And that’s all well and good in the day time.  Plunging into the fray of daily life and coming out triumphant is truly satisfying.  You manage your fears and uncertainty — and move forward.

But at night — that’s when the demons come out.  You’re not awake to hold the what-if’s at bay, and they visit you in your dreams.   Fears about failing; of not being good enough; of being abandoned or worthless; of being unable to cope with job or finances or your spouse or your kids.  During the night, all these ghouls are free to come out and lurk menacingly, because the gatekeeper is asleep.  That can make it pretty tough to get up in the morning.

You may not even remember any of it when you wake up.  There’s just that sense of doom, of not feeling up to the demands of the new day.  Bed feels like a soft, warm, safe place to hide. This quote from Gaston Bachelard articulates the task of morning very nicely.

“The repose of sleep refreshes only the body. It rarely sets the soul at rest. The repose of the night does not belong to us. It is not the possession of our being. Sleep opens within us an inn for phantoms. In the morning we must sweep out the shadows.”

You see, if your demons have been flying about during the night, morning requires clean-up — it requires you to “sweep out the shadows”.

The power of that is that it is an active task; it’s something you really can do.  That’s what today’s Invincible Voice (“The Morning Blues: what causes them; how to conquer them”) talks about.  Here’s a link to the notes to this podcast so that you can follow along and jot your own thoughts down in the margins.

Try waking up to these tips:

1. Go to bed organized for the day ahead.  When you awaken, you’ll feel much more capable of stepping into it.
2. Remind yourself that part of waking up may well be actively “sweeping out the shadows”.  Give yourself a few minutes to acknowledge those queasy feelings.  Then, before you try to roll out of bed, think through your schedule and get a handle on it.
3. Find some affirmation right away.  That can be the dog bounding joyfully up the stairs to see you; your partner giving you a smile and a hug; or thinking back on something lovely that was said to you yesterday.
4. Accomplish absolutely anything.  Make the bed.  Put away the cell phone charger. Take a shower.  It doesn’t matter what it is; engineer a success and let it rebuild your sense of being capable.

The morning blues — and depression, too — may seem like a mystery, but it’s not unsolvable.  You can figure out what’s eroding your sense of optimism, set up active reconstruction — and be off to a great day.

For goodness sake, don’t forget the coffee :).

It’s fact that how we feel in any given moment affects how well we work.  That’s easy to confirm simply by thinking about the last time you tried to accomplish a task after trying to talk the bank out of a $39 late fee.  Or after a conversation with your boss that left you feeling she was un-thrilled with your work.

According to psychologist and researcher Barbara Frederickson, positive emotions open people up to being receptive, creative and productive.  Painful emotions shut them down.  That crucial emotional state that we think of as mood is greatly affected by environment.  That’s powerful information to apply to creating a work environment that elicits the best from each participant.

That environment includes the physical surroundings, and there’s a lot to be said about the power of space and the little rituals that make up a daily routine to catalyze the mindset for work.  But it’s not about spending millions to create the space that works for everyone – fortunately.  That’s because the impact of any physical design of space is specific to each individual.

More powerful than a new desk and corner office is the psychological climate and whether it builds or, in fact, erodes workers’ self-esteem and self-efficacy.  That climate is comprised of the sum of the simple interactions that occur throughout the day.  Whether it’s face-to-face conversation, body language, email, or slowness to respond, when interactions leave people wondering whether they’re valued, the energy that could have gone to developing a great solution to a puzzling issue instead goes to coping with feelings of inadequacy.  It’s a tremendous waste and just plain bad business.

By increasing both intra- and inter- personal awareness; that is, awareness of one’s own emotions and awareness of the impact of one’s actions on the emotions of others, the inner experience of workers can shift from a sense of foreboding to a feeling of expansive creativity.

Self Development for Managers — a few tips

• Examine your own fear of the success of others.  If your own definition of success requires you always to be the most accomplished and most knowledgeable, it’s dangerous for the people you manage to grow into their own potential.  Ultimately, that’s costly for both the team and the company.
• Beware of sending unintended messages.  Not responding to voice mails or emails can cause anxiety.  If you’re too busy to respond fully, find time to acknowledge receipt.
• Take time to learn what your team members are capable of.  People can easily sense whether you recognize them as changing growing individuals.  The most dynamic will either be excited to make great contributions to the company – or leave if they feel they’re perceived as servants rather than professionals.