Today we’re discussing how high-performers prepare for tomorrow and how you can do the same.
Naval Ravikant says that peace and happiness are skills.
You’re not born with them.
There might be a genetic range, but you can train yourself to be better at being happy.
A great day is full of productivity and happiness and there are small but incredibly effective tools you can use to help with this training.
Like any training, it takes continuous practice. If you fall off the horse, you have to get back on it.
You might know some of these suggestions already, but a reminder never hurts, right?
Write them down, put them into practice, and start your training.
Here are 15 Ways to Prepare for a Great Day Tomorrow
Don’t worry if you don’t feel like reading; you can enjoy the video below or watch it on YouTube:
1
Do a “closing shift” in your home the night before
In the restaurant world, a closing shift is for the servers and waiters who work late at night and have to make sure everything is clean and set up for the morning.
It’s not a major cleaning, but it is tidying your space.
Put things away, wipe the counters down, and straighten the living room area.
It only has to take about 20 minutes and it will completely change your morning mindset.
2
Pack whatever you need to the night before
That panic that comes with you rushing because you’ve realized that you have way more to do than you thought, and now you’re going to be late—well, that releases cortisol, the stress hormone.
It messes up your entire day because now you’re anxious and on edge.
Cortisol is the hormone our body releases when we feel like we need to run or fight to save ourselves.
It’s highly charged and we don’t need to be welcoming it first in the morning.
3
Eat a good meal the night before
We often hear about the importance of eating a good breakfast, which is true.
But your meal the night before plays a major role in your energy levels and mood for the next morning too.
Heavy, spicy, or high-fat foods are more likely to lead to indigestion, which disrupts your sleep.
On the other hand, foods that contain nutrients like magnesium and tryptophan can help you sleep better.
When you sleep better, your body gets time to regenerate properly, and you wake up feeling more refreshed and energetic.
It’s one of the most impactful ways of preparing your body and mind for an amazing tomorrow!
4
Put your phone away long before you go to bed
Ah, you guys know this one. It’s in every self-help advice column about feeling better and sleeping better.
And if it didn’t help in a major way, we wouldn’t include it.
Look, we’re tech people. We work on our phones and laptops all the time.
Everyone knows there’s that comfort and relief of grabbing your phone just as you get into bed.
It’s like a smoker taking their first drag after a long day. And it’s like smoking—it’s so bad for you!
Never mind the blue light, the information overload, or the scrolling—the bombardment with different colors, images, and stories will trick your brain into believing that it’s daytime again.
It’s not fair; your brain is tired. When you prepare for tomorrow, give your brain some rest.
5
Write a five-task to-do list the night before
Since you’re not going to have your phone, you need something else to keep you occupied in bed, and writing a short, priority-focused letter will help you.
The trick is to keep it to just five tasks.
If you start writing down everything you need to do for the day, then you’re going to get overwhelmed.
The big to-do list can live in another place.
This one is for the five most important things you have to do.
Divide them up between morning, afternoon, and evening, and make sure they’re not all work-related and not all personal life-related.
A to-do list this evening is one of the best ways to prepare for tomorrow.
6
Get what’s bothering you out of your mind
It’s horrible to wake up in the morning feeling overwhelmed.
Whether it’s stress about money, guilt about something you said to someone that you’ve been overthinking, or shame because you didn’t do everything you needed to the day before, you need to get those anxious, negative thoughts out of your mind and on paper.
Studies have shown that when you write something down, the stress it poses and the space it takes up in your mind diminish.
You’re not forgetting the problem. You’re just storing it in another data center.
Like computer memory, your brain becomes overwhelmed by thinking the same thoughts over and over.
Simply writing it down will clear up some of that space.
If you don’t like writing, you can spend five or 10 minutes typing out the things that are bothering you and then come up with an idea about how you can solve them (if you can solve them)—even a brain dump into a voice memo to yourself would work here.
7
Don’t let one misstep throw you off
Or even two missteps.
It’s an awesome feeling when you’re in the rhythm of a good day.
You’ve set yourself up the night before, woke up early, you’re feeling rested, and then as you’re getting in the car or off the train, you realize—you’ve forgotten your lunch or your gym clothes—so now your day is thrown off.
So often, we throw in the towel on the perfect routine we’ve crafted because we’ve made one mistake.
This type of expectation of perfection is unfair and unreasonable and is counterproductive when preparing for your great tomorrow.
Of course, you’re going to mess up sometimes, find a solution, and get on with it.
Don’t dwell.
8
Make sure your first meal has protein and greens
Whatever your first meal is, make sure it contains protein and greens.
If you want to prepare for a great tomorrow, you need fuel and energy, and you want something that’s not going to weigh you down.
Protein is going to give you all that.
Carbs are great and delicious, but for your first meal of the day, you need a stable source of energy.
Protein takes longer to digest, which maintains your blood sugar levels so you don’t have a spike of energy and then crash.
It’s also a great source of energy for your brain so you’re more sharp and focused.
9
Make morning reading your best friend
Prepare for tomorrow with 10 minutes of reading.
Reading provides this slow, smooth transition from the dreaming world to the waking world.
It wakes up your brain, imagination, and creativity and distracts you from any pressures or problems you might be facing.
Reading the news doesn’t count because it’s just going to launch you straight into the information vortex.
Reading is more calming and you can go at your own pace.
If you commute, this is the perfect time to do it.
Podcasts have been really popular on commutes, but they also bombard you with information.
Reading doesn’t do that because you’re staying with one story.
Audiobooks are great for this, too.
10
Get 7 minutes of exercise in the morning
More would be ideal, but if that’s all you can do, then experts say that seven minutes of morning exercise is enough to enhance your focus and boost your mental clarity.
Physical activity increases the blood flow to your brain, which sharpens your concentration.
It also releases endorphins, which will lift your mood naturally.
Seven minutes is all you need to have a huge boost in your productivity and emotions for the day.
11
Step into a “good day” circle
In behavior therapy, psychologists will advise an activity where you have two circles on the floor right where you get off the bed each morning.
One circle represents a good day and the other represents a “not good” day.
Obviously, we’re always going to choose the “good day” circle so some might see the “not good” day circle as redundant, but it’s not about your options; it’s about your ultimate decision.
Purposefully stepping into the “good day” circle sends an early message to your mind that that’s what you’re going to focus on for the day.
12
Greet the people you see around you
Nearly every study on happiness and productivity puts connection with people and socialization as the number one determiner of your mood.
We’re social creatures so positive interactions can have a great effect on how we feel throughout the day.
You don’t have to continue the conversation.
In fact, don’t do that because everyone else is rushing through their day thinking about their things and probably doesn’t want to engage in an early morning conversation.
All you need to do is say hello with a smile.
Notice how you feel when they greet you back. It’s like a little spike of happiness.
13
Talk to yourself about what you have to do (out loud)
You have your priority to-do list and your main to-do list, and now you’re going to give those tools another boost by actually talking to yourself about what you want to do for the day.
Have a conversation with yourself so that you understand that your goals are achievable.
It also helps you visualize how your day is going to go so you’re less likely to be stressed and forget things and you’ll feel more focused.
This gives you the chance to ace that meeting at work, to be present at that dinner with your friend, and to do some self-care too.
It’s a win – win – win.
14
Create a morning playlist and listen to it
Few things have the power to boost your mood as quickly and as effectively as good music.
Prepare for tomorrow by taking some time later today to create a morning playlist for yourself.
Put your feel-good tunes on there—the ones that amp you up and motivate you.
Make sure there are enough songs so that you’re not listening to the same ones on repeat.
And do some dancing while you’re at it.
You’re already up and about and running, so add some moves to that too.
15
Make your bed
Last but certainly not least, make your damn bed.
A clear bed equals a clear mind.
Having that semblance of order and achievement the moment your feet touch the ground sets you up for a great day.
It shouldn’t even be something that’s on your list, it should be something that’s already part of your daily life.
It sounds simple, but it’s incredibly effective.
The research doesn’t lie. Your day starts with whatever inputs you decide to invite in.
Good habits invite better habits, which leads to better days.
See you next time!