What fuels your life? What gives you energy? My list is well know to me:

• A good night's sleep with pleasant dreams

• A refreshing shower

• Breakfast at the appropriate time

• A cleansing shave

• Comfortable clothes

• Taking regular breaks (a micro-break every 45 minutes is essential)

• Light – especially Sunshine!

• Air!

And the more aesthetic energisers:

• Creative Photography

• Making Music

• Creative Writing such a poetry and blogging.

The trouble is, my life can get 'Out of Order' so easily.

I, like so many, believe in deferred gratification. It's a sign of maturity... or is it?

You see, I put off my 'rewards' to the end of the day – when I'm tired and often cranky. They are my treat for working hard. Sounds wise, doesn't it? It's OK when all goes well, but last night I ended up spending an hour sorting out technical issues before I could make any music. It got me thinking...

Deferred gratification is wise, of course, unless I was a car... or a human! It would be utter madness to put fuel in the car at the end of the journey – unless you already had a tank full. I don't – I often begin my day empty, tired, already exhausted. I need fuel first.

Many people have mentioned the metabolic power of having a good breakfast. I'm beginning to understand – it gives you fuel.

Some productivity gurus like Peter Thomson recommend getting up earlier to do some self-development. I get that, it gives them fuel. I disagree though. A good night's sleep is the prime energiser for the vehicle of the human body. We live in an age where Karl Marx would have to re-write his famous comment about religion being the opiate of the masses. Yesterday, Television was the opiate of the masses – a new religion that brought them to their seats, not their knees! Today, it's Facebook and other Social Media channels. Some young people I meet have already been Borganised – assimilated into the Collective – become a fusion of technology and flesh!

I would suggest it would be better to cut down on the TV and Internet rather than sacrifice needed sleep.

So what about getting your life in order? Well, I suggest, like me, you begin to put some of your energising activities first! Put fuel in the tank before you begin the day's journey. I don't need much – maybe 30 minutes of something creative like writing this blog – but it makes the world of difference to my day and to the results I get.

Lex

A Moodscope member.