Mornings are the most significant element of the day. From getting out of your bed to the time you start your work, you are setting the ground for your day. A good morning routine can set the tone for the rest of your day.
If you don’t have a healthy morning routine, you won’t be productive during the entire day. A morning routine that sets you on the road to productivity is a habit that you can apply in your own life. Set a positive tone by creating the morning habits that can remodel your day and last you a lifetime.
Productive Morning Habits for Everybody
Some straightforward and basic changes can help transform your productivity and give you the energy to conquer the day. Here are 5 simple ways to improve your morning routine and boost your productivity.
- Sleep at Healthy Hour to Wake Up at an Appropriate Time
Most of us have already heard that morning people are the high achievers. The early bird catches the worm and the early 5 am club members are the productive ones; these are some things that we hear all the time. However, it is almost impossible to have a productive morning if you are not rejuvenated and lack the energy to start your days. Hence, a good sleep schedule is essential to have a productive morning and day. To ensure you sleep soundly, consider the following things.
Once you establish a habit of going to bed at a scheduled time each night, your brain will start understanding the routine and prepare itself so you can fall asleep faster. Moreover, it is essential to follow the same schedule on the weekends, be consistent throughout the week, to avoid any unforeseen situations for your body.
Watch your fluid intake like caffeine, coffee, and alcohol, the night and afternoon before. The idea is to ensure you drink sufficient water. After eight hours of sleep, your body is dehydrated as the body is made up mostly of water.
Avoid thinking about stressful topics like work and personal matters. Leave everything stressful at least an hour before bedtime. According to Gwyneth Paltrow, it is best to keep your bedroom technology-free to have a sound sleep. Similarly, Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t discuss business two hours before his bedtime. Following the tips of these celebrities and their routine will help you in waking up at an appropriate time in the morning.
The most important thing is not about what time you get out of bed, instead, it is getting accustomed to your body’s circadian rhythm for a good routine. A healthy morning routine is perhaps the most important—irrespective of what time you get up. According to sleep experts, your body is aware of what and when needs to be done. Do not force yourself to be the 5 am person if you are unable to sleep before midnight.
Getting sufficient sleep and waking up when your body is ready will make you more productive than forcing an unbearable bedtime routine on your body. This may lead to burnout and on top of it, if you aren’t a morning person, you’ll fall out of this schedule shortly.
You need to figure out the optimal time for waking up and find the most productive hours and establish a routine from it.
- Create a Morning Ritual and Plan Ahead to Focus Your Mind
Moreover, you need to have a healthy morning ritual to ensure productivity. According to Zack Sexton the morning routine should look like the following:
- Water
- Meditation or affirmations
- Read something inspirational
- Shower
- Start with your to-do-list
You don’t necessarily have to create an elaborate meditation routine. Yoga, journaling, meditation, reading, or a walk in a park, help you with your focus.
Planning is an essential ingredient to success. Planning the evening before is effective as we have limited reserves of energy and decision-making ability every day. The idea of making stressful decisions in the morning will hinder your energy and drain your mental capacity for the rest of your day. Hence, it is best to restrict the decision-making to the evening before and avoid making any to-do lists in the mornings.
You should be familiar with the things you need to accomplish during the day. Adopt a habit of forming to-do lists for the next day at the end of each day, this way you’ll know exactly what you are going to do the next day. Being aware of what you are doing the next morning will help you prioritize your tasks. You may have innovative ideas that come to you during the night as you are less stressed about what you need to do. It is the best policy to have a plan rather than staring aimlessly at your screen to figure the stuff out.
Your top priority tasks are the activities that will produce the most significant outcomes. It is critical to have one to three of these priority tasks daily. They must be prioritized as they are going to be your accomplishments for the specific day.
Taking action about high-priority tasks is the distinguishing factor between high achievers and mediocre people. People are rewarded at work for their productivity, and not just their knowledge. Make yourself accountable, avoid excuses and focus on the most important things for the day.
- Hydrate and Do Physical Movements
When you feel amazing, it will make it easy to handle the morning alarm. You may not be fond of the idea of morning exercises. Perhaps it is already a difficult task to get out of bed, let alone perform an intense workout. Nonetheless, you’d be delighted to know that you don’t have to lift heavy weights or run a marathon. Simple physical movements will help blood circulation and help you energize for the day.
Several high achievers start their day with a light dose of physical exercise. Following are some of the ideas to improve your health and build your energy:
- Gary Vaynerchuk has a workout regimen that he performs with his trainer.
- Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary performs exercises with an exercise bike or elliptical.
- CEO of Square, Jack Dorsey, jogs daily in the morning.
- Author of “15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management”, Kevin Kruse, performs a 20-minute HIIT workout.
- House Minority Leader and Congresswoman, Nancy Pelosi, power walk before she starts her work in the office.
Staying hydrated is essential while you are moving around and sweating a bit. Jeff Sanders, author, and podcast host of “5 AM Miracle” informs that his favorite morning habit is to drink 1 liter of water within the first 45 minutes of getting out of bed. Hydration is extremely significant, particularly after you wake up. Water intake provides high energy and prepares your body for the day.
- Time Blocking Habit
Many successful entrepreneurs use the time blocking method, or mono-tasking or time chunking technique. Time blocking helps you in distributing each part of the day into specific ‘blocks’ which are dedicated exclusively for those activities.
Time is valuable and the time you have spent can’t be retrieved. Hence, time blocking is incredibly important to concentrate and perform at your best.
- Build Momentum
Some people are in a habit of dealing with the task they dread the most, first thing in the morning. However, starting the day with a stressful task can induce anxiety and you may not be able to tackle the task.
The idea is to build momentum and move ahead, you can take on the challenging tasks as you have mustered enough confidence in yourself and the day. The key is to start by working on tasks that are uplifting and make you feel accomplished.
Simple habits like making your bed after you wake up and exercising in the morning helps in building a positive state of mind and lifts your mood. Productivity starts with mental energy and adopting healthy morning habits can help in boosting your productivity for the day.
Conclusion
Mornings do not necessarily have to be dreadful and rough. Morning routines have immense power, and you’ll experience it once you start performing on your regimen. If it seems scary to transform your morning routine, try introducing one new habit a week and build the routine from there. A good morning starts from the night before, so develop the habit of going to bed at an appropriate time and follow the same bedtime routine for the whole week. Meditate and plan for the rest of the day, so you have the mental peace to concentrate on the day’s tasks. Making daily lists and prioritizing your tasks, can help in the efficient utilization of time. Maintain the energy by using time blocking and building momentum techniques. Make sure to stay hydrated throughout the day, as it provides energy to your body to perform optimally during the day. Once you follow these suggestions, you’ll notice positive energy and improvement in your productivity.