I would like to share with you this article
10
Morning Habits For Productivity And Success
by
Barrie Davenport
Have you ever noticed the way you start your day sets
the tone for the rest of the day?
If you wake up late, skip breakfast, and rush out the
door, you feel discombobulated all day long. There’s also something
psychological about getting off on the wrong foot. You just feel bad about
yourself.
However, when you get up early, feeling relaxed and
organized, you’re more confident, focused, and ready to seize the day. Your
head is clear of the multitude of distractions and anxieties that come with a
bad start in the morning.
Productivity
How we begin our days isn’t an accident. It begins
with choices that we repeat over and over until they become habitual. I have a
habit of checking my email first thing in the morning. It wasn’t always this
way, but over time it’s become an ingrained behavior that actually diminishes
my productivity.
Our days are comprised of a series of habits. Some of
our habits improve us, and some make life more difficult in the long run.
However, if you start your day with habits that enhance your outlook,
productivity, and motivation, you’ll find you’re inspired to upgrade your
habits in every aspect of your life.
Here are 10 morning habits that will kickstart
productivity and success.
1. Wake
up early
There are a host of benefits for early risers. They
get better sleep, tend to eat fewer calories, and are less prone to depression.
Also, early risers are more productive and have time
for exercise, eating breakfast, and other positive morning activities like
reading, time with family, and reflection.
Start by getting up five minutes earlier a day for the
first week. Slowly set your alarm back by a few minutes a week until you reach
your optimal time.
2.
Drink a full glass of water in the morning
Drinking a big glass of water immediately after you
awaken has many health benefits. It purifies your colon and improves the
stomach’s ability to absorb nutrients.
A healthy digestive system hydrated properly gives you
glowing skin, as water removes the toxins from the blood. Drinking water also
improves the creation of new blood cells and muscle cells, and helps you lose
weight.
Before you go to bed at night, put a glass of water by
your bed. After your alarm goes off, but before you get out of bed, drink the
full glass.
3. Make
your bed
According to a Navy Seal, Admiral William McRaven,
making the bed may be the best way to start off your day. He says, “If you make
your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It
will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another
task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed
will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce
the fact that little things in life matter.”
Making your bed every morning is correlated with
better productivity and stronger skills at sticking with a budget.
4. Set
3-4 daily goals
Setting three to four big goals for your day first
thing in the morning gives you benchmarks for daily productivity. It also helps
you create specific tasks to address your bigger monthly or quarterly goals.
Three or four goals is a good number, as they can be
spaced out during the day. You can do two in the morning before lunch and two
in the afternoon, or complete one in the morning, one at midday, and one in the
late afternoon.
Three or four goals isn’t overwhelming — it’s
realistic. If you finish them early, you can always set more.
5. Eat
breakfast with your family
Research shows eating breakfast as a family has a
positive impact on the health of family members, particularly adolescents.
A University of Minnesota study found that eating
together as a family improved diet quality and lowered the risk for becoming
overweight. It’s also beneficial for your family relationships, as you begin
your day with connection and communication.
6.
Perform your hardest goal first
Mark Twain suggest, ““Eat a live frog first thing in
the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
You don’t have to eat a frog, but getting that
weighty, dreaded task or goal out of your way gives you energy for the rest of
your day. Procrastination creates anxiety and makes you feel bad about
yourself.
7.
Exercise early
It’s not easy to get your body moving first thing in
the morning, but research shows people who exercise in the morning stick to
their workout plans better than those who wait until later.
Also, working out in the morning can actually increase
the positive impact that exercise has on your heart, and morning exercise helps
your body burn calories faster and more efficiently throughout the day.
8. Set
a timer for productivity
To increase your productivity, set a timer for a
period of time during which you work on a project or goal without stopping.
The timer motivates you to work harder without
quitting, and it gives you the comfort of knowing you’ll have a break within a
certain amount of time.
This is known as the Pomodoro Technique, developed by
Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980’s, whereby you work in timed intervals of
traditionally 25 minutes, separated by short breaks. This time management
method is based on the idea that frequent breaks improve mental agility.
9.
Remove distractions
Sustained focus is the cornerstone of productivity and
success. The increasing number of distractions around us make in nearly
impossible to focus unless we mindfully eliminate them.
Over 90% of (the US) population reports they
multitask, performing one task while distracted with another. These
distractions affect memory and performance, but resisting distractions builds a
strong bond in your memory, allowing you to hold on to your original task.
10. Batch your tasks
Batching your tasks is a form of time management where
you dedicate blocks of time to similar tasks so you can decrease distractions
and improve productivity.
Batching helps you boost creativity and mental
sharpness, as well as decrease fatigue, procrastination, and stress. After each
batch of similar tasks, you take a planned break to recharge, and then move on
to another batch of tasks.
Developing these morning habits will be life-changing.
Over time you’ll notice you’re getting more done, you feel more relaxed and
focused, and you feel happier and more motivated in general.
If you want to begin creating these morning habits,
begin with one habit at a time. Work on it for six to eight weeks until it
becomes automatic, and then begin another new habit.
