When my soft and subtle alarm starts to sound from my beloved iPhone each morning, my heart breaks. It doesn't matter if it's Monday or Saturday, it's Every. Single. Time. Don't worry, I don't hate my life, I just love the feeling of pure relaxation. And it seems the only circumstance where I'm able to attain this feeling is in bed, after a night of sleep with enough time ahead of me to get where I need to go. Most days that's the office, surprise, surpise.
So why is the only part of my life that includes procrastination the sleepy part? I think this is where I'm actually kind of normal. I've been told more than once how odd it is that I'm so wired all the time and driven to do my chores, run errands and let (what should be daily) relaxation fall by the wayside... so by pressing my snooze button seven (yes, seven!) times on any given morning I am joining the club of feet draggers, the lazies, the colt of procrastinators... that is, until I get up.
Then I'm reminded of my lists. My half-awake brain usually sounds something like this: "Damn, I wanted to stop by Jiffy Lube to get an oil top off on the way to work but now I don't have time." In true disappointment I tell myself I'll get up early to be sure to do it tomorrow. Now do I actually follow through the next morning? You bet your ass I do. Who can live with putting off something like that more than once? Not I.
I know, weird. But it's that motivation which will inspire me to wake up the first time my alarm sounds the next day, giving me too much time before work and sometimes misleading me to be late because I felt like I had so much time I decided to water the plants, start some laundry and maybe even vacuum. Ha, so silly to vacuum at 7:30am.
Whether it's the necessary minimum of 15 minutes or a full two hours that I have that morning, every moment is used to it's fullest. Pending morning lists invading my morning or not. The bed gets made, my teeth are brushed, mascara is applied and most days I even put on some jewelery. People at work might never even know I woke up only 25 minutes ago if it weren't for the inital dazed look on my made-up face. On days I have an extra few minutes I'll make some coffee at home or even stop to treat myself at Starbucks for you know, making it all the way to Friday. Hey, sometimes we all deserve a little TLC. Mine comes in the form of a $5 Vanilla Chai Tea Latte I can sip at my desk while opening the first of my 100+ emails that morning.
Along with the small tasks one can easily add on to their morning, I've recently discovered the ingenious feeling that results from completing a workout at the start of the day. It totally negates that dragging feeling of trying to decide if I should squeeze it in before dinner, combine it with the evening dog walk or stay up late and miss that lovely feeling of going to bed at a reasonable time. Just the other day I was haunted by that familiar knock while standing at the copier at work (where I will sometimes do lunges while waiting for my papers) and was especially delighted to remember that I had already worked out that day. How could I have forgotten? Maybe I even vacuumed, too... I had to think back as that morning had felt almost like a whole different day. This left my evening to feel relaxed and free... I was able to sit on the couch and watch America's Got Talent without the guilt that I should be doing something productive. Because I already had.
Now there are people that swear by waking before the sun rises just for that reason: to be productive and allow time later in the day for other important (or not important, one may decide for themselves) activites. My mother is one of them. Needless to say I didn't inherit this "early riser" trait from her, but I will state proudly that I have learned the value in it over time. Her reasons were more concrete (there are a lot of afternoon/evening obligations when you have seven children) while mine are somwhat trivial... but from either standpoint, starting your day without feeling rushed is probably a good thing.
That's why I have to go to sleep now. It's officially past even my "late" bedtime (after Jimmy Fallon has ended at 12:35am) and I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be one of those snoozers. But alas, this blog will be creeping into my relaxed mind as the bells start to chime in 6 hours... will I procrastinate another day? Hm, I think I'll figure it out then.
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