How To Create a Morning Routine That Boosts Productivity

How you start your morning can make or break your day.

Waking up cranky and fatigued will definitely lead to a sluggish and unproductive day.

But, productivity is less about waking up on the right side of the bed and more about establishing healthy routines that support good sleep and an energized awakening in the morning.

A study on the journal Emotion by the American Psychological Association showed that morning people or so-called larks tend to be healthier and more productive than night-owls. Even then, what you do in the morning and the night before will have a great impact on your performance levels throughout the day.

Here are proven morning routines that will allow you to spend your day productively and manage your time properly:

Be careful with the first 15 minutes

How you use the first few minutes of your day will greatly affect how the rest of your day turns out.

Reading emails, checking social media, watching TV or listening to a radio talk show can disorient your day. These black hole activities can take up a large chunk of your morning.

Studies also show that people who check emails or social media in the morning are less productive than those who leave these activities to later in the afternoon.

A quick meditation, drinking a glass of water, stretching or working out is a great start to your day.

Set milestones for the day

Have you ever woken up and had nothing planned for the day?

Without any goals for the day, you will likely spend the better part of the morning doing meaningless work or jumping from one task to another. What a waste of your creative energies!

The most successful people set out goals the night before or within the first few minutes of waking up. It is helpful to map out just three important goals to accomplish for the day. Charting out just three milestones allows you to prioritize and avoid overwhelm.

Use the morning to do creative work

For most people, whether morning-larks or night owls, mornings are the peak of creativity. It is best to use up the first few hours of the morning to undertake your most creative work.

Whether you are working on a writing project, formulating a business strategy or preparing for a presentation, you will likely give it your best in the morning.

Other than undertaking creative work, you will also find that mornings are the best time to handle difficult projects. Many top CEOs are known to put in a significant amount of work in the wee hours of the morning before the employees start coming in.

You will save a lot of time if you align your day’s milestones with your energy level. Tasks such as checking email, checking social media or working out require lesser creativity or energy levels, so these can be pushed to the afternoon.

Adopt a ritual to motivate you to work

Most people experience sleep inertia in the morning, the same impulse that lures you to hit the snooze button and curl beneath the warm sheets. For those who do wake up, it is not always easy to know what to do in those first few minutes.

An incredibly powerful way to motivate yourself to wake up and start your day is establishing a simple morning ritual to cue your brain. This could be sitting up in bed and stretching out, saying a prayer, reaching out for a glass of water, sitting down to read or listening to music.

Whichever activity you choose, ritualize it so your brain and your body will automatically ready themselves to get on with the day.

Start early

A great way to infuse your day with high energy and productivity is starting it early.

Think about it: the times you have slept in or started your day late, you likely felt as though there was too much to do and so little time to do it. This feeling of not having enough time can lead to a stress and overwhelm.

An early start to the day allows you to accomplish your milestones without rushing through them. Also, just waking up early frees up your time in the morning so you can have some time to yourself before getting on with the day.

Start The Day Right

Small changes to your morning routine can make all the difference in how you manage your entire life. An early start can indeed give you a head start, allowing you to unleash your creativity, set out your goals and gain clarity through silent meditation.