Why You Should Never Check Your Email in the Morning

Checking email in the morning can be very disruptive to your whole day, not because email is bad but because it's other-focused. And this actually goes beyond email. Any communication method can be a disruption for you, especially in the morning.

As Seth Godin says, if you check your email in the morning...

“You've just surrendered not only a block of time but your freshest, best chance to start something new. If you're an artist, a leader or someone seeking to make a difference, the first thing you do should be to lay tracks to accomplish your goals, not to hear how others have reacted/responded/insisted to what happened yesterday."

When you wake up, ideally it's because you are ready to start your day. You aren't jarred awake by a bugle announcing breakfast, a child begging for something, or a boss pointing at you and telling you what to do. Hopefully you get up before all that - when the quiet of the morning allows your mind to think and even be in a serene state of calm.

It's no coincidence that we have some of our best thoughts during a morning shower.

Your brain has just been dreaming and imagining for hours, of course it's going to be flooded with great ideas in the morning. Research indicates that sleeping, by the way, is much more for our brains than for our body. But you already knew that didn't you?

During Peace Corps, in an effort to be more physically fit, I would spend about 30 minutes every morning working out. I had read that exercising before breakfast burns up to 3 times more calories, since you're exercising on an empty stomach. I can certainly feel the difference. In my own kind of fuzzy logic, this made me feel good thinking that it was as if I had just worked out for an hour and a half later in the day. Triple win.

The side benefit of doing this started to become a more primary motivation for me - exercising when I woke up helped clear my mind throughout the day. My body had that "tired" feeling in my muscles that feels wonderful and exhausted at the same time, and it was like the volume on everything around me had been turned down a notch. I didn't get distracted or annoyed as easily, and I certainly felt much better about myself in general, so my confidence and patience went up as well. This clarity of mind made me feel 10 times more productive and focused. I didn't need coffee, social media distractions, or someone to tell me what do to. I just did what I knew was right, and this changed from day to day.

When it comes down to it, most communication focuses on "someone telling you what to do." Occasionally someone approaches you with the best question in the world, but that's often too rare. Most communication focuses on: read this, respond to this, act on this, pay this, laugh at this, share this, be persuaded by this, support this. Right?

It's no wonder that a full inbox stresses us out. Meetings, mailboxes (the old kind), clubs, leagues, committees, and teams can feel the same way. They demand action, energy and time from us. Oh and money. But honestly, money is the least valuable of the four. It's our actions, time and energy that we wish we had more of right? The famous saying is, "I wish I had more hours in the day." Why didn't they say money? It's because we want to do awesome things, we want to take part in action that is meaningful and we want to experience a life worth living.

Step one is don't get distracted. By email, television, commitments or anything else that truly doesn't matter to you. Focus on what you love. Make these things work in your favor. Write short emails that get straight to the point. Engage with others in a way that is meaningful and memorable. Refuse to waste time in meetings or committees that aren't creating something valuable.

You might picture my time in Peace Corps being this isolated monk-like existence where I lived in a small tent in the middle of a field and milked my own cow to fill my cereal bowl in the morning. I don't blame you, I sort of pictured that myself. But most Peace Corps Volunteers are surrounded by modern conveniences, no matter where they live. And in my case cereal can cost $10 a box, so even if I had my own cow I wouldn't be putting the milk in cereal.

In Mongolia, I could check Facebook everyday at home or at work and I could sit on Gmail and chat all day long. This situation might be familiar to you as well. Instead, I chose to use those tools to benefit my community. I taught my doctor and nurse students how to set up email accounts, protect their computers from viruses and install english learning software. I created websites to raise money for projects, build a sports park, create a small handicraft business, told others about Peace Corps and self-published a book about it. I also occasionally watched The Daily Show on Comedy Central. But I tried, everyday, to not get distracted.

Don't give away control of your attention to others - through email, Facebook, television or any other form of media. Use it to your advantage and your purposes instead. Those things, at their best, allow us to help others and connect more easily with them, and to bring us one step closer to changing the world and making it a better place for our future generations.

Step One: Wake up and start your day refreshed. Step Two: Don't check your email. Step Three: You decide.

Pro Tip: Send new email from Gmail without opening your Inbox. Just go to: http://bit.ly/simplysend

This essay is actually an excerpt from my book Enough. I'd love for you to check it out.

Inspiration to Write and Finish

I loved an article from Nathan Barry this week,

A lot of people get to where you are now. A half finished book, an iPhone app with just a few customers, or the perfect idea that just needs circumstances to fall into place before they can build it. These people, like you, are on the brink of something great. Truly changing their own lives and careers through what they can create…

Back in high school I had friends who always had big ideas, which they talked about loudly and frequently, but nothing ever happened. Years later I’d run into them and they’d still be talking about the epic trip they are going to go on or the company they are going to start. But after years, nothing has happened. That’s not you.

As my friend Jeff Goins says, ”You can outlast those who are lucky and out-work those who are lazy.” That’s how you win.

Nathan is definitely speaking right to me. That is where I am with so many projects.

It’s easy to get half-finished, or even 99% finished, and not push all the way.

Interestingly Leo wrote a similar article on Zen Habits this week, speaking right to me too in How I Tackle a Big Writing Project.

It’s a wonderful piece and talks through, with quite a bit of humility, how Leo was able to complete an eBook in just two days. It seems amazing but really it’s not.

In my experience the actual time I spend writing is minimal usually. I think about something for 10 hours for every hour of writing I actually get done. In his case he just skipped all that middle work, which I talked about earlier this week in The Tale of The Two Writers, and just did the 10 solid hours he needed to write the book.

I love it.

I’m inspired by both Nathan and Leo and I’m eager to reconnect with my inner writer more in the coming days.

Whatever it is that you are wanting to do deep done, I hope you can reconnect with that too.

The Tale of Two Writers

Two writers sit down to write. One writes for five hours. One writes for one hour.

Who do you think got more quality writing done?

The second writer did.

It's a trick question.

The first writer scribbled everything down on a napkin first. Then he copied it into his favorite moleskin journal. Then rode it very clearly with great grammar on a legal pad. He then typed it into a typewriter and reviewed it as a manuscript. Finally the editor took the manuscript and published it in a book. That's how long chapter 1 took. After five grueling hours all the writer wanted to do was rest.

The second writer finished several chapters in one hour. She skipped the napkin, moleskin journal, legal pad and typewriter. In fact she skipped the editor and publishing company too. She knew she wanted her final product to be an ebook for the world to see and worked on that from the beginning. She spent her extra time meditating, relaxing outside, hiking around a mountain, and boosting her creativity so that she could sit down and write so more. After her five hours all this writer wanted to do was write some more.

Be the second writer.

Write smarter, not harder.

We want to see what you've written.

What I Learned From a One-Day Juice Fast

by Travis Hellstrom

My wife thought it would be fun to do a one-day juice fast and on Sunday we gave it a try. I was a little nervous about it (I love to eat stuff), but I was willing to try.

We went out the night before and bought juices that we liked. We got the V8 sorts in particular since they are heavy on real fruits and vegetables. You could also use a juice blender if you wanted as well I’m sure.

Then starting in the morning we only drank juice through the whole day. We didn’t eat anything until the next morning (starting with something small, a banana, even then).

The 10 Things I Learned:

1. I could do it - I wasn’t sure I could do it. My stomach was especially nervous. It let me know throughout the day growling and complaining. But it worked out just fine.

2. I can be a whiny baby - Tunga would probably be nice and say I didn’t whine too much, but I did. I was a baby about it. Which leads me to the next lesson.

3. Food controls mood - I was surprised by how much food controls my emotions. It was really tough for me to positive and upbeat while my stomach was growling like a tiger. It settled down (and my emotions settled down) when I drank more substantial juices with lots of vegetables in them.

4. I don't know what it's really like to be hungry - I reminded myself with this experiment that I don’t really know what hunger is, to be starving like hundreds of millions of people around the world do everyday.

5. It was worth it - At the end of the day, it was worth it. Or maybe I should say, the next morning in particular it was worth it.

6. I felt great afterward - When I woke up I felt great. I felt thinner and healthier and didn’t have a strong urge to eat.

7. My stomach shrank - When I did eat, I didn’t eat very much. I was full very easily throughout the entire day.

8. It changed my habits the day after - The next day and the day after I felt great and continued to eat less than I had before. I also wanted healthier foods and unhealthy stuff didn’t attract me as much.

9. It made me more creative - For the past few days when I’ve been hungry I’ve been doing different things: drinking more water and juice, eating fruits, yogurt and little snacks. I feel more energetic and creative about what I want to eat instead of having large meals at normal breakfast, lunch and dinner times.

10 . My wife is a good sport - Biggest lesson of all, Tunga is very patient and kind. She never complained once, was very supportive and put up with me whining. I told her I’d like to try it again and I promised not to complain as much next time.