Two Morning Choices For Lawyers

Each morning you have two choices.

Paying attention to your morning mood makes a difference. Research tells us that people who start the day in a terrible mood felt unhappy for most of their day. Many even felt even worse by the evening.

When you wake up, you have two choices. We will call these choices No. 1 & No 2. Which one of these choices do you make on a daily basis?

Choice No. 1:

• You start your day by hitting the snooze button, then dragging yourself out of bed at the last minute. You rush to get ready, running out the door balancing a to-go coffee and a doughnut in one hand and your briefcase in the other. Or, you impatiently wait in the line at Starbucks.
• You wake up on the wrong side of the bed, dreading the day. Or, you can be like Mary Lou, who said, “When I wake up, I have to drink my first cup of coffee so that nobody gets hurt.”
• Maybe you find it hard to get your bearings. You live in a chaotic home. Arguments and disagreements with your spouse or child occur often. You allow this to put you in a lousy mood. You indulge in road rage in heavy traffic, and it affects the rest of your day.
• Upon arriving at the office, you join the “misery loves company” club. You feel bad, and you hate anyone who seems to be happy.
• You gravitate towards other complainers. You form negativity pods. A negativity pod is a group of folks that you can complain together. You can grumble about traffic, life, politics, weather, the state of the world. After getting your dose of negativity from the pod, you saunter back to your desk to work.

 

 

You find your day is filled with stress, deadlines, anxiety, anger, and it only gets worse.

 

 

 

Choice No. 2

On the other hand, you can make a conscious investment in your mornings to give you the advantage and peace of mind. You believe that how you start your day will affect your productivity and ability to perform optimally in your law practice.

You start the day eager for work and remaining calm throughout the day.

If you happen to have a tendency towards depression, you realize that it is even more important to stick to your morning routine. Your routine keeps you in a good mood, remaining calm and peaceful.

The Night Before:

• Before leaving the office, you stop working fifteen minutes before you head home. You write down the top three tasks you want to accomplish the next day. Setting this list on your computer, so it’s the first thing you see when you walk into the office in the morning.
• You set your device on airplane mode at about 9:00 pm. giving yourself a break from your device. You don’t check your phone until after your morning routine. You give yourself a fighting chance to have a stress-free day.

Morning Routine:

• You wake up early to begin your morning routine in a calm and leisurely manner. You avoid running around like a chicken with its head cut off rushing around. Your day starts with some quiet time. You plan your day and set goals.
• You smile and think about something positive as soon as you awaken. You get ahead of negative thoughts by being grateful. You hold on to this positive thought for 17 seconds. You repeat this three times before getting out of bed. Your body begins releasing chemicals to make you feel good. You smile even if it feels fake. You are deliberately sending the right message to your brain. It says, “I’m in charge of our thoughts today.”
• You take 5 minutes to make your bed. This small step creates an outer order helping you to promotes inner calm. It’s something small and doable, which starts your day off right.
• You drink warm water with lemon juice. The lemon water cleanses and stimulates the liver and kidneys. Also, it can protect you from colds.
• You move your body. You either stretch, go for a walk or go to the gym; (I recommend waiting until after the pandemic.) Even 10 to 20 minutes before going to the office is a big help.
• You meditate. You know that meditation reduces stress and helps you to get your mind pointed in the right direction. There are many apps you can use to start meditating.
• You eat a healthy breakfast. As you eat a healthy breakfast, you start your day with proper nutrition. This increases your ability to focus and concentrate at the office.

 

You find that you have clarity, energy, enthusiasm, and are very productive all day.

 

 

 

Here Are Some Consequences of Not Having a Morning Routine

Many things happen when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, which affects your physical and mental health.

1. When your brain is in a stressed and anxious state, you impair your cognitive function.
2. Being anxious predisposes you to more negative thoughts.
3. It raises your cortisol levels, which impacts the brain.
4. Increased negativity reinforces negativity making those thought patterns dominant.
5. When your brain repeatedly perceives stress and negative events, your body floods with adrenaline.
6. Your body can get locked into a fight or flight mode.
7. Your stress response reduces the brain’s ability to manage complex processing.

This is not how you want to begin your day.

Your Choice

It takes planning and commitment to choose an empowering morning routine. Making the time smooth morning routine is an investment that pays off in dividends. You are more enthusiastic, productive, and happy. How you begin each day will make all of the difference.

Lawyers who make “how” they wake up an essential investment will find themselves winners in their law practice.