Every morning at work, I start with seemingly limitless reserves of energy. But by the time I wade through emails, prepare a list of things I need to do, and get ready for my first meeting of the day, I often find myself drained and uninspired. The rest of the day is harder to get through, and I often feel unsatisfied with what I’ve accomplished when it’s time to leave.
This morning, I decided to take a different approach. I didn’t check my email. I didn’t reconcile my calendars. I didn’t look at Twitter, or my schedule for the day. I picked something I needed to focus on and got to work.
What a difference it made! I finished a proposal for a speaking engagement that I fretted over all last week. I read–and understood–a systems architecture document I’ve been meaning to get to. And I reviewed a slide deck I’ll need to use for an upcoming training session. I got more done in two hours than I usually get done in twice that amount of time. After my first meeting, I capitalized on the momentum I’d built and accomplished even more.
Before I left the office, I did all the tedious chores I normally would have done first thing in the morning, and wrote a note for myself to find in the morning. When I get there tomorrow, I’ll have my day laid out for me and a head start on another good day.
Photograph by Musuvathi J Ubendran.
Sam Falco 
That makes perfect sense to me. I find that I often get sucked into social media or news before I even get out of bed. Before I know it, I feel like my energy has already been drained from me… And, it’s so easy to convince myself I’m doing something productive, especially when reading the news… Sighs!
I’m really glad this worked for you! And I hope it keeps working for you!
I’ve been looking at making some changes in the way I handle my day, especially my mornings… I’m going to take some inspiration from you and stop thinking about making the changes I’ve been considering and take steps to make them!
LikeLike
I’m trying to avoid news, blogs, and all social media in the morning. I tell myself, “Don’t think everyone else’s thoughts before you’ve had time to think your own.”
LikeLike
Lots of good food for thought. I have a morning routine that I like but it is not the most focused and could really use some tweaking.
LikeLike
Spend a day or two jotting down everything you do in the morning, and how long it takes to do it. You’ll be stunned to discover how much time you’re spending on things that really could wait.
LikeLike