What unites athletes, prolific writers, and high performing executives? A well defined ritual based routine, with blocks of time devoted to working on their craft. This seems to be one of the key components of their performance and high productivity.
Growing up I always loathed the idea of a routine. Back in junior college, my routine involved waking up early to attend the morning tuitions at the nondescript Habib House, in a cramped classroom. It was the most mind numbing classroom experience of my life. I hated every minute of that routine. Except that I made some of my life long friends till date at Habib House.
Those two years I could never appreciate the magic of starting early and gaining an advantage over the day.
But as degree college rolled in, the tuition classes disappeared. College would began at 7:30 everyday and would go on till 12:30. I had the entire day open ahead of me, so I started working part time at Bare International – a global mystery shopping agency.
The routine seemed punishing but I began to look forward to it. It made logical sense to wake up at 5:30 am and begin the day’s hustle. My day ended at 11 PM and sometimes even later than that but I stuck to the schedule. In the second year I gave up the job and began Breakfree and then the routine became even more powerful.
This habit of waking up early continued even during my masters and has remained with me since then. Though maintaining a routine everyday is tough. Everyday is different. And everyday there are new challenges, new fires and of course, new urgent things that crop up. Best laid plans hardly hold up in the face of dynamic priorities.
In such a scenario carving out time for yourself becomes imminent. The Stoic would say – worry about only what you can control. Which basically leaves you with the morning hours before the day picks up. Owning the morning with a powerful ritual is beneficial.
Picture this – your phone is not vibrating with pings, your notifications are quiet. The golden hour is upon you. A strong cup of coffee (or chai) is brewing. The world is yet to open its eyes. You sit down to write, read, meditate or stand up and workout. You have already taken charge. The day can only get better from here on. This little ritual (coffee and writing in my case) helps to orient and set the tone for the day.
Even though I may not achieve anything significant in the day, the idea of having had a good morning is sometimes sufficient. A good morning ritual creates an automatic cyclical effect on your routine too. As you begin to look forward to performing the ritual, you start working backwards for it. Which basically means – not delaying bedtime for too long in my case, adjusting my caffeine intake in the day and closing work a few hours before bedtime. This system helps to reinforce the intentions and overcome challenges.
A good morning ritual, therefore, is an essential part of the day in your pursuit of high productivity.
Further Reading: Daily Rituals – Mason Currey