Before You Get Out of Bed, Try These Simple Steps

I hope I’m not alone when I say it’s not uncommon to find myself scrolling through social media looking for something to either distract me that could be considered a “life hack” that would instantaneously impact my life in such a way that I would be forever changed.

After an unknown time had passed, because let’s be real — somehow 30 seconds turns into 30 minutes when scrolling through social media — I came across a video that I thought was going to make me rethink everything I had learned in life.

The video caption read, “How to get out of bed.”

I questioned how this could even be a video. Is there actually another way to get out of bed that was different than first placing your feet on the ground? A different morning routine? Intrigued, I had to finish watching this newly enlightened method. There were three promising steps to follow. 

Step 1: Pep talk. Tell yourself, “You are getting out of the bed.” So if I understand correctly, before I do anything, I need to have a pep talk with myself and cast a vision that I will, indeed, get up. Seems fair enough. I can do that. I’ve always said that I give really good pep talks, so I have confidence that I can actually complete this step. Let’s continue.

Step 2: Have an incentive. Surprisingly, this makes sense for a next logical step on how to get out of bed. I need to have a reason as to why I should get up. Ironically, I had just set a goal that if I did not get up during a certain hour, then I was not going to let myself binge a few tv shows at night. This seems to be a proven method, because for the past couple of mornings, I have actually gotten out of bed during the desired hour and have kept my promise in happily sitting on the couch to continue my Netflix binge at night. So, bargaining with yourself seems to be an accurate next step. Surely, the last step has to be to put your feet on the floor.  

Step 3: Set intentions. I found it interesting this would be the culmination of the three steps to get out of bed. The video continued to say that if getting out of bed was going to help you achieve your daily goals, then actually following through will get you started in achieving those intentions. Perhaps it should then be inferred that after following these steps, you would then be ready to actually put your feet on the floor and get out of bed. 

Needless to say, this video was not categorized as life-altering information that would have a profound impact on my daily habits. However, it did provide a series of steps to posture our mind in the morning which could lead to effectively getting out of bed, especially on the days we might rather surrender to the comfort of our bed than actual adulting.

But as I continued to stay motionless in my bed, rather than getting up, I realized that I didn’t need three steps to get up out of bed, nor did I need to focus on placing my feet on the floor first, because there was something much more effective than following these steps.

There’s one thing that will always tug on my heartstrings and immediately remind me of why I WANT to get up out of bed each morning. And just as I was pondering over this truly life changing reason, it happened . . .

“Mama.”