Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Good habits may or may not translate

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I am linking up with Marcia again today on her One Small Change challenge.


In my search for a small change to incorporate this week, I started thinking about some of my runner habits. One of my favorites is that whenever I am running a race, I am meticulous about laying out all of my clothing and gear the night before. I try to prepare everything as much as possible. I pin my bib on my shirt. I set a cereal box, banana, a bowl and a spoon on the kitchen table. I drape my jacket over a chair near the front door, and leave my gear bag and a bottle of water sitting at the doorway. I might even loosen my running shoelaces.

My philosophy is, the more you can do the night before, the less stressful things will be the morning of, and the less likely there will be for any disaster to occur. (Notice I said "less likely" for disaster - not impossible. Even with all this preparation, I've still had some issues. But that's a topic for another day.)

Unfortunately, I only do this kind of preparation for race days. I generally do NOT do it as part of my everyday morning routine for getting ready to go to work.


Why not, you ask? Primarily lack of urgency or aftereffect, other than getting into the office a little bit later. There are usually very few truly crucial things that need to be done in the morning. If I forget my lunch, I can go out for lunch. If an article of clothing malfunctions, there are stores near the office. Forgot a report? Print out another copy. No keys? Talk to the folks at the front desk. If I forget my laptop power cord or heck, even my laptop itself, I can go to the IT helpdesk and get a loaner.

By comparison, if you forget things for races, there are usually not a lot of last-minute emergency options. This can really put a runner in discomfort and/or dire straits.


With this in mind, I thought I would try applying pre-race-type preparation to everyday mornings as my small change for the week. That includes doing all of the following things the night before:

  1. Picking out what I am going to wear, including shoes, socks, underwear, and any jewelry or accessories, and laying everything out
  2. Packing my lunch and storing it in an easy-to-reach spot in the fridge to grab and go
  3. Packing my computer bag with all necessary paperwork, etc. and having it ready to grab and go
  4. Putting my housekeys, office key card, glasses, and other necessities in my purse
I did NOT go so far as to setting out my breakfast food/dishes or setting out my jacket/gloves, etc. Those are certainly good considerations for the future, though.

On a side note...
When I was trying to think of a title for this post, I thought - what is the opposite of procrastination? Precrastination? That sounds like "the act of preparing to procrastinate." How about concrastination? Or anticrastinate? Hmmm...

I'll get back to you on that later. ;-)




Now, back to the topic at hand.

How did it go? On the days that I followed through, it certainly made things easier in the mornings. Admittedly, though, there was room for improvement:

  • I had some nights where I was up late working, and wanted to get to bed as quickly as possible. No go on any type of night-before preparations when I'm in that situation.
  • There were a couple of times when I did pick out an outfit the night before, but then the next morning I decided I didn't feel like wearing it. It resulted in me going back to the drawing board and tearing through the contents of my closet in the morning while the clock ticks away. (First world problems, I know.)
  • Ideally my phone would be one of the things already packed in my purse and ready to go in the mornings. However, I charge my phone overnight, use it to catch up on social media and emails while I am eating breakfast, and sometimes use it as a backup alarm clock. As a result, I frequently end up putting the phone down somewhere in the morning, then losing track of it. A mad search then ensues for my misplaced phone.
  • My best intentions were to use any time savings to get to the office earlier. Instead, I found other ways to use that newfound time at home. Sometimes these "other ways" were productive, e.g. doing dishes, going through some of the mail sitting on the countertop, making the bed. There were also times when "other ways" meant more social networking or internet surfing. (Although, I guess some might consider that productive, just in a different way.)

In summary...
I think I still have some refinements to make when it comes to the practice of applying pre-race-type preparation to my daily morning routine. But hey - nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Maybe next week I can focus on making one small change to this week's attempt at a small change? =D

16 comments:

  1. I am slowly putting together a "race checklist" so I can make sure I have everything before I leave for a race. In the past, I have scrambled to throw everything together the day of the race and it just adds a level of unnecessary stress. Also, those tiny see-through "security" bags really make me have to focus on bringing only what's necessary, since there is little room for "just-in-case" items. Also, if I'm travelling for a race (i.e marathon) I need to make sure I've got everything, or I could be in trouble if I can't purchase what I forgot at the destination.

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    1. Race checklists are a great idea! I actually tend to bring more than I end up needing on race day, which ends up making my gear check bag a challenge. The see-through security bags are kind of a conundrum, in my opinion - I've seen many folks pack their own (cloth) bags, then put the entire cloth bag into the see-through bag. Kind of defeats the purpose, eh? Yes - while traveling, having all your gear is KEY otherwise you might find yourself scouring for the nearest convenience store out of desperation. Even buying emergency items at race expos can be nerve-wracking. NOT a good situation!

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  2. I suspect I've been practicing Precrastination for years :)

    I always get my outfit ready for work the night before - it started years ago when I used to work a 7-3:30 shift (meaning I'd leave home at around 6am!), so taking the time to think about what to wear in the morning was just not an option. In addition to that, I also try it on the night before to make sure there's no surprises on how things fit or look. It's saved me from many mornings of frantically throwing outfits together and swearing/crying in my closet because things don't quite fit right (my husband is really happy about that second one - why don't men understand the first-world problem of having a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear???). And if I don't pack my work bag as much as possible the night before, I always forget something, especially now that I'm in the office pretty infrequently - it's a lot to remember when I'm not used to doing it every day!

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    1. All hail to the Precrastinators of the World! Let us all unite! =)

      Oh my goodness, a 7 - 3:30 shift? That would be brutal in the morning, but it would be really nice to be done for the day at 3:30!

      I completely relate to trying things out the night before to make sure things fit okay, go together, etc. (When it comes to special events like attending weddings, etc., then the fun of playing home dress-up goes to a whole new level in my household, LOL.) Adam also doesn't relate very much either to having a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear (although his closet is much more basic than mine, so it's much easier for him to mix and match!) It must be in the male genes. =D

      It must be so nice to work from home most of the time! I envy all the extra time you get from not having to commute. Sigh.

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  3. I'm with you on the "don't feel like wearing it the next morning" issue!! In fact, that's why I stopped picking out my outfits the night before. I almost always ended up nixing what I picked out the next morning.

    As a trade off, I try to just stay on top of laundry instead - that way I always have plenty of clean options.

    I do have to say, though - having a lunch packed the night before sure is helpful. Not only in saving me time on my morning routine, but also in ensuring I eat healthier during the week (less lunches out). I try to pack lunch as part of my post-dinner clean up routine. Since I'm in the kitchen already, it's not a big deal to quick pack something up and be ready for the next morning (maybe even dinner leftovers).

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    1. Isn't it amazing how much tastes can change overnight?!?!? I am right there with you on trying to stay on top of laundry instead. I can't tell you how many times I decided I wanted to wear a particular top or bottom, had another article of clothing that I wanted to wear with it, and then couldn't find it because it was crumpled up in my laundry basket. First world problems at their very best, if I do say so myself!

      Couldn't agree with you more on how having a lunch packed in advance makes for much healthier choices. On those days when I throw something together or go out, my lunch usually ends up being some random smorgasboard of leftovers and packaged-foods to act as fillers in between. Although, when I have the time to plan appropriately, leftovers are a great convenience for bringing to work! Especially restaurant leftovers since they come in the nice little portable packaging. =)

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  4. I am the same way about having EVERYTHING ready to go on race morning. When I raced with my daughter I was telling her to get her stuff together and she thought I was nuts.
    More preparation in the morning is always a good thing, IMO. I just rarely do it! Haha! Thanks for linking up!

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    1. Thanks for hosting again! I am enjoying these linkups very much and they are a nice challenge to get me motivated to change things up from my usual routines. =)

      Your daughter is so fortunate to have you as a role model! She is going to be in such good hands when she really gets into her running zone. =)

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  5. I do this every single day and it saves my life- keep it up, eventually it'll be a habit and take you less than 15 minutes.

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    1. Oh wow! Less than 15 minutes! That is impressive! It's amazing how much of a difference 15 minutes of preparation before bedtime can make versus 15 minutes the next morning, eh? I need to keep working at this. =)

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  6. When I worked in an office full time, I did the food prep and gym clothes, keys, work stuff prep every day. I never could fall asleep w/o being prepared! Type A much?! :)

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    1. Erica - great point about the gym clothes prep! I actually am fortunate to have a permanent locker in my office gym where I keep all of my gym items. But before then, gym bag prep was quite essential. Especially since any tiny little obstruction to working out could be a demotivating factor to actually going through with a workout!

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  7. I do pack my work/school and workout stuff the night before. Very easy to just grab those bags in the morning. What helps me is that I don't take too long to get ready. I am up at 6am and usually at work by 7am.

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    1. How long is your commute to work? I am very fortunate to have only a 10-minute commute to work - and other than all these things that I am trying to do the night before, I've got my morning routine down so that I am pretty fast, too! The extra sleep makes a lot of difference, especially over the long haul. =)

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    2. I work 6 miles away but can take me about 30-40 minutes to get there.

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