Jacquelyn Smith
The first few hours of the work day can have a significant
effect on your level of productivity over the following eight—so it’s important
you have a morning routine that sets you up for success.
“Having a good start to the day where you have greater
control is critical in achieving better results, and ultimately greater career
success,” says Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and author of Tame
Your Terrible Office Tyrant; How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in
Your Job. “How you begin your morning often sets the tone and your attitude
for the day. It can also derail or direct your focus. If you remain committed
to good morning work habits, you won’t fall prey to feeling unproductive and
distracted at the end of the day or week.”
With the help of career and workplace experts Taylor, David
Shindler, Michael Kerr, Anita Attridge, Alexandra Levit and Michael “Dr. Woody”
Woodward, I compiled a list of 16 things all workers should do when they get to
work each morning.
Arrive on time. This may be obvious to most
people—but some don’t realize that showing up late can not only leave a bad
impression, but also throw off your entire day. “Getting in on time or a little
early helps your mindset for the day and helps promote a feeling of
accomplishment,” Taylor says.
Take a deep breath. “Literally,” says Michael Kerr,
an international business speaker, author and president of Humor at Work. “And do something to focus
in on the here and now.” Many people come into work harried because they
don’t leave enough time at home to deal with “home stuff,” he says, “and then
they’ve barely survived another horrendously stressful commute, and then they
dive into the madness.” Slowing down, taking a moment to pause, and creating a
routine around centering yourself can work wonders, he adds.
Michael “Dr. Woody” Woodward, PhD, organizational
psychologist and author of The YOU
Plan, says after the deep breath, give yourself a few minutes to
meditate and get settled in.“This is a good way to set the tone of the day,” he
says. “Don’t allow yourself to be bum rushed by frantic co-workers lost in
their own confusion. It’s not unusual to wake up to a long backlog of e-mails
just screaming for your attention. The challenge is taking a moment for
yourself before diving head first into your day.”
Woodward says he has worked with executives who
meditate 10 minutes every morning before they even think of looking at an
e-mail or taking a call. “There is a tremendous power in mediation when it
comes to settling your mind. Starting off your day right is really about
setting your own tone and meditation is a great way to begin.”
Eat a proper breakfast. “Breakfast truly is the
most important meal of the day to help us down the path of not only being more
physically fit, but also to have the mental energy needed to tackle your
workday,” Kerr says.
Don’t be moody. You’ll want to pay attention to your
mood and be aware of its effect on others. “First and last thing in the day is
when emotional intelligence can have the greatest impact,” Shindler says. So if
you’re not a “morning person,” try to suck it up and have a positive attitude
when you arrive at the office. Grab a second or third cup of coffee, if that’s
what it takes.
Kerr agrees. “Your first hour at work can set your ‘attitude
barometer’ for the rest of the day, so from a purely emotional point of view, I
think it’s an important part of the day,” he says. “One morning grump can
infect an entire team and put everyone on the wrong footing.”
Organize your day. The first hour of the work day is
the best time to assess priorities and to focus on what you absolutely need to
accomplish, Kerr says. “Too many people get distracted first thing in the
morning with unimportant activities such as diving right into their morass of
e-mail, when there may be a whole host of more important issues that need
dealing with.” Make a to-do list, or update the one you made the previous day,
and try to stick to it. However, if your boss has an urgent need, then it’s OK
re-shuffle your priorities within reason, Taylor adds.
Anita Attridge, a career and executive coach with the Five
O’Clock Club, a career coaching organization, says when you prepare your morning
to-do list, determine what must be done today and what can be completed
tomorrow, and prioritize accordingly. “Also determine your peak working time
and plan your schedule accordingly,” she says. “Use your peak time each morning
to do the most important tasks.”
Be present. Even if you’re not a morning person, you
need to be awake when you get the office. Especially if you’re in a leadership
position, it’s critical to be present, mentally and physically, and to
communicate. “One of the biggest office pet peeves I hear from employees is
about how their immediate supervisor just blows by them in the morning without
so much as a smile,” Kerr says. “Taking the time to connect with your team
members is essential, and doing the seemingly small things–making eye
contact, smiling, asking them about their night, and checking in on
what they may need help with–helps you as a leader take the pulse of the team,
and helps set the tone for all the employees.”
Check in with your colleagues. “A quick 5 to 10
minute team huddle can also be an effective way for many people to start their
day,” Kerr says. Make it a short meeting, with no chairs, have everyone share
their top goal for the day, and share any critical information the rest of the
team absolutely needs to know, he says. “Doing the huddles helps people focus
and more importantly, connects everyone with the team. And by sharing your
goals for the day publicly, the odds of achieving them rise substantially.”
Organize your workspace. Clearing off the desk and
creating a neat workspace sets a tone for the rest of the day, says Alexandra
Levit, the author of Blind Spots: The 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to
Believe on Your New Path to Success.
It can also help avoid confusion. “While most communications
are through e-mails and texts, if your boss or co-worker stopped by looking for
you and left a sticky note about a last-minute meeting occurring in ten
minutes, and it’s sitting on a mound of mail or papers, you’re already behind
the eight ball,” Taylor says. “Also, for many, it’s difficult to think clearly,
easy to forget important reminders, and just plain stressful if you feel you’re
fighting the battle and the tornado of mail or paper is winning.” Ideally,
you’d clear whatever you can out the night before so you can have a fresh start
before you even turn on your computer in the morning. But if not, make sure
clearing your desk takes precedence over things like checking e-mails and
chatting with co-workers in the morning.
Remind yourself of your core purpose at work. “As
corny or as trite as this may sound, I’d suggest that you take a moment each
morning to remind yourself of your core purpose at work,” Kerr
says. Connecting to a sense of purpose is one of the most powerful
motivators there is, and taking just a moment each day to reconnect to what
truly matters in your job and what you are ultimately trying to achieve and for
whom, can help you feel more motivated and help you focus on the priority areas
in your work.
Don’t be distracted by your inbox. This one is
difficult for most people—but the experts agree that you shouldn’t check your
e-mail first thing in the morning. If you do, only read and respond to messages
that are urgent. “Priority-scan your inbox,” Taylor says. “Not all e-mails were
created equal. Hone your ability to quickly sift the wheat from the chaff and
address what must be answered on an urgent basis.”
Attridge agrees. “Only respond immediately to the urgent
messages so that you control your morning activities.” There will be time
during the day to respond to the less urgent e-mails.
Why must you put off checking e-mails? “For far too many
people, e-mail and the web can serve as huge time-wasters and distracters,
particularly in the morning,” Kerr says.
“Once you start checking e-mails, it’s a click away from
watching the funny video someone forwarded you, which then sucks you into the abyss:
checking the sports scores on line, the news headlines, the stocks, et
cetera, and before you know it you’ve been watching a cat play the drums for
twenty minutes and, like a poorly planned Oscars ceremony, your entire schedule
is already thrown off before you’ve even begun your day.”
Listen to your voice mail. Most people jump on the
computer and ignore their phone. “While office voice mail is indeed becoming
antiquated as people rely more on personal cell phones, Blackberrys and e-mail,
some people do leave voice messages, and if you ignore them, you could miss
something important,” Levit says.
Place important calls and send urgent e-mails. If you
know you need to get in touch with someone that day, place the call or send the
e-mail first thing in the morning. If you wait until midday, there’s a greater
chance you won’t hear back before you leave the office. “There’s nothing more
frustrating that trying to complete something and not having access or answers
from people you need because your day time hours were lost on other matters,”
Taylor says. “If you have your questions ready and your e-mails fired off
during early peak hours, by the end of the day you should have what you need.”
Take advantage of your cleared mind. “Many people
feel that their brains function best in the morning, and that morning is when
they are most creative and productive,” Kerr says. “Consider whether you are
making the best use of your brainpower and plan ‘high brain’ activities in the
morning.”
Mix things up from time to time. Some people like
order and are habitual—but others like variety and change. “For them, my advice
is to shake things up occasionally by sitting somewhere different (if you have
the choice) so you get a different perspective; go walkabout first thing and be
visible to people in other spaces, both from a social point of view and as an
alternative to picking up the phone,” Shindler says. “Small things that can
energize you from the off and can positively impact you and the office
dynamics.”
Plan a mid-morning break. “This is the time to
assess where you and take time to revitalize yourself so that you can keep your
momentum going,” Attridge says.
If you’re stuck in a routine that doesn’t include these
must-dos, it may be worthwhile to re-examine your habits and make some changes
for enhanced career development, Taylor says.
“Habits are created out of having regular cues that prompt a
routine, which then eventually become our habits,” Kerr adds. The morning is
the perfect time to create some critical habits that will, over time, become
routine and help you be more focused and productive.
“I know my morning routines are critically important. They
help me focus and build momentum,” he says. “I’m a big believer in thinking
about the start of your day the night before.”
Taylor adds that it’s also helpful not to be too tied to
your routines or rigid plans. “Expect the unexpected, allow flexibility, and
look at the big picture in what your productivity will look like end of day.
You’re likely to be thrown a curve–you might not check off all your initial
to-dos. But you can take pride in your ability to handle the unforeseen.”
Credit: Forbes
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