How to Start a Calmer Workday

Most Wednesday nights, after the kids go to sleep, I play basketball.
It’s two hours of competitive play that feels like flow– I forget about nannies, don’t think about work, and lose track of what my family is doing back at home. It energizes me. Sometimes too much.
Last week, I got home completely wired.

I took a shower and then laid in bed 3 hours. Wide awake.

Something needed to change. So this week, I wanted to tried different. When the game ended, I didn’t sweep up my clothes and run to the car. Instead I started thinking about winding myself down.
I stretched patiently. Took deep breaths. Walked slowly to my car and sat for an extra beat before turning it on.
At stoplights I closed my eyes and inhaled as big as I could. Slowly exhaling.
I made it home only 3 minutes later than the week before. In the shower, I let the warm water run over my hair and down my face. And In bed, I don’t even remember turning off the lights because I fell asleep so fast.

It makes me think about how this connects to work.
(I do that a lot, I guess)

When I didn’t wind myself down, I was disregulated.–in a state of hypervigilance. My nervous system was activated.

Many of us are like that a lot. We’re stressed, over-stimulated, and disregulated.
So when we start our workday feeling rushed and frantic, that energy drives us all day. It leads to multi-tasking, task switching, thinking about every little to-do and response, and unfinished conversation that needs following up. Which, to some people, is an important way to spend their commute. But that can get in the way of doing smarter work.

What if, instead of using the commute or the 15 minutes before work started to frantically get dressed and rush to start the first task on our list, that we think about starting to regulate our nervous systems?
Start your day with calm.
Take a moment to write down everything to do today.
Take a deep breath and use a few minutes to move a little slower.
Take deeper breaths.
Maybe even a few minutes of meditation with your eyes closed.
What’s the one thing that would make a big difference today?

How we begin our work can change the rest of our day and how we feel about our days affects our entire week.
(And then our weeks become our lives.)
The change in pace– starting the day with focus, calm, regulated, energy– can change the momentum of the day.

(And who knows, maybe your life.)

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Caveday is a company aimed at improving your relationship to work. We write regular posts on Medium and send out monthly newsletters with productivity tips, life hacks, and recommendations. Sign up for the mailing list here.

Jake Kahana is a cofounder of Caveday. Sign up for his personal emails, called “The Email Refrigerator” here.