Five Morning Rituals to Keep You Productive All Day Long
Most of us work long hours: 40, 50, or even 60 hours each week, but chances are we are only churning out high-quality work a portion of each day.
There are five practical steps to incorporate into any morning routine to maintain productivity all day long.
One: Seven minutes of exercise.
Seven minutes is short enough that it won't impact the rest of your morning, but long enough to shake off sluggishness.
Two: Start your day out green.
Healthy juicing is cheap and easy, and requires less time in the morning than toasting a bagel and slathering it with cream cheese, and is much healthier for you.
Three: Pick three wins for the day.
While you're waiting for that smoothie, decide on three priorities for the next 12 hours, and when accomplished, will feel like the day was a success.
Not every day will be an epic win, but strategizing in this way will help move the ball forward.
Four: Turn to-do lists into time-bound, effective project lists.
For each of the big things on your list, block off the amount of time on your calendar, and then add 33 percent more time just to be sure.
If a project is multi-day or has dependencies, break it up into digestible charts.
This simple method will help hold you accountable, and help you refocus on the tasks you prioritized when you do get distracted.
Too often, we let one distraction steamroll an entire morning.
Five: Power up after lunch.
Take the 15 minutes right after lunch to refocus on the day.
Get away from your computer, think about how the list you created in the morning is shaping up, and determine what you have on tap for the rest of the day.
You'll find that these 15 minutes help you identify what's causing distractions, and will help you discover a rhythm to be productive all day long.
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