According to the experts what you do first thing in the morning has the greatest impact on the success of the rest of your day. In this series we asked our soloist community what rituals they use to kickstart their systems before getting on with work for the day.
Do you action/plan/do anything specific to prepare for the morning the night before?
As a decentralized team we use Asana and other tech platforms to connect but I’m still a MASSIVE pen and paper fan as well. So each night I scribble down some mind maps and to do lists to get them out of my head. I’m a very visual person. I’ll then generally transfer any specific tasks from that into Asana. I’ll also look at my calendar for the following day and work out what I need to wear (my days consist of everything from gym sessions to photo shoots, media events, speaking gigs so being prepared ahead is important. Whenever I have no public duties, you’ll find me in athleisure of jeans and kicks. My boyfriend gets up at 3.59am every morning so I always make him a green smoothie the night before.
What time do you wake up? And how do you do it?
I wake up at 3.59 every morning thanks to my crazily entrepreneurial boyfriend. However I then go back to sleep until somewhere between 6.30 and 8am. I’m not really a morning person. They boyf normally pops his head up the stairs sometime between seven and eight to wake me and our dog Benny up.
What is the VERY first thing you do after you wake up? If you eat, what do you eat?
I try to avoid the urge to roll straight over and check our daily dashboards, social media channels, email and news channels … it takes discipline to not. So I try to jump straight in the shower. Then go do some yoga, dog walk and / or meditation (often these things are my meditation). Then I’ll have a green smoothie and an iced latte. I probably generally won’t eat until after about 10am. I try not to take any meetings before 10am (sometimes its unavoidable – particularly if I have an early photo shoot, media interview or speaking gig) but for generally meetings – NOTHING before 10am – that’s pretty much a not negotiable. My routine is that I like to write (for others), journal (for me), plan, vision, strategise, educate myself (read, listen to podcasts, research) BEFORE I start reacting to the world. Then after 10 – its fair game.
What is your first drink of the day? Where are you when you’re drinking it?
A green smoothie or an iced latte. Even when I was in Copenhagen in -3 degrees in December an iced latte was my go to drink of choice. Fun fact – I’ve never had a hot coffee. I generally walk about to get it after an exercise sesh – just to feel a bit connected to the world.
What part of your morning routine makes you feel the best?
Definitely exercise. I cannot go past a good sweat sesh or a good yoga practice.
What part of the routine could you not live without?
Walking my dog Benny. He wouldn’t let me live it down. Plus – dogs have this incredible way of just grounding me. He is never unhappy and just exudes joy and excitement all the time. Taking him out is a great leveler.
Describe your ideal morning
Up at 7.30. Strong yoga session. Followed by a gorgeous coastal walk with Benny whilst listening to one of my favourite podcasts. Papers at a local café with my love for a bite to eat. Start “actual” reactive work with the world. I just love love love love love time to recharge in nature and exercise. Its where all my great thinking comes before I am bombarded with the day. I often talk about the difference between being “busy” and being productive. Being reactive v’s proactive. Its really really important in my experience to delineate between the two and consciously make time for the “productive” and the “proactive”. This is what my mornings are all about. Setting up for a great day and not feeling overwhelmed but rather grounded, centred, strong and ready from the get go.
Lisa Messenger is back and is reigning her empire from airports, cafés and hotels across two hemispheres, as she proves you really can work from anywhere. With her laptop and a solid Wi-Fi connection, Messenger is again bucking the status quo to explore how you can be at the top of your game – without an office or a cubicle in sight. Her seventh book Work from Wherever: How to set yourself free (and still achieve) details in her classically candid style how the entrepreneur and fast-talking founder of the Collective Hub has rebounded and rebranded, after breaking and remaking the business of her dreams.