Wake Up With a Better Perspective

Instead of resenting our day-to-day routine, we can choose to wake up better. There are things we can do to improve our mood and our perspective.

I have this silly joke that gravity is stronger in the morning. It is tempting to just stay in the bed even after the alarm. Especially during Mondays! It is a challenge to return to a working mode after a very brief and “unutilized” weekend. 

But this should not always be the case. Instead of resenting waking up early to go to work or school, we should practice the following to improve our “morning mood”: May this list resonate and minister to you. 

Wake up better with a compelling purpose 

Have a definitive reason why you plan to get up earlier. Is it to improve your health? To spend more time with your loved ones? Is it to enjoy a quiet environment first thing in the morning? When you know the reason for doing something, it can be a powerful motivator in actually doing it.

I remember having classmates who get up as early as 4 am-5 am to review their lessons. Responsible parents wake up early to go to work no matter how exhausting their days are. They are driven by their purpose. If your purpose is not compelling enough, you may find yourself unmotivated to seize the day. 

Break your to-do list down into small, actionable steps. 

By breaking down the larger item, you’re thinking through the details of what needs to get done. It helps you feel more accomplished. You will be able to tick off some items, compared to nothing because your task seems too large. It sets the productive mood even as you wake up.

Whenever I cross out items on my daily list, I get pumped up! Rather than a bulky and vague “finish all reports today”, I categorize my tasks into smaller chunks: “do bank reconciliation”, “finalize disbursements report”, “work on the cash receipts”, “account for the petty cash fund” and “check the reimbursement and attachments”. 

Set ninety-day goals rather than yearly ones. 

The majority of us formulate our goals at the beginning of the year and forget them a few weeks or months thereafter. But a neat trick to make your goals work is to set goals you’d like to finish by March 31 instead of December 31. When April comes, you can evaluate whether you’re anywhere near your goal or not. This short-term goal setting and evaluation also helps whether you need to revamp your goals or create new ones. And even if you haven’t reached your original goal, you’re now on track to reach it in the next timeframe.

Another wisdom in this goal-setting method is the time element. December 31 may seem too distant to be intentional when you’re just starting the year, but it will push too much pressure when you’re a few months to go and you haven’t progressed a bit. Opting for 90-day goals will help you take hold of your schedule. 

Track your accomplishments. 

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to stick to your to-do list, you’re going to accomplish a lot of tasks that aren’t on your list but still need to be done. Your boss will ask you favors, your parents will ask you to visit the supermarket before you go home, an urgent task pops up… the list goes on. Whenever this happens, write the task down. No matter how small it seems, it adds to your productivity. By the end of the day, you’ll have a long list of accomplished tasks to celebrate with. Those reminders of your productivity can be a motivating boost in keeping up your good work!

But be careful not to confuse these tasks with distractions. Idle, prolonged chit-chat is not productive. Excessive browsing on social media is not productive. Mobile games while at work or reviewing lessons is not productive, no matter how “accomplished” you think you are. 

Make sure your daily to-do list includes a step towards a larger goal.

Set yourself up towards your larger goal. It was said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If you want to be an effective writer in the future, your to-do list daily must bring you closer to your goal! If you want to be an excellent driver, you must learn how to drive little by little. You may be doing something small at the moment, but you’re also setting the stage to complete a much larger project in the future. Not all goals can be attained overnight. That is why we need to work on it steadily, regularly. 

Do you have any other “mood” and “perspective” changers to add to this list? Share in the comments below! Just remember that it is always best to wake up with a winning attitude.