Mornings – some people hate them, some people live for them. Personally, I can’t imagine waking up at 6am and doing anything but groaning and going back to bed, but for others, sleeping any later would be a waste of daylight. If you’re struggling to get up and get working in the morning, it may just be because you’re not taking the right steps to give yourself a chance. In order to get the most out of your mornings, try some of these simple steps:
Prepare For Your Morning The Night Before
Chances are high that the last thing you’ll want to do when you wake up is to try and remember everything you have to get done and write out a schedule. To solve this problem, take a few minutes and put together your plan of attack for the next morning before you go to bed. You can even take this a step further by laying out clothes and even putting out ingredients for your breakfast to make your morning routine as easy as possible.
Get A Good Night’s Sleep
This may seem like a no-brainer, but the reality is that we can sometimes get so caught up in taking care of our business that we forget to take care of ourselves. If you’re trying to get by on a few hours’ sleep a night, you’re not only hurting yourself but you’re also hurting your customers and clients, because your work will not be your best. Those few hours of extra sleep will make a big difference when it comes time to get things done.
Pinpoint The Thing You’ll Do Best
Are you the kind of person who does your best creative thinking when you wake up? Can you tackle a problem easily over coffee, but would struggle with that same problem as evening approaches? Or, are you the exact opposite, and prefer more mindless tasks like answering emails or looking over contracts in the morning? Take a few weeks to figure out what type of work you can do best in the morning, and make sure you’re segmenting your schedule correctly.
Avoid Distractions
If your plan is to get up and get work done, make sure that your only focus is that work. Morning news programs, talk radio, social media and email can all quickly turn your morning from a productive work session into wasted hours. When you sit down to work, make sure all distractions are eliminated. Those emails will still be there in a few hours, and actual emergencies will probably result in a phone call anyway, so put everything else aside and get some work done!
Stick To A Routine
Routines are an excellent way to ensure that everything gets done, and this is especially true in the morning. Figure out what needs to get done – shower, breakfast, exercise, getting the kids to school, whatever it is – and then construct a routine that will let you get everything done efficiently and easily. Once your routine is in place, stick to it! You may not be too fond of it at first, but once your routine becomes a habit, you’ll be glad it’s there.
Are you a morning person, or do you struggle to get up and moving? Share your thoughts on coping with mornings in the comments section below.