This morning I am writing to you LIVE, this email was not written or scheduled ahead of time like usual. I just revisited one of my favorite hacks from middle school and it worked like a charm, so I have to share it with you.
I am openly a procrastinator, but I actively work on it. When I was in elementary and middle school I would definitely do the thing where I let my dad know I needed help with math homework or an essay due the following morning, at 9 pm that night. Or sometimes no matter how early we started working on the homework, we’d be so confused by the xyz of it all that we’d look at each other and say, “Go to bed right now, wake up at 5:30 am, and do this shit before school?” except we would say “shiz” not shit, and we’d both happily agree and hit the hay.
For some reason, I would always do better before the sun came up. I would wake up with energy and clarity instead of doing something hard at the end of the day when I’ve run out of steam. (In high school I never had this issue because I chose the easiest classes possible, there’s another life hack.)
All weekend I had been procrastinating 58 emails, and multiple tasks, thinking about all the things I needed to do that I haven’t done. It was Sunday evening and I was watching Sopranos and playing candy crush, but my mind was telling me what I failure I was. I felt so exhausted, uninspired, and sick about it all. I watched Tony Soprano survive a life-threatening shot, and have a new appreciation for each day. I wanted to feel that way at the moment but I couldn't channel our favorite waste manager’s new zest for life. I went to bed early and thought to myself… should I skip my whole morning routine and tackle these tasks right when I wake up? Like I used to do back in the day?
So this morning at 6:30 when Kaya woke us up, I knew what I had to do. I made my morning coffee, walked right past my morning book and journal, and went straight to work.
I literally did *everything* I had to do, enjoyed it, and now it’s 8:18 am, I’m ahead of my entire day, have time to take a shower before my day job starts, and I just feel so calm. I can’t believe these tasks were torturing me over the weekend.
So here’s the thing: the next time you’re feeling stumped, frustrated, anxious, and overwhelmed, just go to bed and figure it out in the morning. Wake up before everyone else and make a big cup of coffee and get to work. It’s actually kind of fun.
Xx middle school Chloe
[HERE’S AN IDEA:]
Should we start waking up early on Monday to do the tasks we’ve been putting off or don’t want to do? We’ve got a new episode of Armchair Expert and Bad Broadcast podcast episodes, and we’ve got a new issue of the Here’s The Thing Newsletter.
SHOULD WE START LOVING MONDAYS?
Let me know your thoughts.
love!!!
LOVE!!! & completely relate. Count me in for Monday mornings crushing doom & gloom tasks <3