How to Jump Start your Morning Routine

I'm the WORST at waking up. Number one, I sleep like a brick. Number two, I will EASILY push snooze on my alarm clock 7-10 times every morning. Ask anyone who has ever shared a house with me, and they can attest. [At this time, I'd like to apologize to my parents, my sister, old roommates, anyone who has had to share a hotel with me on work or church trips, friends who've invited me to slumber parties, neighbors who might've had thin walls, and of course, Nathan.]

I've tried many variations of giving myself reason to wake up, and none of them stuck. But, for 2017, I set some goals for myself. No, none of the goals were to wake up early. BUT, when I realized that many of my goals could be accomplished simply by changing my morning routine, it was a no-brainer! The cost-benefit analysis is undeniable!

3 Tips for Jump-Starting your Morning Routine:

1. Have a Plan - For me, I'm a lot better at waking up if I have a plan or schedule of what I'm going to be doing; essentially WHY I need to wake up early. I keep my goals in mind and remember that waking up early helps accomplish, not just one, but many of my goals. Figure out what your goals are and work to accomplish those goals when you first wake up!

Meditate on What is Important: As a Christian, my relationship with Jesus Christ is very important. But learning more about Him through studying, reading, and praying is also important. I designate 30 minutes in the morning for reading my Bible. This gives me time to think and pray about his promises, grace, and mercy he has for us. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to and end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23. So, maybe you aren't a Christian, or you don't care about reading the Bible. Find something that is important to you and focus on that. Whether you're a Christian or not, everyone has something to be grateful for. Journaling is a great option. Thinking about these things helps to clear my mind and restart for this day. 

Be Productive: One thing we have been trying to get better at is keeping our house continually tidy. The first step for me was getting rid of some stuff, but the second step is keeping the stuff we have in an orderly fashion. I have said for most of my life that everything I own has a place and when everything is in it's place, my house is clean. Well....Nathan does not share this philosophy, and I have let myself morph into his ways. Anyway, the point is, I have time set aside to do some chores before work. For some people "being productive" could mean exercising, or working on a home project.

Remember your Family and/or Housemates: We don't have children, but we do have pets, of which all are needy.... Koba and Yuki are pretty low maintenance in the morning (they just need to be fed), but Justice needs to be let out to go to the bathroom, fed, and taken for a walk. I also make Nathan's lunch (and sometimes even his breakfast). Remembering that people/animals are relying on you to take care of them, can be a real motivation.

2. Prep at Night - I've been doing this for quite a long time, mainly because I always knew I hated getting up, so might as well do as much as possible the night before so that I could sleep longer! 

Set out Clothes: Every night, I pick out my clothes, and lay everything out. This includes EVERYTHING, even socks, long johns, undershirts, etc. Anything I'm going to wear the next day is in a pile just waiting for me to put it on.

Prep Coffee and Breakfast: Every morning, all I have to do is push a few buttons and my coffee is made. I've already scooped the grounds and refilled the water the night before. This can be applicable if you drink smoothies for breakfast also. The night before, make sure your blender is clean, and set out the ingredients if possible.

Round up Supplies: Justice normally eats in his kennel and his food bowl sometimes winds up in the VERY back of his "room." When its in the back, I have to get on my hands and knees and stick my head into the kennel to be able to reach it! Anyway, I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have to do that when I first wake up! So I do it at night. I also make sure the cat's bowls are found as well. We keep all of the pet supplies all together, so I never have to hunt for Justice's leash, harness, or sweater for his walk. Gather any supplies you will need for the next day; pet supplies or other supplies. 

Note: I also take my showers right after I get home from work in the afternoons. This gives me more time in the mornings to do other things, and allows for my hair to air dry before I have to go to bed. This won't work for everyone, but that's what I do.

3. Avoid Time-Suckers - Time-suckers are things that don't add any substance to your life. They're just something to pass the time. Sometimes, I think time-suckers are OK, if you need a break or some time to do something that requires almost zero brown power. But  wasting your life away doing [essentially] nothing is a bad habit to start or to continue. Instead, I've chosen to fill my time reading, which still could be considered a pointless activity to some people. But trust me, you'll feel like less of a lazy bum if you read.

Binge-Watching: Binge-watching Netflix or some other TV source is a bad idea on a weekday. Sure, I love a good binge watch, and there's no denying that. But watching 3 hours of TV on a day before you are trying to wake up early wastes a lot of time AND does nothing to accomplish any goals! (Unless one of your goals, is to spend as much time watching TV as possible....) Additionally, its a bad idea to watch TV right before bed, especially certain types of shows. They could cause unsettled sleep or it might give you nightmares (cue inside joke with my childhood best friend.... you know who you are).

Social Media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Vine, Pinterest. Those are just the apps on my phone. I know for sure that more exist, and more are to come in the future. Honestly, its crazy how much time and energy we devote to staring down at our phones and/or tablets. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but I decided for myself that I am not going to look at any social media in the morning, until I am sitting in my work parking lot. I don't even look at my phone at all except to turn of the alarm, and to check my text messages right before I leave for work.


I started my new morning routine at the beginning of the new year, and I waited to publish this post to ensure my methods would work. 5 1/2 months in, I can confidently say that Having a Plan, Prepping at Night, and Avoiding Time-Suckers are key ingredients to Jump-Starting your Morning Routine. It worked for me, and hopefully it will work for you!

He Prunes

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:1-2

I grew up singing, "He is the vine, and I am the branches. His banner over me is love." These the lyrics to this kid's song is referring to John 15 a few verses after the verses written above. 

Later in life and growing in spiritual maturity, studying verse 8 of John 15 revealed the importance of of 'bearing fruit.' "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." These words also brought my favorite church camp song full circle! "Fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut. But love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-controllllllllllllll!"

Though I've grown up hearing these words from John 15 my entire life, I still didn't fully grasp verses 1 and 2. It took me inheriting a garden. Let me explain.

When we moved in January, I was pleased that the backyard was fenced for privacy and small-ish for minimal yard work! The front of the house appeared to be equally low maintenance.

Around April, I realized that instead of a low maintenance patch of grass, we had inherited a garden in front of our house. If you are friends with me on facebook, you may remember my inquiries to "fellow gardeners" asking about what plants we had growing on our property. After many opinions, I can confidently (or not so confidently) say that we have euonymus, asiatic lillies, ornamental grass, and liriope AKA monkey grass. Additionally we had what you could call 2 bushes, which were supposedly crape myrtles. At first it was fun work pulling the weeds and making our house look nice. 

That didn't last long. 

After, months of having a "garden," I've realized I am definitely not "a gardener," at least not with a garden that I did not initiate. It wasn't long before I determined that: 1) weeds are from the devil, and 2) I'm pretty sure we don't have crape myrtle bushes.

All summer I have been trimming those darn crape myrtles waiting for them to start looking like the google images I've looked up. I can say, as of now, we have not reached that point...... I wish it were true, but it's not. 

Luckily the previous renters were also lazy enough to leave some trimmers which have come in handy for me as I prune the "crape myrtles" every 17 minutes. Yes, it seems like I'm pruning these things all the time!

What baffles me the most is the fact that every time I trim them down, I think, "Wow, this looks great! So perfect looking. And tidy. And not blocking our front door." And then (what seems like) 2 days later, its bigger than ever!

Recently, it was a hot and humid day in August and I was giving the "crape" a haircut. I was frustrated and sweaty because this dang bush keeps taking over the front of our house. I still had my ear plugs in from using the weedeater (safety first, people!), so I was just working, alone in my thoughts. 

And then it clicked.

The reason the bushes keep getting bigger and bigger is because this was God's design. A more significant epiphany for me, was finally understanding John 15:1-2. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

I literally never fully understood the pruning analogy, because I've never pruned before now. Jesus says that God prunes the branch that does not give fruit, so that it may produce MORE fruit. I always got that He removes areas that are not of Him, it just didn't fully process that He removes it so that even MORE fruit of Him can grow! 

I'm amazed that God can reveal himself in such random things, like taking care of someone else's "crape myrtle."

Mad Face?

My mom has been trying to wake me up for 30 minutes, and she just doesn't understand how sleepy I am. I get dressed and walk into the bathroom to finish getting ready to go to 9th grade.

My younger sister walks in. "Hey, mad face." she greets.

"Hey." I reply back. Mad Face. I'm not mad. I'm not even in a bad mood. This is just my face. 

Yes, this is a true story.

I was born with a mad face and I could never understand why I always looked mad when I definitely wasn't.

Somehow, I think it might have changed. The only reason I think this is because in the past few years over [probably] 100 people have asked me for directions. 

Everyday during lunch, I walk for exercise around campus. At least once every two weeks someone asks me how to get somewhere in Memphis, and I have to reply, "uhhhhhh, I just moved here, but I think it's that direction..."

When I lived in Maryland for an internship, I would go to Washington DC every weekend. I walked the sidewalks of the National Mall, and it never failed that someone would ask for my help in finding some museum or monument. That was 4 years ago. At the time, I thought it was because I walk confidently. 

A few months ago, I was in Boston for a business trip for 5 days. I kid you not, 6 different people asked me where something was located. I'm thinking, "This is nuts! I've never been here in my life; why do I look like I know which direction the Paul Revere House is?...."

During this business trip, I made a friend and right before flying back home, we had ice cream. I told her of all the people asking me for directions and explained my confusion. And she replied, "Well, its 'cause you have a friendly face."

What????? A friendly face. All this time, I've been thinking I have a mad face. What the heck is going on here?

Last week, I volunteered to help incoming freshmen move into their dorms. Now granted, its reasonable to assume that because I was wearing a UofM shirt, that parents and freshmen expected me to know every nook and cranny of the campus. I did my best. With all of these questions and interactions and heavy lifting, I began to ponder this whole "friendly face" concept. 

Maybe I do have a friendly face.

I read a book recently that talked about how expecting situations to be a certain way will cause your voice, your body language, and your facial expressions to be a certain way. For example, when you think, "I'm so excited," your body can't help but to be excited, if you let it. When you are thinking, "I'm going to help as many freshman move in today as possible," your voice, body language, and facial expressions follow suit adapting to sound and look helpful. 

But what good is this if you are actually mad or frustrated or aggravated. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if there is any excellent or praiseworthy - think about these things."

I genuinely think that I still have a mad face. I have a mad face when I'm thinking intently, or when I'm concentrating, or at this very moment as I'm focusing on writing this. 

But I also think I have a friendly face. As I've grown in my faith, I've learned to focus on what is excellent and praiseworthy. Simultaneously, as I've matured as a person, I've learned to let my face show what my mind is thinking. 

Here's one for the road....

Surviving an Emergency

I'm not a worrier. Plain and simple, I just don't worry. I know that what is going to happen in this world, will happen. Some things, you just can't change. If I am at work, and an armed gunman comes in my office, and fires shots at me before I can even look up from my computer, what would I do? What would you do?

The thing is, is that there is nothing you could do. You'd be bleeding out before you can dial 911 or reach for your (legally) concealed weapon.

One huge reason that I don't worry is because I understand that my life is in God's hands and that what is His Will, will happen. Matthew 6:33-34 says, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own." But that's not the only reason I don't worry. 

I don't worry about things that are out of control because I've made sure to control what I can control. 

I've always been a detail-oriented person, pretty much since birth. But if there's one thing that working in the safety profession has taught me, it's to always be aware. At work, I preach to people to be aware of their surroundings while they do their daily tasks. Watch out for things you could trip over; think about how lifting this heavy bag is going to affect your back; understand that using a weed-eater without earplugs increases your hearing loss, etc. There are so many things that we can do to protect ourselves, simply by being aware.

This is also applicable to emergencies. When you think about the word emergency, what comes to mind? You might think of a house fire, or a tornado touchdown, or a gunman at work. 

The definition of emergency is, "a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action." Ok, the first part is pretty much a no-brainier. It's the "...requiring immediate action" part that I want to focus on.... 

Knowledge is Power

Just like every job having its own set of safety issues, every area has its own set of emergencies. Florida has a much higher chance of a hurricane than Wyoming. New York has a much higher chance of a snow storm than Nevada. For me and Nathan specifically, we live in Memphis, Tennessee. We've taken the time to ponder and analyze what emergencies are the most likely to happen.

• Tornado
• House fires
• Zombie apocalypse
• Earthquake
• Terrorist Attack
• Flash flood
• Snow / Ice storm
• Biological disease release
• Atomic bomb

YOUR TURN. Think about different scenarios that could occur where you live. Be realistic. Obviously, a terrorist attack could happen anywhere, but its more likely to happen in a bigger city. A tornado can happen anytime, but it is more likely to happen during certain times of the year.

Severity and Frequency

Severity and Frequency are 2 words that are used often to evaluate occupational safety risks. The same principles can be applied in your own personal emergency plan. Determine the most "dangerous" emergency that could happen by analyzing the severity and frequency.

	Severity	Frequency
Tornado	2	5
House fires	2	2
Zombie Takeover	5	1
Earthquake	5	2
Terrorist Attack	4	2
Flash flood	1	5
Snow / Ice storm	1	3
Biological disease	4	1
Atomic bomb	5	1

YOUR TURN. Use your list you created from your research and try to determine which type of emergency should take priority. To be clear, when I talk about "severity" please don't misunderstand me. I realize that all of these situations would be severe, however, there are some situations that it is likely for you to survive. 

Additionally, realize that technology allows us to be aware of certain emergencies, which somewhat lowers the severity. Due to advances in the weather industry, we are able to predict and be alerted of many weather emergencies. But remember, every situation is different, so the more prepared you are, the better.

Ranking Priorities

Based on my own personal analysis, The two most significant emergencies for Memphis are Tornadoes and Earthquake. Tornadoes mainly because of the frequency, and Earthquakes because of the potential severity. Essentially, I just added the values of severity and frequency to determine overall significance.

Photo retrieved from geiologyinmotion.com

You're thinking, "Earthquake, you say? Hmmm...." This is where the importance of research comes into play. Many people know of the San Andreas Fault and the whole California-is-going-to-break-off theory. Similarly, Memphis is supposedly due for a huge earthquake because of the New Madrid Fault. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has filed reports stating that an earthquake in this zone could result in "damage to structures affecting water distribution, transportation systems, and other vital infrastructure. The earthquake is expected to also result in thousands of fatalities, with more than 4,000 of the fatalities expected in Memphis alone."

YOUR TURN. What is the most significant emergency risk where you live?

Prepare for the Worst

If a catastrophic earthquake were to occur (and our house was still in tact) and we were safe, it doesn't necessarily mean we're out of the woods, yet. When a massive earthquake happens, it would affect the power lines, telephone lines, road systems, water systems, etc. 

So, the real question is, how do you prepare for that? Here are some things to think about:

• If there are no telephone lines and no cellular lines, how will I communicate with my family or friends to let them know the plan?
• If there are broken roads or bridges, how will I leave the city if I need to?
• If there is no electricity, how will I use my debit card to buy fuel or food?
• If roads are blocked (due to earthquake flooding), how will I know where to go without my GPS? 

YOUR TURN. Think about issues that would arise if just one emergency happened in your city. What are all of the dominoes that would fall? So much is connected these days due to technology. This is convenient now, but it is training us to become VERY reliant on it. What would happen if you had to learn to survive? Are you ready?

Get Ready

Ok, so you have all this knowledge of all these situations that would devastate your life. Now what?.... 

Nathan always says, "I can't control what other people do. I can only control how I react to what they do." We can use this same principle in preparing for emergencies. You can't control if an earthquake occurs, or if zombies start taking over, or if an active shooter is in Kroger. But you CAN control how you react.

YOUR TURN. Hopefully, this post has helped to get your wheels turning on how you can get ready. Here are some specific things you can do in the near future to make sure you are ready:

• Gather your "Emergency Kit" supplies
• Determine your "Escape Plan." Think about where you and your family will go if you need to leave your home or city.
• Agree on a "Communication Plan." Figure out how you are going to communicate if there are no power lines, or no telephone lines, or no cell phone lines. This might just mean, "Ok, if we are separated when disaster strikes, we will meet *here*"
• Make sure everyone in your household knows this plan. When panic sets in, you want to have the least variables as possible.
• If you own a gun, make sure every adult in the house is knowledgeable about how to shoot it. Even if everyone doesn't carry, its a good idea for everyone to know HOW to use it.
• If you have young kids, make sure they understand about gun safety

Thinking about emergencies is sometimes scary, because it forces you to think about things that could change your life forever. But I find, as you hopefully will too, that being prepared gives me peace of mind that I've done all I could do. And that's why I don't worry.

Photo courtesy of flickr