Give or take a few, you’ll wake up for about 25,000 mornings in your adult life.
Faced with this reality, do you need to start thinking about how you can develop a better morning routine?
In business, it may seem like there are never enough hours in the day. Tapping into the power of mornings, a time of day when there are less demands, might be the key to increasing your productivity. Research from the World Economic Forum states that successful people make the most of their mornings.
They have released a list of 14 things that successful people do in the mornings before the first meal of the day.
It includes exercising, spending quality time with the family, networking over coffee and working on a personal-passion project. How many of the things they list, do you do?
Here are 5 effective strategies from Creativedge for getting the most from your mornings:-
1.Prepare the night before
Are you the type of person who says, “Let’s just see what tomorrow brings”?
We all like to be flexible and free to go with the flow, but this comes at a price.
If you only do one thing a day, then spend a few minutes each night organising your ‘to do’ list for tomorrow.
Because by investing just 10 minutes the night before can save you 3 hours the next day!
In addition, with this clarity your subconscious mind will start working away on the day ahead and set you up for a positive result.
2.Manage energy not time
Manage your energy, not your time.
Take a moment to think about this – are you better at doing certain tasks at certain times?
For example, some people say their energy is highest in the morning, so that’s when they schedule their high concentration tasks. In comparison, they block out the afternoons for those tasks that don’t need their creative energy to be high.
What type of energy do you have in the morning? What tasks is that energy best suited for?
3.Phone off – and away
Turn your phone off and leave it in another room – or on a colleague’s desk – or at the very least, put it somewhere that is out of sight.
This eliminates the urge to check text messages, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so forth.
This simple strategy eliminates the likelihood of slipping into ‘half-work’ where you easily waste time dividing attention among meaningless tasks.
4.Have a routine
Just as many great sportspeople have a short routine to get them ready to perform at their best, so can you!
Some people start their morning routine by pouring a cold glass of water. Others kick off their day with 10 minutes of meditation or some press-ups.
Similarly, you should have a simple sequence that starts your morning ritual. This tiny routine signals to your brain that it’s time to get into work mode or exercise mode, or whatever mode you need to accomplish your task.
Most of the time, your routine should include physical movement – it’s hard to think yourself into getting motivated.
Additionally, a routine helps you overcome a lack of motivation and get things done even when you don’t feel like it.
5.Choose your attitude
You wake and think: “Oh no, it’s going to be yet another tough day at the office.”
Most of us believe our attitudes are caused directly by outside influences like unpleasant experiences or negative people.
But while external pressures may trigger our feelings, we’re the ones wearing those feelings like a suit of clothes. We can either be submissive to external events, few of which we have any control over, or we can take charge of our own response.
“Choose your attitude” asks only that you make your own choice and not try to pass it off on something or someone else.
Once you accept that you’re the only one who is choosing your attitude at this moment, you can decide whether to keep it or shape it into an attitude that’s more satisfying. You can control your attitude, not the other way around!
For more Top Tips visit the Creativedge ‘Top 10 Tips’ mobile App available for iPhone and Android smartphones:-
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