WEBVTT - Become a Morning Person 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:05.600 Okay, seven four. Now we really need to get up 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:11.080 with pressed news twists. But I have a doctor's equipment, 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:16.919 so I gotta go. Oh, press news one more time. 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.400 I'm Francesco Levi, and until pretty recently, a typical morning 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:28.520 for me might go like this, press news for a while. 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:33.920 Wait for my toddler son Roman to wake up. Oh 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:41.040 that's him calling me. I'm Gondrining getting up and I 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:50.040 am about mm hmm. Don't get him. And then from 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:51.600 the time I get my son out of bed to 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:55.400 the time I leave for work, everything kind of falls apart. 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:09.080 I you go, that's bro all right, a morning shore 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:14.960 and I have about twelve minutes to get ready if 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:17.600 I want to leave them time trying to script once 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:31.600 breakfast you extream light peez on while it thank you? 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:42.480 All right? If I for real, everyone, I think I 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.560 can do a lot better. So in this episode, I'm 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:49.040 going to try to completely rehabilitate my mornings with the 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:53.400 help of some expert advice, some scientific research, and some gadgets. 0:01:54.960 --> 0:02:17.760 Welcome to Works for Me. M Hi, I am at 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.400 a greenfield and I'm Francesca Leaping. Every week on Works 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.760 for Me, we test out solutions to our productivity problems 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.560 and find out what tips and tricks will work for you. 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:32.120 This week, it's Francesca's turn to fix her life. Francesca, 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.840 what problem are you trying to solve? For years? I 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:39.720 have wanted to totally fix my mornings. They're just kind 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:45.079 of broken. I don't naturally get up super early, and 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.480 I also just don't use my morning time well. I 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:51.519 go from dragging my feet and wasting time to running 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.720 around in a huge tree. By the time I leave 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.639 the house, I'm usually flustered, running a few minutes late, 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.480 and still a little groggy. I mean, that doesn't sound 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.520 super and usual for a morning. No, it's probably not, 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.240 But that doesn't mean it's good. And if there's one 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:08.000 thing I know, it's that mornings are the most important 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.400 part of the day. You read about the fabulous mornings 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:16.160 of powerful people constantly. All of the world's influencers get 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:20.240 up super early and start maximizing their time right away. 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:24.960 The morning routines of Microsoft CEO Satia Adela, vog editor 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:28.280 in chief and a win tour former PEPSI CEO Indrenus, 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.040 and dozens of others start as early as four am 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:36.200 and include everything from vigorous exercise to gratitude and meditation 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:40.880 exercises to personal journaling. I really do have dozens of 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:44.240 examples like this. Yeah, it's true. I come across articles 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.280 about this all the time. Everybody seems to want to 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.080 know the secret to success, and they think the answer 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:52.680 can be found in the early hours of the day. 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.920 It's like mornings are meant to be optimized, and if 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.640 you're not doing it, you're a lazy loser who will 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:02.480 never amount to anything. These people definitely exist to make 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.960 you and me feel terrible about Do you feel like 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.520 you're a morning person? I guess I would fall into 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:11.520 the morning person category in the sense that I don't 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:14.800 have trouble getting up early and I like the mornings, 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.279 but I'm definitely not doing anything to get anything out 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:21.760 of them. Like I have figured out the last possible 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.680 minute I can wake up and get to work. I 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:25.880 don't even need breakfast at home or have coffee. I 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:30.160 just get up as late as possible and leave for work. Well, 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.800 it sounds like you haven't been indoctrinated by this like 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.520 culture of mornings that I have, and I am a 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.200 morning person. Maybe I should be taking advantage of that. Well, 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:44.840 maybe morning people are just naturally more successful. I'm so successful. 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.440 The important thing I wanted to change wasn't just getting 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:00.240 up earlier. I wanted to have a good, effective, more ning. 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:04.279 I wanted to be like those morning people. Okay, so 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.479 you want to get up earlier and do lots of 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:09.000 productive stuff in the morning every day. So what's your 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.039 plan of action? So I didn't just want to pick 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:14.719 a morning person and imitate them. So I went looking 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.839 for a morning wake up routine that was actually grounded 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:21.480 in research, and I found this system. It's called rise Up. 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:25.120 Rise Up is actually an acronym for six things that 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:28.000 you can do every morning. It's a series of steps 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:30.840 that make you wake up quickly and stay awake and alert. 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:34.200 It was developed by Alison Harvey, a Berkeley professor of 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.920 psychology who runs a sleep and mood research lab. I'm 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:39.880 going to describe the acronym, which is kind of a 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:44.279 weird one. The R stands for refrain from snoozing. The 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.800 I stands for increased initial activity for the first hour. 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.920 The S stands for shower or babe, which I think 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.760 is pretty standard. The E stands for expose yourself to 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.080 sunlight even looking at a window is fine. The you 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:01.719 stands for upbeat music, and then there's P which stands 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:04.680 for phone a friend. I think the idea is that 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.960 talking to somebody helps trigger your brains, energy, chemicals or something. 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:12.200 So I decided to try this for six weeks. This 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:16.080 is a lot of steps to do for somebody who 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:21.040 self proclaimed doesn't like doing things in the morning. Also, 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:26.760 increase in ishal activity. What does that mean exercise? I 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.600 think like just be active first thing in the morning. 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:31.919 Like I said, this acronyms is not a good acronymis 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.160 none of the letters. You really have to force them 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:36.359 into making them mean what they're supposed to be. It 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:40.760 sounds like a robot like increase initial activity. Yes, yeah, 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.800 it's a lot, but this is what science says you 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.960 have to do. So how will you know that you've 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:51.920 succeeded in fixing your mornings after doing this experiment? This 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.839 morning makeover will be a success if I can get 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:57.919 through all of the rise up steps every day for 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:01.080 a week. By the way, the developers of this system 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.680 are actually careful to say you don't have to do 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:06.440 every step every day and you can adjust it as necessary. 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.359 But I wanted to get the absolute most out of 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:22.960 my morning. So I committed to doing every single step. Okay, 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:26.080 rise up. As I said, is six steps that you're 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:29.120 supposed to do every morning. I'll describe how I did 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:34.360 on each step in order. Step one refrain from snoozing. 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:38.560 This step sounds easy, it's basically just getting out of bed, 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:41.480 but I found myself failing at it all the time. 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:44.880 Let me tell you. You can know in your head 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.520 that pressing snooze is just not a great plan, that 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.200 it reinforces a sense of failure first thing in the morning, 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.520 and that sleeping in eight minute increments is not actually RESTful. 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.960 You can know that in your rational brain. But my 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:00.840 rational brain is nowhere to be found. It's as I am, 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.680 it's only lizard brain saying sleep more. I thought about 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.800 people who have conquered that lizard brain. People who have 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.200 to get up crazy early for work, like morning newscasters. 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:13.600 Not only do they have to be at work early, 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:15.800 they have to be able to sound bright and awake 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:20.800 like this, good morning. I'm Noel King. If you've ever 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.920 done CPR training, you know that that's Noel King, host 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:29.080 of NPRS Morning Edition, and her morning is insane. She 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:32.280 gets up at one thirty a m. And she has 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:36.120 to be on the air as early as four thirty am. 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:37.920 I spoke with her a few months ago after she 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.800 got up her shift. I asked her about that feeling 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:42.360 when you get up, that going back to sleep just 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:44.640 for a few minutes would be the sweetest thing. Ever. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.320 Noel explained how she convinces herself to get out of bed. 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:50.560 I will say that in the morning, I am a 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:54.040 little mean to myself. I acknowledge that I feel like 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.520 I don't want to do something, and then I hear 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.680 a different voice, which sounds an awful lot like my 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.000 mom's sometimes saying, but you don't have any options. There's 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.439 how you feel, which is your problem, and then there's 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:08.720 the day that you have to get done and and 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.000 if you don't do it, you make that everybody else's problem. 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:15.040 So you have to really, truly, I know this sounds insane, 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.400 but you have to condition yourself to divorce what you're feeling, 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.680 which maybe like crap, from what has to get done, 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:22.839 and you have to tell yourself you don't have a choice. 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.600 You can't stay in bed. It's funny to imagine her 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.400 having this internal monologue with herself every morning. I know. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.320 I mean she said she's naturally a morning person, but 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:34.679 I mean, no amount of being a morning person is 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:36.960 going to make you want to wake up at one thirty, 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:39.079 which is just such a crazy time. And so I 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.680 thought she was like the perfect person to ask, Okay, 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.000 how do you grapple with that actual feeling? Because I 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.080 don't want to hear about how successful people like spring 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.280 out of bed and start exercising. Like, I get it, 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.480 you're great, But if you don't naturally want to do that, 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.880 how do you fight those urges that are really strong? Yeah? 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:58.480 I think I relate to this a little. You know, 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:00.360 and your alarm goes off on the morning, you do 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:03.240 have to there's something inside of you. Do you do it? 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:04.760 Do you press snews? Are you a snoozer? I'm not 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.719 a sneezer. So you just say, Becca, it's time to 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:11.560 get started. I've calibrated, and I just know how bad 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.560 that feels. It's just well, it feels bad, but first 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:24.040 it feels good. It's like a drug. I knew I 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.960 needed to get serious about kicking what I have come 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.480 to realize as a snooze addiction. So I doubled down 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.400 on the R part of rise up. I started using 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.559 a special wake up light that mimics a natural sunrise. 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.040 The one I have is made by Phillips. It retails 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:41.960 for about a hundred dollars and it slowly brightens your 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.960 room so you just glide out of sleep. And I 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:48.200 downloaded a free sleep cycle app which is supposed to 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.080 detect when your sleep cycle is at its lightest and 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.880 that's when it's easiest for someone to wake up. And 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:57.959 how did that all go? Well? After a little trial 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.240 and error and a lot of practice, I did manage 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:04.360 to get better at waking up without snoozing. The sleep 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.480 cycle app never correctly guessed when I was lightly sleeping, 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:10.640 so I just deleted it from my phone. In fact, 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:13.200 I got rid of my phone alarm altogether and just 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:16.520 started using the wake up light as my only alarm. 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:19.840 It comes with a little gentle bird song. I also 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.160 put the wake up light way on the far side 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.320 of the room so that it was harder to go 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.320 back to sleep after I turned it off, and I 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.000 just tried to remember Noel King's wise words. You don't 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:34.880 have any options. There's how you feel, which is your problem, 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.160 and then there's the day that you have to get done, 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.480 and if you don't do it, you make that everybody 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.840 else's problems. I just sort of trained myself to wake 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.920 up like a robot and dive right into my yoga routine. 0:11:48.920 --> 0:12:03.640 More about that yoga routine after this break. Yeah, okay, 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.959 so we're on step two now exercise. Well not technically. 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.880 It's the eye and rise up, which stands for increased 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:15.360 initial activity. I interpreted this as fifteen minutes of vigorous 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.600 yoga right after getting out of bed. So on day one, 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.720 after making it out of bed, I did my level 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.160 best to follow along with the yoga video I found 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:30.760 on YouTube. Hold your plank, breathe and then going side 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.040 to side, did you want hit at a time to 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:38.040 the most working away signing intense. I don't have to 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.640 physically touch the brown come close to using the strengthen, 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.240 but it's a hard, very hard coming down to low plank. 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:49.320 Thank you guys so much. I'll see you against soon. Bye. 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:55.320 All right, all right, that was the increase initial activity step, 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.920 and I will say it moments turning. Got like fifteen 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:03.240 minute yoga session. I felt wide awake most of it. 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:09.400 I felt like a zombie, but definitely definitely something about 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:14.520 getting the blood pumping, but I guess you can lose 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:21.040 it pretty quickly. You don't sound away at all. And 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.880 also that woman's soothing voice would really trigger me out, 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.880 especially because she was doing stuff that was so hard. 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:29.800 She was like this beautiful woman on a beach in 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:34.360 Costa Rica Mure. Yeah, I mean, I think that was 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:38.600 something I learned right away. You can feel really awake 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:42.440 and then go back to feeling really tired and dragging, 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.680 like it is in a state you maintain all morning. 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.160 But despite how I sound when I'm struggling through those 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:52.920 fifteen minutes, I ended up really getting into the morning yoga. 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.600 After a week or two, I extended my fifteen minutes 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.480 to thirty five and then forty five minutes, and I 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.240 even found a way to create my own little personal 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.360 yoga studio. I started sneaking out of my apartment every 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:07.800 morning at around six am, climbing up five flights of 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:11.400 stairs in my pajamas and doing yoga on my roof deck. 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:15.440 I'm really impressed that you did forty five minutes of exercise. 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:18.320 Sounds like you're like really getting a lot out of it. Yeah, 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:20.600 fifteen minutes felt kind of like a trick. Like just 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:22.760 a way to get through this step. But forty five 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.280 minutes feels legit. That feels like a real amount of exercise. 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:36.280 That's almost a class you pay for. Yeah, but if 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.560 I was nailing the refrain from snooze and exercise steps, 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:41.960 I was not doing as well with all of the others. 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.720 Next up on the list is s for shower or bathe. Okay, 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.920 I guess I was nailing that too. I did shower 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:51.640 every day. I don't think most people need to be 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:53.880 advised that this wakes you up. But if you're not 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:58.440 normally a morning shower, I recommended, Oh, it's the key 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.200 to awakeness in the morning. I don't know how other 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:02.800 people do it. A lot of people have cracked that, 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.680 I feel like, But anyway, great life hack. Good for me. 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.520 I showered every day. But the next step the E 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.600 in rise up. He does not stand for exercise. It 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:18.360 stands for expose yourself to sunlight. Sunlight is scientifically shown 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.800 to boost your mood. So I get the rationale. But 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.600 I spent time trying to really do this right, like 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:25.920 standing on the little terrorists of my apartment while I 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.320 ate my breakfast, and it always felt like busy work. 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.160 I couldn't feel myself waking up while I did it, 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:35.320 and just took time. And then there's you for upbeat music. 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.080 I couldn't even decide what counted as upbeat music. That 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:41.720 doesn't really sound that complicated. But so, yeah, what was 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:44.320 your struggle? Well, my first thought when I think of 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.600 upbeat music isties were them and blues. That's sort of 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:50.640 my go to good mood genre. I played songs like 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:57.120 this Solomon Burke's Cry to Me in the beginning when 0:15:57.240 --> 0:16:04.520 Your Baby. But as I started listening closely, I realized 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.520 it's all sort of mid tempo, not necessarily fast music, 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.200 so I switched it out for stuff that's more high 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.600 tempo and contemporary. This is the Semi Circle song by 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:24.400 the Goat. But then I thought, maybe upbeat actually means happy, 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.320 Like even that super high energy stuff had sort of 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:31.040 a melancholy vibe. Anyway, I finally realized I was doing 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:43.240 this wrong. The answer to what upbeat music is is obvious. Alex, 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:46.760 Alex Dumb, It's Alex, That's I like it by Cardi 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:49.920 B Cardi B right Like, That's the answer to everything. 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:53.520 That was definitely the most energetic I would say of 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:55.880 that theory. I also think that you could probably play 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:57.480 all of them and it would be okay as long 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.400 as you Philip Well, I think that was the thing. 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:02.480 It was like for me, I listened to music that 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:05.320 suits my mood, and it's hard for me to get 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.320 into music if it's not where I'm at already in 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:11.720 my head. So it was just like, I mean, I 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.119 know people pick like playlists for their running in the 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:18.199 gym and stuff, but I just wasn't finding like I 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:20.200 was getting hung up obviously on the definition of the 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:24.399 beat music, but I just wasn't like it wasn't translating 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:26.640 into my brain as like now it's time to wake 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:28.119 up and be awake. I was just sort of like 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.320 I kind of would rather be listening to the news 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:33.800 right now. Oh interesting, But I like the Cardi B 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:35.760 But I don't think you could listen to that every day. 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:37.880 Well that's it. It's like every day, are you gonna 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:39.480 want to listen to up beat music? And that was 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.480 my challenge. So yeah, that was one step I was 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:45.639 having a weird amount of trouble with. And the final step, 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:50.159 p for a phone A friend was another major hurdle. 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.000 Finding somebody to call every morning. Was tough. I even 0:17:54.040 --> 0:18:03.520 called you, remember how are you? How are you? I'm 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:10.639 right awake in the background. Yeah, he wants the he 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:18.520 wants me to sing. Yeah, yeah, yoh was rising up. 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:23.360 What how is it? It's good. It's like a lot 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:27.520 of steps, but it's not helpful to you because it's 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:32.119 not helpful to me. Yeah, it's not supposed to be 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:38.320 helpful to you. Do you remember that phone call? I do. 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.040 I was tired, I was before my alarm off. You 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:44.600 sounded like most people say that when I called them 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:46.360 in the morning. Nobody wants to get a phone call 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.600 at seven am, but you sound super awake. Yeah. By 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:53.760 that time, I definitely was like raring to go, And 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:56.199 I just always found myself at the end of the 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:58.680 morning like like, oh god, I gotta do the phone 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:01.040 call step and then scram link to think of somebody 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.760 or calling you or calling our producer, tofer like calling 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:07.960 my mom, who granted is the only person who is 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:09.960 actually happy to hear from me at seven am. I 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.560 have no idea who I would call it seven am. Yeah, 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:14.960 I think that step. I mean, that was just like 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:17.800 a huge logistical challenge. So even measuring how how well 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.919 it works to wake me up like it was too hard. Yeah, 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:33.680 who calls people anymore? My biggest problem with this whole 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:37.280 routine was time. Even though I was getting up a 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:40.360 lot earlier than I had before, doing all of these 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:42.879 things was taking so long that I still ended up 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:46.800 feeling rushed. I mean, this thing has six steps. I 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:48.879 still needed to fit in the boring life stuff that 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:53.000 just has to get done in the morning. I'm getting 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:57.400 ready now, putting my make a bun, combing my hair, 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:07.120 and I haven't officially done exposing myself to sunlight. He's 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:12.439 feeling a little more urgent about my normal morning routine 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:16.040 than I am. About to rise up steps. I just 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:20.879 can see how quickly this falls apart when you don't have, 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:25.119 like I don't know, six hours in the morning to 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:29.720 do whatever you want. These steps were supposed to set 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.679 me up to become the ultimate morning person, but I 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:35.920 still didn't feel that way. Were they the wrong steps? 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:40.160 I asked an expert, So the tasks that are best 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:42.280 to do in the mornings are the ones that would 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:44.200 be difficult to do in the rest of the day. 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:47.400 Laura Vanderkam is an expert on time management, and she's 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.560 researched the best way to spend your morning using real data. 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:53.720 For one of her studies, she asked successful people to 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:57.480 keep time diaries, and she found that a lot of 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.800 high achievers did things like exercise, meditation, and creative writing 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:04.840 in the wee hours. I asked her why I didn't 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:08.000 feel more efficient or productive or less frazzled after making 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:11.359 all this effort. Was I doing too much? Not enough? 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:15.000 It's really more about saying, well, what would help me 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:18.760 start my day on a positive note um? And is 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:20.600 there something I would really like to be doing in 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:23.360 my life that I am not fitting into the rest 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:26.119 of my schedule. So you know, no, you don't have 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:28.800 to wake up at four am and run a half marathon, 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:31.800 meditate for an hour, you know, cook a breakfast that 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:34.199 features kale and Keene Watt like. You don't have to 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:36.719 do that sort of thing, as long as it is 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:41.640 something that creates a creates positive momentum for your day 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:45.040 and makes you feel like you have accomplished something before 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:48.240 you go into that hamster whale of everything else you 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:52.040 have to do. Talking to Laura made me finally realize 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:56.359 it's not about doing the right things for someone else, 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:59.280 and it's not even about doing a set number of things. 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:03.320 It's an enough to find one thing that you aren't 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:05.639 likely to do during the rest of your day that 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:08.919 makes you feel good. For me, it happened to be exercise. 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:11.680 Doing it on the roof that actually felt like me time. 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:17.800 I just finished during a half hour of yoga, so 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:22.480 I'm up here with the planes flying overhead, and it 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.640 was awesome. I don't know, just doing yoga and being 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:28.159 able to look up at the sky and watch the 0:22:28.200 --> 0:22:32.600 sky change. It's a really beautiful day. I'm totally alone 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:37.119 up here on the roof deck. I'm sure my baby 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:39.720 is crying downstairs in our apartment, but it's not my 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:45.160 problem right now. I could happily spend another half hour 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:49.800 just sitting up here looking at the sky. I really 0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:54.280 feel like I genuinely am taking time for myself. It 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:57.680 really felt like self care. Not to sound new age 0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:00.679 and goofy about it, but it just helped me understand 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:04.119 what's great about mornings. You really do have the morning 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:06.120 all to yourself. Like if you get up early enough, 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:09.040 you can walk through your apartment building in pajamas, you 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:11.199 can be on your roof doing downward dog and not 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:15.080 worry about anyone else seeing you. I didn't need to 0:23:15.200 --> 0:23:18.880 meditate or write the Great American novel or recite affirmations. 0:23:19.480 --> 0:23:22.480 And I also didn't need to necessarily stare at sunlight 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.760 or listen to a particular kind of upbeat music. I 0:23:25.800 --> 0:23:29.400 had found my thing, or at least one thing, exercise, 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:32.719 so I just kind of let the other steps go. 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:37.040 So you don't youth news again, No snooze I've stuck to, 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:42.199 or resisting snooze or refraining from snoozing. I h I 0:23:42.240 --> 0:23:45.840 have found that that's like super useful in kind of 0:23:45.880 --> 0:23:47.480 setting the tone for the rest of the morning. It's 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:49.240 like the first thing that you do in the day. 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:51.200 So when you fail at it, it's kind of hard 0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:54.320 to feel successful at anything you do after. Do you 0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:59.800 feel good about your mornings now that you do all? 0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:05.640 I the acrony, I just right. I don't rise up? Um, 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:08.120 yeah I do. I think I needed to get over 0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:12.520 my obsession with this idea that you need to pack 0:24:12.560 --> 0:24:15.000 your mornings with all of this good stuff. Um. I 0:24:15.040 --> 0:24:17.600 think I was doing some stuff wrong that didn't make 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:20.760 me feel good. And for me, the best part is 0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:25.439 not necessarily feeling rushed and also just realizing that you 0:24:25.480 --> 0:24:27.800 know as a mother of a child, Like, there is 0:24:27.840 --> 0:24:31.480 actually time in the day that I kind of unlocked 0:24:31.480 --> 0:24:33.960 and I didn't really realize was there. And I'm using 0:24:33.960 --> 0:24:37.679 it for something that I haven't been making time for regularly, 0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:41.200 which is exercise. M H. I got chills when you 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:55.720 sat unlocked. Happy for you. But your goal was to 0:24:55.800 --> 0:24:59.320 have one week where you did the steps every day. 0:24:59.760 --> 0:25:05.600 Did you achieve your goal? Becca, I did not, sad face. 0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:10.440