Making the most of limited resources is at the heart of successful entrepreneurship, and that’s nowhere more true than when it comes to time. As part of getting a small business off the ground and keeping it viable, you’ll find that enormous demands are constantly made on your energy, endurance, and ability to effectively manage your own schedule.
Getting each day off to the best start possible by mastering your morning routine is a key step in staying ahead of the curve throughout the week, and not falling prey to overwhelm and constant frantic fire-fighting while you’re at it. In this piece, we’ll break down three items to put at the heart of your morning routine, and why they’re essential for keeping the rest of your day under control.
- Don’t Jump Into Email First Thing
The range of omnipresent mobile devices that surround us these days means the temptation to kick your day off by checking email has never been greater. On the average morning, a truly terrifying amount of people will open their inbox literally first thing before their feet even have a chance to hit the floor.
Breaking this habit is one of the simplest and most effective changes you can make in terms of taking control of your working day. Remember, inboxes are a list of other people’s priorities. Checking yours first thing opens the door to a world of potential non-essential distraction. Look to delay checking your email until you’re actually at work and have at least an hour of productive work under your belt.
- Make Time For Movement
Like most people, you probably spend more than a few hours guiltily worrying about how you should really be getting a bit more exercise during the course of the week. Rather than being haunted by guilt, simply bite the bullet and build some sort of movement into your pre-work morning routine.
Even something as simple as a brisk 15-minute walk can make a world of difference to the rest of your day. You won’t just be doing your heart a favour, you’ll also benefit from a sharper start to the day and enhanced focus during your first few hours at work.
- Explicitly Set Out Your Key Daily Goals
The vast majority of people simply take what’s thrown at them in the course of the average working day and hope they can somehow get out the other side with some sort of dignity intact.
By taking an extra five to ten minutes to calmly and explicitly outline your three major targets for the day in writing, you frame your own time and set the stage for focused achievement. It’s a tiny step to take, but one that delivers outsize results when consistently applied.
The three tips we’ve outlined are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mastering your morning routine, but they’ll give you a very solid base from which to build if you take the time to regularly work them into your schedule.
Commit to starting the day in as conscious a manner as possible and you’ll be surprised at the virtually immediate benefits you’ll start to see in your overall performance throughout the rest of your day!
