10 Tips To Make Mornings More Productive

Mornings suck.I know they do. I hate them too.

The reason I started this blog was to help the world how they helped me. I made a New Years resolution to be more productive. At first, I thought that meant being able to get more work done in a day, but it didn’t take long before I was proven wrong. In the last three months, I’ve learned that productivity is not how to get more done in a day, but how you can budget your time more wisely throughout the day. What’s the difference? I’ve learned that when you budget your time wisely, you can get work of greater quality done in a day instead of getting a lot of work done not so well.

I’ve already tackled productivity from one angle here. I suggested using Evernote, Todoist and Sunrise to make your workday smoother, but now I want to tackle a bigger issue — mornings. I am not and have never been a morning person. My girlfriend, on the other hand, loves mornings and can get 101 things done before I can even move out of bed. Lately, I’ve trying out a few things that have helped me start moving in the morning and keep me going through the day.

No one really knows why we sleep. A lot of scientists are puzzled why we have to shut down for eight hours a night, but they all agree that it is important. There are two major reasons why a good night’s rest is essential to more productive mornings. First, it is restorative for the brain. This means that it gives our brains a chance to shut down, cool off and get ready for another day of data overload. Second, sleep is where we consolidate memory. Different pieces of information that we obtain during the day all comes together, so when we need to access that bit of knowledge, it becomes easier. So remember that list of things you didn’t write down last night for what you had to do in the morning? With a good night’s sleep, there is a better chance you’ll remember it.

Always try and be awake an hour or two before you have to get out of your house. There have been so many instances when I had to run out of bed and go. It’ll throw you off for the rest of the day, and trust me it’s not worth it. Plan something to look forward to (like a big breakfast) and you’ll find yourself more motivated to wake up.

I still can’t get this down yet, but if you can, it’s amazing. One alarm, one hit of a button, and you should be on your feet. Why? I hate to break it to you, but if you wake up and go back to sleep, you’re just going to tire yourself out. You can use the website sleepyti.me or apps like Sleep Cycle to help you get down to one alarm, but you have to stop yourself from that tempting 10 extra minutes that will help your day more than harming it.

When I say work out, I don’t mean anything like wake up and find the closest squat rack. Wake up, and do something light to warm you up. I highly recommend Sworkit. It has a bunch of different exercises to choose from and you can set your own time limit. If you wake up and do a quick 10 minute workout or the ever famous seven-minute workout you’ll feel much more awake and ready to take on the day.

But don’t plan on getting all of them done. At the top of your list, have those things which are of highest priority. These two items will get your care and attention more than the others on your list. Why two? The Pareto Principle (or the 80/20 rule) states that will you roughly get 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. What does this mean? That if you can give all your energy to two of the 10 things on your list, those two things will be of greater quality than the rest. Why? Cause that’s what your priority was and you kept it as such

Don’t leave your house hungry. Eat lots and make sure you have enough food to get you through the day. Your body just went through eight hours of not eating, it needs energy, and that is going to come from your first meal of the day. Break your fast well, and make something that you would love to wake up to. Make it your motivation to cook something grand for breakfast that you can be proud of and will keep you full.

This is another one of the major problems I have. I always get stuck scrolling through social media in the morning and it just starts to eat up at your time. You plan on spending 15 minutes, but that 15 doubles before you even know it. Get updated on the go, catch up on what you missed last night then. If it was an emergency, someone would have told you, but for now, what your ex had for dinner last night on Instagram should not be a matter of yours.

So you’re sitting at your desk, and you realise that you were more hungry than you thought at breakfast. You have two options, go out and get something to eat from the cafe, or not eat at all. Here’s a better option: pack something. Or even leave something at work or school where you can go back and access it. Try and keep it healthy. Pack a bag of nuts, dried vegetables and leave those at your desk. Bring a fresh fruit in the morning to mix it up, an apple is a great (and healthy) way to wake yourself up in the morning.

Don’t rush in the morning. That just sets a bad tone for the rest of your day. If you are able to take your time and really just adjust to being awake and getting your day going, you’ll be happier, and be able to do more in the morning as well.

It takes 30 days for your habits to change, and that’s if you are able to do this consistently. Don’t let failure stop you because the only person that can you on the right track is yourself. These 10 things aren’t a master plan or even proven in any sense minus the fact it worked for me. Create your own 10 rules that you abide by in the morning, and stick to them. In a month, you’ll feel better in no time.

Originally published at arifjaffer.com on March 19, 2015.