We’ve heard the phrase “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise". As it turns out Benjamin Franklin knew what he was talking about when he penned those words.
A common practice that many executives and other high achievers have in common is their ability and drive to start the day early. Some spend the early morning hours exercising, meditating, checking emails or catching up with what has happened overnight. Others use the early morning hours as family time since they may often work late.
According to Business Insider, it is not uncommon to find these early risers in the office before everyone else. General Motors CEO Mary Barra, author and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and PIMCO cofounder Bill Gross, are all at the office by 6 a.m.
Scott Adams, creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip says “Typically speaking I’m happiest, smartest, most creative and most optimistic between the hours of 4 and 8 a.m.”
Morning Routine
In their book, My Morning Routine, Benjamin Spall & Michael Xander state, “The way you spend your morning has an outsized effect on the rest of your day.” In preparing for their book, they interviewed hundreds of successful individuals around the world. The book contains 64 interviews with trailblazers such as US Army General Stanley McChrystal , Ed Catmull (president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios), Bill McNabb (Chairman of the Vanguard Group), Bob Mill, (founder and president of Bob’s Red Mill), Arianna Huffington (founder of the Huffington Post and Thrive Global), and Amber Rae (Author of Choose Wonder Over Worry).
Highly successful people have morning routines that give them a sense of accomplishment. Routines are personal, vary between people and provide benefits critical to a successful workday. Activities often practiced by successful people provide benefits that carry throughout the day such as:
Planning one's day before going to bed the night before and making a list of projects to tackle the next day can clear the mind and support more restful sleep.
Some form of exercise or yoga, even small amounts, gets the blood pumping, energy going and provides mental clarity.
Reading, writing, or journaling are stress reducers and creativity boosters.
Thinking or meditation can set a calmer tone and help take the edge off any chaos thrown our way.
Setting aside uninterrupted time in the morning can be used to tackle difficult problems.
Working From Home
When I was working in the Corporate World, my morning routine was consistent. I rose early because I liked to get to work early. It wasn’t because I enjoyed rising early. I discovered there were benefits that affected my productivity.
The morning traffic was a lot lighter and therefore not nearly as stressful. Delaying my drive to work by 45 minutes, took almost twice as long to get there. Arriving at work earlier, enabled me to get more accomplished during the day. Being at work before most of my coworkers, resulted in fewer interruptions allowing me to approach my most important projects early with a clear mind before the day’s craziness began.
Working from home presented its own challenges too. My first thoughts were, "Hey, no more alarm clock. I can set my own hours". And that is what I did for the first few weeks, but it didn’t work out as well as I thought it would.
Because I had abandoned my schedule, it threw my husband off. He was still working and had to go to the office everyday. His morning routine had always revolved around mine. Without my routine to provide him with triggers, he started being late for work.
Furthermore, I found it very difficult to get anything done. To avoid interrupting his routine, I wouldn't eat breakfast or get dressed until after he left for work. Before I knew it, it was lunch and I hadn’t even started working. My solution was to go back to my old routine of rising early.
What I discovered only proved what the research showed the importance and benefit of a morning routine even when working from home. For me personally, rising early and being at work (even if the work is at home) by 7:00 a.m. gives me the focus I need for a productive day.
If you are having trouble getting started on a morning routine, you may want to check out the book, The Miracle Morning, by Hal Elrod. It's an enjoyable read and a "how to" book on developing morning habits for success.
Having a morning routine practiced consistently will eventually become a series of habits that we do each day without thinking. This frees our minds to focus on solutions to complex problems and things we need to accomplish. The time that you rise, and your routine for the first few hours of the day should be what is best for you. Give some thought to changes you could make to your morning routine to improve your productivity. It may take some trial and error to but once you find it, stick to it every day and you will start to experience the benefits.
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