My Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life

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April 5, 2006
8 Comment

This Wednesday: Tips…to improve the morning

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.  This Wednesday: Tips for improving the morning.

  1. Last thing before going to bed, tidy up the house. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if you do it every night, this one habit can dramatically improve your environment.
  2. Always keep keys, wallet, phone, etc. in your bag, and what’s more, in the same place in your bag; don’t put them down on a counter or anywhere else.
  3. Keep plenty of cash in the house.
  4. Put envelopes to be mailed, library books to be returned, or videos to be returned by the front door.
  5. Don’t leave the bathroom, bedroom, or kitchen without making sure that all drawers and cabinet doors are closed.
  6. Sing—even for just a minute—when you wake up.
  7. Take a few minutes to stretch.
  8. Always, always, always make the bed.
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  • Beth

    I went to a leadership conference last year that dealt with lofty ideas and goals. One of the concepts was to institute small habits built around your overall mission in life. The one new habit that I have stuck with faithfully, is to prepare the coffee pot in the evening before I go to bed. No matter how tired or whatever I am at the end of the day, that is my small ritual that does not go undone. IT MAKES THE MORNING BETTER! I love getting up, going downstairs half-groggy, flipping the switch (I have a small, old-fashioned coffee maker that doesn’t have a timer) and getting my day going. I then sit in bed with my coffee and get the morning news via laptop computer (rather than newspaper or TV) while enjoying my coffee. This gets me up earlier, and gives a pleasant & relaxed start to the day. I used to sleep until the last second, then was rushing madly and running off (either late or at the last possible minute) to the first commitment of the day. This ONE SMALL HABIT has made it much easier to be an early morning person. So I would add this as Tip Number 9: Prepare the coffee maker the night before.

  • http://lifepbs.wordpress.com shuchetana

    Gretchen, thank you for these tips. And thank you, Beth; the very idea of knowing that I’ll have my coffee in the morning is making me feel better :)
    Over the past few days, I’ve started reading this blog, and i like it a lot. But today, I was feeling a bit down, and this post really cheered me up. The tips are helpful. The hardest part of my day is waking up, and these tips make it easy to look forward to the morning.

  • justin short

    I really like your tips, but I have to wake up very early and I dont feel like doing streches
    or making the bed,Its not that im lazy, I just cant find anything to help me wake up in the morning can you help?

  • martha

    Justin,
    I am NOT a morning person, however since we got two puppies…it does get us up earlier in the morning. If you let them sleep in the same room with you they want to eat as soon as possible…so they will figure out a way to wake you up. Our Maltese starts licking my husband’s eyelids at 5:45 and he won’t stop until he gets food.

  • http://www.jenniferklemp.com jennifer

    Hi Gretchen,
    I am vexed. Truly vexed. I am a painter and I was out doing a plein air painting with a private student. I had a really good painting going, if I do say so myself, and I felt at ease and right with the world. Then, in a matter of seconds, the wind whipped up a jar of turpentine, and the turp went flying all over my painting. There was a remnant of the top portion left, however, most of the paint dripped down the canvas thus ruining what I had accomplished. Since I am a recent fan of your blog, I found myself asking: “What would Gretchen, the Happiness guru do?” There are times when things happen out of the blue and you just get mad. If you have any insight or suggestions for these types of things, then please, let me know. What about a blog titled: “When bad things happen”- how to overcome them and get happy again.
    I think I need to go paint my toenails now.
    J

  • Ellen

    I’ve found that leaving my phone in my purse is a huge mistake, as I forget to charge it, and then find myself with a dead phone a day or two later when I most need one. :/ So I take it out to charge each time I come home, and leave the case on top of my purse so I remember to replace it.
    As for making the bed, I have two rambunctious boys who play on mine, so it’s rarely worth the effort. My stepmother, who raised me to make hospital corners, recently read that not making the bed helps air it out and kill dust mites — so now *she* never makes her bed either :-)
    I’m enjoying your blog archives quite a lot. Just remember that not all tips will work for all your readers!

  • Barb

    I am a painter, too, and I understand how exciting it can be when all the ducks are in a row and a painting is developing well. How frustrating to have that momentum brought to an abrupt close! People assume that if you paint you can “just paint another piece”, but a lot of things have to work for it to be frame-worthy. so, I think the thing to do is to let yourself feel vexed as long as you need to. Then figure out if there is a way to prevent the same thing from happening in the same outdoor situation in the future. And, when even more time goes by, think about what a gift it is to be able to create something beautiful. And be inspired to paint something wonderful, which will make you smile.

  • i will

    amazing post and amazing comments.:) making bed is deinetly one thing i need to learn and the tip to tidy up the house before you go to sleep ..wow :) point has been taken and i will try to start doind these two from today itself.

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