Life Hack: Make your weekday mornings feel like weekend mornings.

It's Friday again, and what better day to start learning a new life hack specially for your work life? Before you guys go "yay the weekend is here!" why not think about this question: How do you start your weekday? Getting out of bed, getting dressed and being ready for work? What's the first thing on your mind? Work responsibilities? Things you have to do when you get to the office? 

Most of us live by every single weekday of our working life with the purpose of waking up in the morning to go to work. 

Well what if I told you, the reason you had to wake up in the morning every day (yes even on weekdays) is because the day has started, and the day doesn't have to start with work? 

Think about what you do when you wake up on the weekends. Would you, on lazy occasions, roll around in bed a bit more? Would you get out of bed calmly, stroll to the bathroom for a long hot shower before preparing yourself and enjoying a leisurely breakfast? After that, maybe start your day by reading the news, getting dressed, or doing whatever you like to do in the mornings. 

What if I told you those could be your weekdays too? 

What if you didn't have to calculate the time you need in the mornings to the second, and wake up just in time to wash up (5 minutes) get dressed (15 minutes) and have a rushed breakfast (10 minutes tops) before leaving for work? 

I used to make the most out of the least amount of time on work mornings, because I would sleep in till the latest time possible for me to still not be late for work. Every morning when I pressed the snooze button, I made mental calculations (yes, making mental calculations while snoozing lol). "If I snooze for another 10 minutes, that would leave me 20 minutes before I leave the house, and I can probably do that if I skip breakfast. Ah what the heck, I'll snooze for another 15 minutes and I'll skip my make up routine too." 

The problem was, by the time I started my day, I was already in a rushed mood and that resulted in my weekday morning routine going something like this: "I must do this within 10 minutes, I must do that within 5 minutes, oh great, I've got another 2 minutes to spare, let me just quickly do my hair. Awesome, it's now 7.27am; I must leave before 7.28am if I don't want to miss the bus."  

There was no time left to spare, every single minute counted, from the time i got out of bed till the time I stepped out of the house. 

 

Then, recently, I decided to stop the vicious cycle of going to bed late the night before, and barely getting out of bed on time the next morning, being rushed to work, and all the 'me' time I have left went down the drain. 

For the past week, I had been going to bed early, and getting out of bed 1 hour earlier than I used to. The result? I had all the time in the world. 

I took long hot showers, took the time in picking my outfit, made myself breakfast, and actually gave myself time to savor it instead of gobbling it down (or, in some cases, skipping it altogether). After a nice hearty 30 minute breakfast, I started get dressed for work. By the time I was doing so, it didn't feel like the day had just startrd, and it definitely didn't feel like I was waking up only to fall into the "get ready and get dressed for work" routine, since I already started and enjoyed my day before getting ready for work come into my mind. 

I wasn't mentally exhausted and bogged down by the idea of work in the mornings, and that translated to having chirppier mornings, feeling less reluctant to drag myself out of bed for work, and the best part was that I started my day as I would if it were the weekend. 

And you know what? I am starting to enjoy my work mornings more and more. 

You'd better have figured life out by now.

Most of us go through life's motions without really putting much effort in figuring ourselves out, because "I will have it all figured out when I hit my 30's / when my career stabilises / when I get married / when I have financial stability.

If you have got life all figured out, good for you. But if you have not, it's time to start.

You definitely do not want to be this guy.

For the past 25 years of my life, I'll admit that I've never really felt grown up nor felt like I knew what I wanted in life. I kept giving myself excuses: I'll figure it out when I enter university. I'll figure it out when I graduate. I'll figure it out when I've gained at least 2 years of working experience. I'll figure it out when I am financially stable. I'll figure it out when I get my next job promotion. I'll figure it out when I'm married. I'll figure it out before I hit my 30's.

I have not been always so sure. I had been drifting around not knowing what I was doing. I wasn't saving any money, I wasn't progressing anywhere in my career, and I kept telling myself that I was young and I had time. I kept procrastinating.

Sometimes I feel like my life has progressed so much without me even realising it.  With my 25th birthday looming round the corner (as of tomorrow, I'm officially a quarter century old), my current career status being paused in limbo (I am still deciding where I want to go when my contract with Apple ends), and my recently having taken up a joint house loan with the boyfriend, this whole life thing has been weighing on my mind lately. Have I got life all figured out?

I am proud to say that for the first time in my life, I  do know what I want, for the most part. Am I sure? No, but at least I know what I want, I know where I am going (more or less), and I know what I am doing. Will things change along the way? Maybe. That's what makes life an exciting adventure, because you're never sure what's coming next. But that doesn't mean you don't plan.

Those sappy articles on Elite Daily and Thoughts Catalogue telling you that it's okay not to have figured life out, that its okay to take things one at a time? It's bullshit fed by one immature writer to another fellow immature reader who want to believe it's okay not to be progressing in life.

"It's okay to not have my life figured out, because everyone around me hasn't either."

Reality check: No, its not. The earlier you figure your life out, the better.

1. Find out what you want
When I was in my teens and early twenties, what I wanted was to prove myself to my parents. I felt like I was being treated like a kid, and I wanted badly to prove myself worthy to be an adult. I strove for success and I worked damn hard because I wanted to climb the corporate ladder, have a nice cushy job, and earn a 5 figure pay check as early in life as I could, all just because I wanted to prove my parents and make them shut up about my immaturity and incapability. 3 years of working experience taught me that the point of success isn't to prove anything for anyone else, because how others saw me wasn't as important as what made me happy.

I thought what I wanted was lots and lots of money. I allowed ideas of success to be fed into my head: Success is earning so much excess money that you can buy whatever you want, go for holidays, and pamper yourself to a luxurious lifestyle which you can then use it to show off to family and friends. Success is being high up in the rat race and being respected by the corporate world.

With a potential life partner on the way, I realised I wasn't only planning for my future, but for a future with someone I am going to share my life with. I realise now that what really makes me happy is not an unlimited supply of money and living the fast and classy life. All I want, to be really happy, is to be financially comfortable to be able to do what I want to do, to build a family of my own, and to have adequate finances to be able to retire young and healthy.

2. Set your goals.
Everyone has different goals. Know what they are, and make calculated decisions along the way to achieve it. Make calculated decisions about your finances and your career, because those decisions will bring you to where you want to be.

For example, my career goal is to do something fulfilling that aligns with my interest in HR. My life goal, on the other hand, is to be able to earn, invest, and save up enough money to be able to retire by 30, so that I will be able to spend all my time doing more meaningful things, such as spending time with the people I love and giving my future kids the love and attention they deserve. I don't expect to be filthy rich by then, but that's just me. I am not looking for a luxurious lifestyle, just one that allows me to live comfortably while enjoying life.

Some people want to travel and see the world. Some want to be respected and well known in the corporate world. Others want to volunteer full time in non-profit organisations. Others, yet, want to be filthy rich and pamper themselves to all earthly pleasures.

Know what you want, and make sure that it is REALLY what you want, not what society says you should have.

3. Work your way to achieving it.
Once you have set your mind to what you want, plan how you want to get there. Are you making proper financial choices? Are you on track with your career path / advancement? Are you happy with where you are now? If you are not, make the changes necessary to achieve your goal.

4. Don't forget to enjoy the now.
For the past 25 years of my life, I had been working hard and I was so focused on looking forward to the promised future fruits of my hard labor that I never took the time to appreciate where I already was. Don't be so blinded by your future goals that you forget what you have already achieved, lest you find that life has passed you by and you never really took the time to appreciate or celebrate it. That's what happened to me for the past 25 years. Don't make the same mistake I did.

Even though you have plans for the future, don't ever forget to enjoy the now. Yes, you have set your plans and you know where you want to be in 10 years, but you are now also where you are you wanted to be 10 years ago. Aren't you going to enjoy that as well?

Know what you want, set your goals, achieve it. All while enjoying the achievements that you already have.

Go your way and figure your life out. I know I have, and from the looks of it, it's a comfort to know that my future seems promising. =)