PRODUCTIVITY EXPERTS SHARE THEIR BEST TIPS FOR A
MORNING ROUTINE MAKEOVER
THERE IS NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION TO GETTING THE
MOST OUT OF THE FIRST HOURS OF THE DAY, SO WE FOUND MORE SOLUTIONS TO CHOOSE
FROM.
"The
first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day," said 19th-century
social reformer Henry Ward Beecher, and a couple of centuries later, the
sentiment still holds true. A great morning can set the tone for a great day,
while a bad morning can make us want to give up and go back to bed. So how do
you have more great starts than bad beginnings?
Unfortunately,
there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, says Ryan Nicodemus, coauthor
of Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life. "That’s why finding
a routine is so difficult; there isn’t a template, and everyone’s morning is
going to look different," he says. "You have to find what’s right for
you."
To
design your best morning, take a look at these 10 tips from productivity
experts:
While
you might intellectually understand that it's beneficial to get ready for the
day, that alone won’t motivate you to do anything, says Nicodemus.
"You
have to understand why you’re doing something," he says. Write down what
you want to accomplish each morning and list all of the reasons why. If you
find yourself getting derailed, take out your list and review your aspirations.
"Looking at your list can help you understand your priorities, and you’ll
feel worse if you get off track than if you didn’t have your list."
The
best morning routines start out the night before, says John Trosko, founder of
the California-based organizing firm Organizing
LA.
"Lay
your clothes out the night before, pack lunches, and even plan dinner," he
says. "Make sure your laptop or bag is packed, so you don't have to think
about what you need in the morning. Your day can get off to a great start if
you've planned out your start."
Mornings
often feel hectic because you run short on time. While it seems a no-brainer,
getting up 15 minutes early can eliminate the feeling of being rushed, says
Lorie Marrero, author of The Home Office Handbook: Rules of
Thumb for Organizing Your Time, Information, and Workspace.
USE
A TIMER TO FIND OUT HOW LONG EACH STEP OF YOUR ROUTINE TAKES. OUR BRAINS ARE
NOTORIOUSLY BAD AT ESTIMATING ELAPSED TIME.
"The
morning is one of the best places to find extra time," she says.
"Getting up 30 minutes early means you can meditate or read, and giving
yourself an extra hour means a workout."
If
you’re not a morning person, it can be hard to jump-start your morning routine.
In order to transition into a productive mode, Nicodemus says you have to
change your state.
"Jump
into a cold shower; it will change your state immediately," he says,
adding that coffee works, as does refusing to use the snooze button. "If
you’re setting your alarm 30 to 45 minutes early so you can hit the snooze
button a few times, you’ll end up being more tired than if you got up when your
alarm went off."
Find
out how long things really take by timing your morning routine, and then plan
accordingly.
"You
might think you can take a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed and take care
of other grooming needs in five minutes, but you can't," says Lisa Zaslow,
founder of the organizing firm Gotham
Organizers.
"Use a timer to find out how long each step of your routine takes, then
determine what time you need to get up based on that. Our brains are
notoriously bad at estimating elapsed time."
The
biggest problem when it comes to a morning routine is distractions, says
Nicodemus.
"What
happens is that checking email, social media, the news, and our stocks feels
like productivity," he says. "But we’re really just distracting
ourselves from what needs to be done first. Don’t allow yourself to do any of
those tasks until you’ve finished your morning routine."
Wear
the same clothes and eat the same breakfast, suggests Carson Tate, author of Work Simply.
"Boring?
Yes, at times. However, the goal is to minimize decision making and move
through your morning routine with the least amount of mental output as
possible," she says. "The fewer decisions you have to make in the
morning, the less fatigued your prefrontal cortex becomes, freeing you up to
focus on strategic, revenue-producing ideas and projects. Eliminating choices
is a powerful productivity hack."
For
example, Tate has two pairs of the exact same black pants and buys the same
style of dress in different colors. "I can open my closet and get dressed
on autopilot," she says.
Carve
out a little time to review your calendar and identify what you need to do,
says Janine Adams, founder of the professional organizing firm Peace of Mind. "That can happen with coffee or
breakfast, on the train to work, or anywhere else you can focus," she
says. "Knowing the top three things that you need to accomplish in a day
gives you extra focus and helps you stay on task when you arrive at the
office."
Trosko
has a client who challenges herself to do things that will start off the day
well: "She and her husband give themselves a star for a variety of good
behavior, like getting up early, going for a walk, sex, meditation, making a
smoothie, Pilates, or writing," he says. "They add up their number
each morning with a goal to get to five stars."
BY STEPHANIE VOZZA
http://www.fastcompany.com/3050983/know-it-all/productivity-experts-share-their-10-best-tips-for-a-morning-routine-makeover?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=6&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=09172015
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