Every morning, you are given a choice: Do you wake up with your alarm, or push for five more minutes of sleep? Hitting snooze until the very last minute before you absolutely must get up isn’t exactly the best way to face the day. The morning is meant to be a time of renewal and quiet reflection before taking upon a new set of challenges, so why do we sprint through it like Usain Bolt? So here’s a novel idea; try slowing down!
Why is it important to slow down in the morning? To fully wake up, shower, exercise and get your life together before heading out the door to start your day? Below you’ll find out why rushing out the door with a muffin and coffee teetering in your hands isn’t in your best interest, and why you owe it to yourself to slow down.
Morning Rush: Why Slowing Down Your Wake-Up Routine Makes All The Difference
Life really isn’t a race
Somewhere someone thought it was a pretty good idea to apply the theory of actual racing to life. I don’t know who that person is or why they were compelled to do so but here we are: racing around like life is our freshly combed racetrack. When you wake up in the morning in haste, ask yourself what it is you are rushing to? Work? School? Family things? They will all be there a couple of minutes later, I promise you. That thought in itself starts the process of slowing down your routine because you internally recognize that things will happen when they happen and have set a pace you achieve. The tortoise/hare theory totally applies here so you have to ask yourself: do I want to be a chill tortoise or a worked up hare?
You’re setting the tone for your day
It’s no secret that the way you start your day will affect how that day unfolds. It doesn’t happen every time but chances are, if you’re a stress ball first thing, that’ll punctuate the rest of your day. If your morning begins with agitation and hostility then that might permeate work relationships and translate into other parts of your life that it really shouldn’t. Slowing down in the morning contributes to a more positive experience for both you and with whoever it is you happen to be interacting that day.
Chill out, Brain
Your brain gets it from all angles all day long, so do you really need to be looking at your work phone first thing in the morning and thinking about work? I thought not.
Our brains are working overdrive while we sleep and when we’re not; it just never stops. Those REM stages are mighty killer if woken in haste and not slowly, calmly. If we’re jolting our brain with immediacy of actions right away then we’re not being too kind to the thing that’s running the show that is Our Body. Slowing down reconnects your body and brain to get you more grounded and focused so that you can tackle the real challenges that may be ahead of you.
Self-care
The bottom line for why you should slow down in the morning is self-care. Life is stressful enough; waking up and moving around with an intensity of go-go can leave you further depleted of energy, drained for the things that really matter. Sitting down to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning rather than grabbing a tumbler and heading out the door is small self-care moment that is solely for you and no one else. Collecting as many self-care moments makes all the stuff much more bearable.