I normally wake and begin my day well before six in the morning. This “early bird-ism” holds true on the weekdays as well as the weekends. This morning, I took a different approach. I let myself sleep as late as I could. I woke up naturally at four, which would be five in the morning, my routine waking time in my normal time zone. I started to get up. I laid in bed and tackled the first thing that I could remember on my day’s to do list.
Then I thought about the day. I thought of how I would enjoy my morning coffee and knock off a few items on my long list of tasks to get ahead of the week. I thought about how I would then head down to breakfast and reward my productivity with a ham and cheese omelet. I thought about the day ahead and all that I could accomplish.
I went back to sleep.
I felt a sense of accomplishment when I woke at half past eight in the morning. My free upgrade at the hotel got me a suite, which has a bedroom that closes completely off from the large window in the living area. The total darkness and undisturbed sleep felt incredible.
I headed in my pajama’s the the Elite Kitchen, for a free cup of coffee. In the week that I have been here in Canada, I made the trip from the eighteenth floor to the twenty fourth floor in my pajamas, where I could get a small morning snack and tasty coffee. The difference between today and my normal pajama dressed trip, is that I never cross paths with anyone at four in the morning. Being almost nine in the morning, a came upon a nicely dressed woman in the elevator. I apologized for my disheveled appearance. She smiled warmly, and spoke with sincerity when she said that I need not apologize.
We proceeded to strike up a conversation. She told me about what she and her husband do in Edmonton, where they are from. I told her about what I do for a living. While we waited for our free coffees to brew, we bonded over our love for the city of Calgary. I went from a feeling of self-isolation to awake and happy.
The transition in my inner spirits brought me to reflect on the past mornings. When Little Chirp is at his dad’s house, I often wake around four, and I have my first meetings around ten. If I work from home; I am awake for six hours before I have any sort of human interaction. The fur kids certainly raise my spirits in the morning, but they do not talk.
In contrast, this past week, I have gotten up each morning and worked with the offshore team, so I had about an hour for my beloved coffee and self-reflection before I engaged in human interaction. This made for an overall upbeat week. When Little Chirp is with me, we sit together at the kitchen island. He makes himself an enormous breakfast, and I sit and sip my coffee.
I long believed that starting one’s day with a morning routine sets the tone for productivity of the day. As we come out of the pandemic, I realize that the isolation took its toll on my own mental health. This is my first trip back to Canada since the pandemic began. I always love it here, and now I appreciate it even more.
I think the key take away is that the early bird may catch the worm, but this is not always the best prize. Being surrounded by positive minded humans at the start of one’s day, whether that be at four or nine in the morning is a key to a mentally healthy day. For me, a mentally healthy day is a productive day.
Have a beautiful day.