What do the successful People differently? For one, they typically wake up very early. Long before they arrive at the office, they have been activated and performing tasks that will set them up for success throughout the day.
By waking up early, you can better start the day ahead. You clear your mind and schedule so you can focus on work, which can help you reach your goals faster.
Do you want to learn to make the most of your mornings? Here are six things successful people do before 9 a.m., and How can you incorporate them into your routine?.
1. Exercise
You’ve probably heard the phrase “a sound mind in a sound body”. It is important to take care of yourself physically. For most people, the first morning is the best time to exercise, before the responsibilities of the day start to overwhelm the schedule. Whether you’re going for a brisk walk with your dog, an early run, or a bike ride, get your body moving. Not only will you feel great, but studies have shown that exercise can improve brain function (which could even make you smarter at work).
2. Eat something
If you’re a busy person, chances are eating a healthy breakfast is the last thing on your mind. But in terms of productivity for the day, skipping breakfast can be a big mistake. If you don’t eat something, chances are you’ll be rattling the candy machines or eating tamales before 8:30 a.m. How productive will you be, and how clearly will you be thinking about work, if you bring to mind how hungry you are? If you want to think and work at your best, take time to try a balanced meal in the morning.
3. Cross off the most annoying item on your to-do list
We all put off one thing or another. Start your day off right by completing at least one of those hard to tackle tasks on your to-do list. In the morning you are more active and ready to get things done, wow, better prepared to take on a difficult task or project. You will be surprised how much lighter you feel the rest of the day if you attend to a difficult task in the morning. Not only will you have a sense of accomplishment upon completing said to-do, but you’ll be free from the stress of having it on your mental to-do list.
4. Take care of the necessary things
Pick up your clothes from the laundry. Walk your dog. Prepare yourself a healthy snack. These are things that are not urgent, but very necessary. To get ahead in your day, take care of these things early. When you start your day at an hour closer to dawn, you can prepare valuable headspace for the workday. If you take care of the “pending” early, the challenge of the day then you can focus solely on work and be more effective. It’s a small change that can have a massive impact on your career (and successful people know it).
5. Learn something
To be truly successful in the long run, you must make a lifelong commitment to learning. There should never be a point in your life where you say “you have learned enough”. Preparation keeps your mind elastic and allows you to stay agile in your work. This is important, as the landscape for every business will change over time.
Every day, make sure you spend some time in the morning learning something. This could be reading the newspaper, watching a tutorial while you get dressed, or listening to podcasts relevant to your work while commuting to the office. It could be a self-imposed study routine in a certain sector of your business. There are many ways to continue educating yourself. You never know where your next big idea might come from.
6. Make a plan
The best time to plan your day is early in the morning, before the distractions of the workday. This is the time to consider your goals for the day and how to prioritize tasks to accomplish them.
Be realistic when mapping out your day. Don’t set a mile-long to-do list that you’ll never be able to complete, or plan your day in such a way that you’ll be running around. Leave some space for breaks.
Think of this plan as a road map, as if you were on a cross-country trip. You’re free to veer off course if you need to, but the structure of a general plan will help you keep your journey on track and follow in the footsteps of other successful people.
