5 key morning routine tricks for better productivity
What we think, eat, and do in the short span of time between waking up and beginning our day has a profound impact on our productivity and energy. You have to think carefully about your morning routine for success.
It’s easy to learn how to optimize your morning routine (no matter how much time you have) in order to dramatically improve the day that follows.
Here are a few things you should include in your morning routine that are sworn upon by the world’s most successful people. Try these tomorrow for a productive headstart.
1. A quick exercise session
The man with arguably one of the most difficult jobs in the world for the last eight years, Barack Obama, begins every day with 45 minutes of physical activity. Studies prove that a little morning activity improves your ability to focus and mental capability well into your workday. Physical exercise in the morning has also been found to help rid you of anxiety throughout the day. We’ll take the White House’s word for it!
2. Consistent meditation
This one’s not new. Meditation and its benefits have been well-known for about 4000 years, and yet we’re still having trouble finding 10 minutes for it in our morning routines. In the modern age, meditation has been found to be so effective in helping train your brain, it quite literally rewires your brain to perform better when practised consistently. Meditation increases the physical thickness of the part of the brain that controls memory and learning and shrinks the area that governs stress and anxiety. A few short minutes each day can actually physically change how your brain is wired for a more productive, successful day and a happier you. Try using a meditation app like Headspace to help get those important 10 minutes in. This is one practice you should make as routine as brushing your teeth!
3. Set aside a few minutes to read
This famous tip from Warren Buffett is backed by science! Warren has stated that he reads for up to 80% of the day, as he considers it so important and the benefits so invaluable. It’s almost become a lost art as a result of our constant multitasking with technology, as we struggle to focus on one thing when we pick up a book — there are no notifications popping up on the pages. Our multitasking actually promotes attention disorders and hinders productivity.
Setting aside just a few minutes to get your brain active with a short, informative article (like this one) can help you reset your brain to focus on one task, thought or idea at a time — which is how we create our best work. A great tool for finding helpful and interesting pieces to read is Flipboard, an app that curates articles from around the web tailored to your interests!
4. Write it out, visualize it
Make the things that keep you up at night your focus at the beginning of your morning. You’re much more likely to center your decisions and actions around attaining your goals, big or small, this way. Best-selling author Tony Robbins take a few minutes each morning to visualize and write out the things he wants to achieve that day.
If you allow yourself this time, you can better plan how you’re going to schedule the time in your day to accomplish the goals you have in mind. Write them down to commit them to the forefront of your mind and give yourself a visualization of your productive plan of attack.
5. Have a consistent and protein-rich breakfast
Sometimes, in terms of our productivity, we tend to look at ourselves like machines we need to keep running a few more hours to get it all done. It’s easy to forget that you need to take care of your physical self first if you want your brain to work more productively.
Replacing carbohydrate-heavy breakfasts with a higher protein meal gives your body longer burning fuel, rather than quick spikes of blood sugar. This will help power you through your morning. What happens chemically and how we feel inside has a huge effect on our ability to focus. This is an easy fix for longer-lasting energy and focus. Check out these easy recipes (and exercise tips for that new morning routine) from Greatist — a great resource for daily health tips.
Use these tips to create a new morning routine that can guarantee you’ll always feel like you woke up on the right side of the bed — and start your day like the world’s most productive people.
Originally published at www.hibox.co on March 19, 2017.
