The Morning Routine to Improve Focus & Productivity
The other day I had a list that focused on an effective Muscle Building Morning Routine.
Today, we’ll add 7 more things you need to add to your morning routine to increase focus and productivity.
Energy being our greatest commodity for our training goals. Both it and our ability to focus on important tasks are our greatest commodities for a successful work day.
Therefore, each of the following aspects to a daily routine help us do just that: improve and maintain high energy levels, and improve our ability to focus.
The 7 steps in this morning routine, compliment those of the “muscle building morning routine” that we did yesterday. If your goals are to build your dream body, and your dream life, at all 14 steps and tips to your morning routine.
1. START YOUR DAY THE NIGHT BEFORE.
Don’t leave the planning of your day to the morning of. When your eyes are half open and your brain half functioning. Plan your day the night before. After you’ve finished your day’s work and you have a firm grasp on what you need to accomplish.
Wondering how to plan your day?
I find that focusing on 2 main tasks is vital. These two tasks should be 2 things that will bring you the most success. They are ‘the big’ projects and tasks that require you to be at your best.
They aren’t medial tasks that can be done in front of the TV late at night. They’re the things that require imagination, focus, and energy. Do these tasks early in the morning when you’re at your best. Leave the medial for later on in the day when your mind starts to wander
2. WAKE UP EARLY.
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
I get more productive and creative work done before 11 am than I do the rest of the day. The earlier I rise, the better work I get done.
In reading about hundreds of successful people over the years, the vast majority (if not all of them) woke or wake up early. In Robin Sharma’s wonderful book, “The Greatness Guide”, one of his keys to living a great life is being early to rise. Dale Carnegie is of the same opinion.
Hit the ground running. And hit it running early.
3. HAVE FISH OILS.
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are one of the most powerful “brain foods” we can have. I combine my 3-6 early morning omega-3 pills with a handful of either almonds or walnuts. Both nuts are high in omega-3’s, compounding the brain boosting effect of fish oils.
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4. READ. QUIET TIME.
Don’t start your day off with work. The more I do start my day by jumping into my work, the less productive and creative I am.
Starting my day off by reading a book in silence, then thinking about what I just read and what I am going to accomplish during the day has proven to dramatically improve the focus. I get a lot more done, on the right things, and I’m more motivated.
In my experience it has to be the right book. But there are thousands upon thousands of ‘the right book’ out there. Here are a few:
a) The Greatness Guide by Robin Sharma
b) Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
c) The Education of Millionaires by Michael Ellsberg
5. REVIEW YOUR MISSION.
Every morning it’s important to review 2 things:
a) Your mission in life. The BIG thing you’re going to accomplish.
b) How you’re going to get there (your more immediate goals).
Adding this simple step to my day is one of the best things I’ve done in the past few years to improve my focus, and to focus on the right things.
Say your mission out loud. State that you’re going to accomplish it. And when you’re going to accomplish it. There’s no ‘if’ in this reciting of your mission and more immediate goals. Only a ‘when’ and a ‘how’.
6. READ YOUR FAVORITE QUOTES. REVIEW YOUR 2 MOST IMPORTANT TASKS.
Quotes that motivate you and help you focus are powerful tools that will help you accomplish your mission. However, they’re useless without constant review. I find the best time to do this is in the morning.
Here are a few quotes that I review daily:
Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.
Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics. ~ Albert Einstein
Things may come to those who wait…but only the things left by those who hustle.~ Abraham Lincoln
So much time is wasted on tasks that require no brain power. We see them as things we must do, but in reality, they’re tasks that can either be outsourced, or can wait until later on the in the day when our minds are weary, and our focus, wavering.
Have 2 main tasks within each day. Focus on either one of these tasks first, when your ability to focus and not get distracted is at its height.
These two tasks should be the tasks that will lead to your success more than anything else. They require imagination, focus and energy.
As an example, my two main tasks of today are:
a) Writing for this site.
b) Guest article writing.
To do both at their best, I need to be at my best. I’m useless at writing towards the end of the day. A butterfly could fly by my computer and I’d chase it. I have the attention span of a two year old. Both also take me closer to my mission. They’re very important to my success.
7. RUN or LIFT.
So you’ve been working for an hour or so. It technically still is the morning. You’re in the thick of things. Your concentration is starting to waver. Your imagination is stale. What should you do?
Head to the gym, or out for a run.
The endorphins we release during exercise are POWERFUL. If I’m ever in need of an idea, it usually comes after a hard training session, or if I head outside to get some reading done in silence.
Yes, training helps us great in better physical condition. It helps lower our degrees of stress. All of which are important and beneficial to other areas of our lives. But a workout really is one of the best things you can do to get your energy and focus back after a long morning work session.
Plan your training accordingly.
IN CLOSING
I mentioned earlier that these ‘7 steps’ can be joined with the ‘7 muscle building steps’ that I posted the other day. And please do.
If you want the ultimate morning routine. One that will help you burn fat and building muscle at the same time, but also kill it at work, join the two together, or take what you like from both and create your own.
