We’ve all been there. Rolling out of bed at noon, grunging around the house trying to find a cold breakfast, then sitting at the computer or drawing table trying to remember where we need to pick up from the night before. Today I’ll share with you a tip on how to start that momentum going for the day that will propel you to immediately get to work, so you can hit the ground running when you attack that drawing board.

GET UP EARLY

First, get up early with the sunrise. This puts your body in tune with the universe. It is time to wake up. It is time to start your day. By waiting until noon to get up, you are out of sync with the universe. This is not a good place to be. (Although, I’ve done it for more years than I would care to admit.)

EAT BREAKFAST

First thing I do when I get up is eat some breakfast and don’t worry about what you have to do today. That just bogs you down. Eat a healthy breakfast like some oatmeal, cheerios, eggs, or fruit–something you enjoy that is good for you–

CARDIO “BRAIN BUILDING” EXERCISE

Next, go out and burn off that breakfast with 30 minutes of cardio exercise. That could be running, jogging, walking, biking, jumping jacks, jump rope, whatever floats your boat. The thing is, you want to start engaging those brain cells, and cardiovascular activity is the thing to do it.

Bonus– if you go out in the morning, you get to see the sunrise.

While you are on your exercise, engage you full body, concentrate on your actions, concentrate on achieving the very best exercise you can get. Enjoy the energy as it fills your body. Relish in the fact that your brain is preparing to be engaged. You can almost feel the synapses synapsing. The neurons are in motion and your whole body hurts with the ache of achievement.

BE SILENT, REFLECT, and PLAN YOUR DAY

Finally, take a few moments to be silent, reflect, and plan your day. No more than 15 minutes. This should be quick painless and effortless. Silence lets you calm your racing heart, listen to your body and allow you to consider what achievements are important today. Reflection reminds you that you have only today to accomplish the things you have to do today. You have no other day but today. Don’t worry about what you didn’t get done yesterday. Planning will help you get done what needs to get done today.

By getting up early, eating a healthy breakfast, concentrating on your cardiovascular exercise, and planning your day, you will be ready to take on the day and carry that momentum over to your narrative art comic book work. Your brain will be alive, and your body will be able to push those keyboards — or pencils — around like sculpting clay.

Some people may scoff that all this takes too much time. this takes about an hour out of your day where you could be making money or catching up on your rushed deadline. I would argue by taking 15 min for breakfast, 30 minutes for exercise, and 15 minutes for planning, you will build up a momentum for creating your narrative art comics, that instead of wasting an hour at the drawing table by starting work groggy and barely cohesive, you will gain that lost hour back in productivity before lunch time. If you’ve never worked this way give it a shot and let me know your results.

If you have worked this way, let me know how it works for you. It has helped me tremendously.