Fresh Start Monday #007: Freedom within structure
Last week, I mentioned I wasn't waking up with purpose.
I heard the alarm clock across the room. Instead of marching into action, the warmth had me frozen.
My body associates early mornings with things I don't want to do. I traced my disdain back to childhood Saturday mornings.
My mom forced me to attend Polish school for four hours each Saturday until high school.
Each morning a silent war waged.
Silence to my mom's wake-up calls.
Silence to my pleads for more sleep.
If you also struggle to wake up early, what memories come up for you?
My negative associations are due to being forced to do something, but now it's voluntary. The challenge has been reframing what it means to wake up early. I choose what to wake up for.
Society trains us to live within structure. In school, we had a schedule of classes and due dates. As adults, our work schedule and manager dictate our days. We respond to the needs of our kids and partners at home.
Structure leads us throughout the day.
As I write and create a coaching business, I have no structure to fall back on. I sometimes open my inbox as if I’ll receive direction for a personal project.
Autonomy draws us to creative work or entrepreneurship. The challenge comes from the other side of the equation. If nobody tells us what to work on, we must create self-imposed structures out of endless possibilities.
But how?
Last Week
I woke up at 7:30 am. I went on hikes and played disc golf four out of the seven days. I felt excited to go out early, but waking up at 7:30 am has its limits.
One day, I went on a three-mile hike and returned with barely any time before work. I caught myself being hard on myself. Instead of lamenting the work I didn’t do, I focused on two things:
I celebrated going on a hike! I've never done this before work. I'm quick to label things as failures and forget the positives.
I reduced the scope of work. The goal was to add a page to my website. Instead, I spent five minutes creating a quick outline not to lose momentum. Future me appreciated not starting from zero the next day,
As I've created more space in the mornings, I've found a sense of independence I've never had with a 9-5 job before. I'm designing a sacred time and space.
I enjoyed being a night owl, but social events, partners, and generally how each day goes influenced my evenings. I reacted to my environment instead of creating it.
When traveling, I removed all routines and restrictions from my environment to see what took its place. I created a space to explore and experiment.
I'm now finding freedom within a consistent and controlled environment.
I came into this month expecting to dread each morning. Instead, I'm motivated to keep waking up earlier and protect more of my time.
The freedom I found while traveling, I now find in my mornings.
Fresh Start Experiment
I have a weird relationship with structure. I know it's good for me, but too much is suffocating.
Relating to travel again, I'll look up all the things I want to do when I visit a new country. I know where I’ll stay for the first couple of nights. But having a detailed itinerary makes me feel like a caged bird.
This week I'm waking up at 7:15 am. The night before, I'm writing down my most important task. A to-do list will not work for me.
I define most important tasks as actions that align with our values and bring us closer to our future vision. They're strategic.
I'm hesitant to add a step to my bedtime routine, so I bought the smallest notebook I could find. I had too many prompts in past journals, which took too long. As an example:
Ignore my handwriting
I've procrastinated on this task for two weeks. I could lay in bed for 16 hours afterward and still feel productive. I also wanted a reminder to leave early for a run.
I'm only allowed to take up one page each day. The idea is not to overwhelm the page but to narrow our focus. We live each day taking cues from others. We can devote one page to ourselves.
The most important task gives us a purpose to wake up and relieves pressure from the rest of the day. The hamster wheel feeling comes from dozens of busy tasks that don't create forward movement.
Applying it to your life
What is your most important task each day? The one action that will make your day successful?
What time and space are you giving that task?