I had a highly productive morning on Saturday, which is quite unusual. Normally I let myself wake up whenever (which ends up being around 9 or 10) and get online right away to read the comics, news, email, blogs, whatever, and finally get the urge to do something around noon. Then I feel bad for “wasting” the morning. This time I exercised, read my Bible, did the dishes, and spent two hours removing wallpaper in the living room, all before noon! Wooooooooo!
There were several contributing factors to this productive day. The first was that I scheduled my morning the night before, so I didn’t have to wade through my morning grogginess to decide what I should do next, or if I should do anything at all. I knew exactly what to do when I got up. I actually set my alarm too, so I knew I would stay on schedule. The next very huge factor was that I didn’t get online until later in the day. This upped my motivation drastically, because I did something active first thing in the morning, and then it was easy to just keep going. The third factor was that I didn’t let anything dissuade me from sticking to my schedule, even the fact that my husband was still in bed. When you have a significant other, motivation can go one of two ways. Either that person can prod you to be more motivated, or you can let their relaxation moments become your slacking moments. In this case I stuck it out, and I gained the satisfaction of having him join me in ripping down wallpaper when he got up.
The end result was that I felt great about my day. I got a lot done, and then I was able to do my internet surfing guilt-free. I also was able to accept a last-minute invitation to our friend’s house that evening without thinking, “Oh no, I haven’t accomplished anything yet!” And, the satisfaction of a day well executed can only lead to more motivation! 
