Morning Routine

"Thinking about creating my future starts when I wake up every morning...Everyday I find something creative to do with my life to make it worthwhile."
Miles Davis, Jazz Musician

When I wake-up each morning I choose to have a good day or a bad day.  I realize that to have a good life, I must fill it with good days.  Good days to me happen when I accomplish my most important tasks for the day.  Bad days are those that leave me feeling bad because I fail to do anything to advance my most important tasks.  The first thing I do in the morning is write down and organize my personal priorities, doing the most important tasks first.
Studies have shown that eighty percent of people do exactly the opposite.  They organize their days around urgency's and emergencies. They tend to take care of last minute issues that should have been dealt with earlier or help others achieve their goals while ignoring their own.  I find this approach leaves me feeling frustrated and irritable.
Doing first things first is a very simple discipline.  I find it to be a major power and has changed my life immensely.  I also find it's a fast and easy way to turn around my life when I am not happy with the way it is going so far.
These are the rules I follow: 1. I get up early and write a list of the the important tasks I want to accomplish. 2.  I have breakfast, next I dress and do a short stretching exercise and a meditation session of 15-20 minutes. 3. I begin to work on my list of important tasks, crossing each one off as I accomplish it. 4. I continue down my list, taking short breaks in between to allow myself down time. 5. I make time for lunch and run errands as needed.  By the end of the day I review my list and reward myself for all the items I accomplished. (I enjoy a cup of tea and a sweet treat most times)  I make a list for tomorrow of tasks that still need to be accomplished.
I try to do this five days a week and spend the weekend doing fun things!  I feel happier most of the time and feel I have a good life!  Try it and see if it doesn't help.