The First 10 Minutes Matter

Start your day in a better way + how to manage email

“The first 10 mins of the day sets our compass for the next 16 hours”

Before we begin;

You can watch my new pilot clip on how to manage email here

Tomorrow I will be opening up Master Time & Focus 1on1 clinic appointments to everyone on the 4 Breath Update. I’ll provide a 25% discount code. A simple 30 minute 1on1 session with me to help you plan an effective schedule that protects time for Deep Work, reduces stress and strengthens resilience.

When I wake up and listen to the news I start to feel pessimistic and frustrated with the world.

When I wake up and go for a walk I feel calmer and find it easier to be more present.

During chemotherapy my mum got into the habit of listening to 5 live. It was one of her ways of coping. The constant news stories of awful events from around the world helped distract her from her pain.

Ten years later she still listens to 5 live every morning in bed. I know this because when I visit my parents the first thing my mum will say to me at the start of the day is “Did you hear about that awful earthquake or mass shooting or MP scandal?”

It’s not yet 7am and this is where my mum’s attention is. Although she is fully recovered from cancer she has established a strongly ingrained morning news habit.

Our chimp (fight or flight) brain wants to keep us safe. This combines with our brain’s insatiable thirst for curiosity, we have ‘to know’. We assume that knowing will keep us safe but ironically in todays world of information overload it can cause us to feel fearful and unsafe.

Our attention resets every night. What we ‘water it with’ in the morning can strongly influence the rest of our day.

What if, when we spike our stress levels in the morning, we make it easier for our attention to attach itself to stressful thoughts, feelings and events?

OR

What if, by tuning into our calm baseline first thing in the morning, we make it easier to return to that state during the day?

Experiment starting our day differently to protect ourselves for the day ahead

The challenge: Can we experience our calm baseline in the first 10 mins of the day and simultaneously avoid the news and scrolling our phone?

Choose a simple action that lifts your mood at the start of the day. One tiny action can act as a shield for the challenges of the day ahead.

Creating new habits is much easier when we focus on something we want to do instead of focusing on avoiding a thing we’d like to reduce.

Adjust one thing in your environment today to help you test it out tomorrow. It doesn’t matter what I say or what the studies suggest, it matters most how you feel. Experiment tomorrow to see if it makes a difference to how you feel, think and react to the world around you. In my experience it’s a powerful way to increase resilience.

The Method

4 Breaths + calming action of our choice (choose what feels easy!)

First 4 Breaths - breathe in through the nose, hold breath for a few seconds, then long slow exhale, find natural rhythm that feels good for you

Second 4 Breaths - still breathing through your nose only, let your breathing find a natural rhythm, don’t try and control anything, these breaths will be naturally shorter and shallower that the first 4 Breaths

Use the body to calm the mind. Use our breathing to calm our nervous system and return our attention to the present.

Then do your calming action for 10 mins.

Popular Options

Read a book - leave the book on your kitchen table, currently I prefer something light and easy in the morning like The Fence magazine or young adult fiction

Prepare your favourite drink in peace - leave your favourite cup out the night before, give all your attention to this, the sounds, the smell, the taste, the sensation, I’ve just got back in Jasmine Green Tea

Go for a short walk - Leave your comfy shoes by the front door, personally I find it much easier to do some type of movement first thing, it helps settle my thoughts and regulates my mood

Go to the gym/ pool - ditto above, leave your gym stuff ready to go in a bag in the kitchen

Prayer/ spiritual practice - whatever helps you feel connected to something bigger than yourself

Shower bath - leave a towel out by your bed, water is a wonderful way to help reset our lens of the world

Do you remember a day last year when you woke up, the birds were singing, the sun was shining and you just knew it was going to be a glorious day?

When you experienced this did it make your day harder or easier?

Or remember a day not long ago, when the sky was overcast, the drizzle fell and a biting wind cut you in two.

How did that grey start influence the rest of your day?

We are animals. Its normal that our external weather influences our ‘internal weather’.

The good news is we can control our internal weather a lot more than we realise.

Strat tomorrow, do the above, see how it feels for you. 10 mins in the morning can strengthen our resilience for the day ahead.

“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” - Buddha

You are a good person, doing your best. That’s enough.

This image was designed by Tony Dennis at Vespa Academy. Great work Tony!