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. 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.
1.
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.
2.
Take a deep breath and Mediate. “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.”
3.
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.
4.
Start each day with a clean slate.
You may have to attend to projects or discussions that rolled over from the
previous afternoon—but try to treat each day as a fresh one, says David
Shindler, founder of The Employability Hub and author of Learning to Leap. “Leave any crap
from yesterday behind, tap into what’s happening at the outset of the day, get
organized and ready or hit the ground running, if that’s what is needed,” he
says.
5.
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.”
6.
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.”
7.
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.”
8.
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.”
9.
Organize your workspace. Clearing off the desk and creating a neat
work space 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.
10.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.
11. 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.”
12. 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.
13. 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.”
14. 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.”
15. 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.”
16. 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..
Thank & Regards
Rajendra
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