It can be tempting to stay in bed just a little longer. Your warm bed is a lot more alluring than jumping into your to-do list, but is it worth the lost time?
Why not use your morning instead as a springboard for an awesome productive day?
How you decide to start your day will set the stage for your whole day. That’s why having a bit of a morning routine can help you conquer the day without feeling overwhelmed.
And before you say “not another 15 step, 4 am morning routine,” I promise you it’s not another one of those!
It’s not about getting up early or having a list of a dozen or two pre-day steps. It actually just about being more efficient.
Being the most efficient version of yourself means different things to different people. So you’ve got to try things and find what works best for you (and for your season).
Here are four genius tips to get more done in the morning:
1 Have a morning routine.
Wake up at the same time every day. Avoid hitting the snooze button. When the alarm goes off, get out of bed before turning it off. Some do this by putting the alarm across the room so they have to walk to it if they want it to stop.
If you can’t wake up early, you’re probably going to sleep too late. Clear a fixed sleeping time in your daily schedule. If your sleep time is from 9 pm to 5 am, waking up will be easy. Next, make your bed. Not because it’s a make-it-or-break-it type of thing, but it again sets the stage for getting things done, and why not start with an easy win?
Then go to the bathroom and splash some cold water on your face. It clears your morning fatigue. You could add a quick workout or a cool shower.
You will be perfectly awake and ready to take on the morning by now.
2 Avoid getting distracted by your phone.
You don’t want to keep receiving notifications or be distracted by social media. If your phone has the feature to freeze your apps, use it.
You can preset it so you can’t access specific applications before 8 am. Because once you pick it up, you may get stuck in bed scrolling.
Before you know it, it will be afternoon already, and your morning will be gone. You might have a lot of things you need on your phone, but you also have other things you can do without your phone.
To get more work done, turn it off for short periods, perhaps 30 mins or 1 hour between every two hours, and work on other important things during that time.
3 Do as much as you can the night before.
To make the morning as simple as possible, pick out your clothes, pack your bag, and write your priorities for the next day as a nighttime routine. Be realistic with the time you need to get things done in the morning. Have a detailed list of things to do.
Write all you want to do, breaking them down into smaller tasks that you can quickly finish. Then, as you check them off your list, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and motivation to proceed.
4 Have an accountability partner.
Find a friend who is as excited about being more productive in the morning and a partner who has the same fundamental goals as you. Exchange your list of priorities with them.
Keep tabs on each other and force each other to perform your tasks. Reaching your goals together feels awesome.
It’s hard to do things when we don’t know why we’re doing them. Keep your goals in front of you always. Remove distractions so you can stay focused. Do things even when they’re hard.
Staying productive is all about building momentum. The more stuff you get done, the more motivated you are to do more.
There are no shortcuts to success and productivity.
But if you keep putting in the work, you’ll have a better chance of getting there.
