mind. Paper maniacs will definitely love the memos of fashion illustrator Kera Till.
3. It’s about Time…
You made many plans… but you never know how things turn out. How to solve this problem? With a detailed timetable! To make sure you accomplish a maximum of tasks, to-do lists can be chronologically structured. The more you recognize yourself, the easier becomes your time estimate. Two hours for emails, one hour for grocery shopping, one hour for housework, a one hour break… and so on. If you structure your day right in the morning, it’s easier to judge the tasks that need to be accomplished. Just give it a try!
4. Rituals
Rituals can have a positive effect on time management overall. In general, a body gets used to recurring processes within two weeks only. Wrapped in routines, unloved tasks can thus become normal to-dos. Furthermore, a ritual can become a perfect day start: according to the Chinese medicine, a lukewarm glass of water with fresh lemon in the morning stimulates the circulation and makes you feel at ease. Or is it the thought of a healthy breakfast and your first coffee that motivates you to get up? Find out what’s your recipe for a perfect day start and which routines help you to cope with your everyday stress.
5. Ommmmmm!
If despite all planning tips things get beyond your control, just say: Om! Yoga is a great way (immediate effect guaranteed) to better cope with everyday stress. Even some simple exercises calm body and mind. They alleviate your stress perception and build up new strength. If you catch yourself in the act, gasping, just disappear for a minute and turn into the “tree” which has a stabilizing and harmonizing effect.
The Yoga Tree works like this:
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- Stand up straight and breath in and out deeply several times, close your eyes.
- Stretch arms to the sides, lift your left foot, lay it on the inner thigh.
- Stretch arms, slightly angled, up-wards, continue to breath calmly. Keep app. 15 seconds, change side and repeat the yoga movement.
Translation: Danielle De Bie
