You wake up and your first thought is: “I have so much to do.”

Maybe you made a to-do list last night, and are now stressing about how long it is. Maybe you didn’t make one, so you don’t even know everything you have to do, which is even worse. Maybe you have some important meetings or plans for the day, or something that requires your creativity. Either way, you need to be your best (that might be next thought).

All this within seconds of waking up. You’re already overwhelmed, rushed, and stressed by your thinking.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the whole day is still ahead of you! Even if you wake up like this, you can still turn it around. I had to do it this morning.

I was an assistant teacher for iPEC coaching training this weekend, and I got home very energized last night. Still, I had so much catching up to do after the weekend; emails, calls, scheduled coaching sessions, laundry, cooking, writing a blog (I had missed my own deadline!). I made a list of all of these last night.

I woke up at 6:30 this morning. My impulse was to get straight to work, to start with my blog and then do the rest. The little voice in my head said: “You can’t afford to waste any time.” I felt overwhelmed, decided to skip my morning meditation, and went straight to my computer to write my blog.

I sat down and opened a blank page, and then? nothing. Blank. Want to write but can’t. Not even one sentence.

What’s going on? It’s 6:40 AM and I’m already stressed? Where has my creativity gone?

Oh yeah, I teach this stuff. I knew what I had to do. I stopped. I observed. I evaluated.

I went back and did my morning routine. I meditated and gave Reiki to myself for 20 minutes – like I do every morning.

Then, I took a walk outside for 30 minutes.

During my walk, I had a burst of creativity. I couldn’t wait to get back home and write.

I had my breakfast, showered and went straight to my computer. It was now 8:00 am. I was so centered, focused and energized that it only took me 30 minutes to write this blog.

If I wrote from the “can’t afford to waste time” state of mind it probably would’ve taken me 2 hours, wouldn’t have been as good, and I?d be left feeling frustrated and drained.

Getting centered, walking and eating mindfully connected me to my best self and made my creativity come alive.

So if you wake up and feel like you’re already behind on your work, don’t despair! You can fix it!

There are 3 things you can do to be best when you feel overwhelmed:

1. Identify the thought in your head that makes you stressed and change it.
2. Make time to get centered: meditation, inspirational reading, journaling, etc.
3. Get moving: walk around the block or with your dog, exercise, dance, stretch.

Shake things up – and you’re ready for the rest of your day!