How I own the mornings, with my e-d-c-b-a system!

I set a generic goal of “own my mornings again” in 2019. I am now embracing a specific system! I don’t have an Instagram-friendly morning of an acai bowl and yoga, but I love my mornings. The memes are true: Beyonce also has 24 hours in a day… but the only thing I know about her mornings? She wakes up like this. For me, the key to owning, or giving myself power to, my morning is determined by my ultimate endgame. This helped me form and follow a system to “create” time for my goals.

I made a system to make the morning more productive and creative: E-D-C-B-A

determine your Endgame

work on Desires

MINIMIZE Chores/choices

automate a Boost

recognize an Alert

My motivation, beyond it sitting pretty as one of my 19 goals for 2019? I started with my ultimate Endgame: give and create good energy for the rest of my day. I worked from that desire to create a system. You can approach it different ways: do you have multiple goals for the morning? Do you have an Endgame?

My Endgame is energy. I believe in the potential for each day, a la carpe diem, and this hope excites me. What can I control to give and have good energy for the day? This isn’t manifestation magic. I believe we have more control over what we do and accomplish than what we think.

When learning to master the morning, determine your Desires. My goal for the morning is to physically use the newfound time and energy for creating. As a result of using this time in the morning, I feel relieved and ready for the day. My system for creation is sprinkled throughout this website (such as my mastery in March), and much of that work is done every morning.

How do I get to a place where I can work on Desires? I am learning to minimize Chores and Choices and automate a Boost. There’s a lot of decisions to be made before heading to work (or just the activities ahead). To some, the assortment of Choices is intimidating, and others find it exciting. I’d rather use my morning brain power on creating, so I’ve minimized what actually needs to get decided before external obligations and my creative work begin.

A rapidly shrinking closet pairs most items together, and I try to set out the next day’s outfit. I am working to remove unnecessary Choices, so I focus on quality items that match. I don’t wear makeup or jewelry much (and absolutely respect the people who do). I pack my gym clothes, and they’re ready to go by the door in my gym bag… physically compartmentalizing different aspects of my life may be a post for another time.

I love food but get overwhelmed with Choices, so I try to make a bulk breakfast at the start of the week and meal prep or turn dinner’s leftovers into lunch, so both meals are ready for me in the morning. My go-to bulk breakfast? Frittata!

Before the Chores and Choices step, I recommend automating a Boost. This is an internal or external motivator that causes a response. Maybe you immediately make a cup of coffee in the morning (or maybe you go one step further and get a scheduled coffee maker).

Though I am buying a French Press and researching options, I use YouTube to push me forward in the morning, creating playlists with favorite songs and TED Talks. It’s a bit of a brain trick, I “get” to hear my favorite songs, such as music by The National, Iron and Wine, Blue October, and Avett Brothers.

I’ve created these internal Boosts, partially because external Boosts are often fear-based. If you need motivation from outside yourself, see if you can get accountabilibuddies for the morning. A text might not be enough. Can you schedule a morning meeting? Try to not let fear be your motivator: fear of being late, forgetting something, or whatever potential stress.

The more you work on your morning routine, the less you’ll need a Boost, because the time to work on Desires and your Endgame becomes the reward. Time is relative, so it feels like I’ve created minutes (anywhere from 30-60 extra!) where I formally befriended the snooze button, which brings me to my last element of my morning routine: make and use an Alert.

Like many people, my phone not only hosts my means of communication, it’s my alarm. While I am considering using a physical clock, I know by removing the phone from my bed, I must get out of its comforts to turn off the alarm or press that snooze button (what a one-sided relationship). My first alarm is always at the same time.

An old habit was setting multiple alarms, just in case I turned the alarm off instead of pressing the snooze. I’d justify it, maybe I’d sleep through 2, 3, 4 alarms? It didn’t matter that I’ve done that maybe twice in my life, fear oriented that decision.

I’ve found this system also has the potential to create an internal Alert. The brain and body start going, even before the alarm goes off, the dog needs walking, or the baby is crying (these are just examples of external Alerts).

With this e-d-c-b-a system in place, I have started naturally waking up “ahead of time” which is about 40 minutes earlier than when I started crafting this routine. This has become an internal Alert. Happily, I now press snooze 0-2 times!

I have time and space, and therefore energy, to work on what I actually want to! I may not be an expert, but this system works for me. It’s apt I am finalizing this at 9am on a Sunday! How do you own the mornings? Share with a comment.