Morning Routines You Can Practice to Increase Productivity Throughout the Day

Developing a perfect morning routine for you to maximize your productivity for the whole day takes a lot of trial and error. You’ll have to know yourself and what works for you as you customize your routines because there’s no such thing as a one size fits all.

Do you need a cup of coffee to start your day? Do you need to shower first before doing anything? Know your preferences and from there, you can start building and incorporating things to develop your morning routine.

The Importance of Morning Routines for Success

Why is there a need for a daily morning routine to achieve success and maximize your productivity? The thing is, what you do on your mornings determines the tone of your day. The habits that you do, either good or bad, determine the quality of the life you live.

The way to success is by practicing discipline every single day. And to even motivate you, know that you are most productive in the morning because that’s when the brain is most active and creative. The first three hours of your day are precious when it comes to your productivity.

This is why having an effective daily morning routine will help you increase your productivity. It can help you stop procrastinating for good, eventually. Develop an effective morning routine for yourself and stick with it. This will help you set yourself up for success and live a more balanced, more productive, and more fulfilled life.

Some Morning Routines to Practice to Increase Your Productivity

Wake Up Earlier Than Usual

When you wake up earlier than you usually do, you are allowing yourself to have more time to do things in the morning like exercise, meditate, prepare your lunch, take a longer shower, and even spend time with your family. By allowing yourself have enough time to do your stuff in the morning, you avoid that feeling of being rushed and that unpleasant anxiety when you think you are running out of time. You create a harmonious flow as you get slower pacing and this will help you have a calmer state of mind which can then help your overall productivity throughout the day.

Try to rise earlier in the morning, maybe by 15 or 30 minutes early than usual. Develop it gradually and you’ll soon reap its benefits.

Hydrate

Drink water right after you wake up. We all know that water is essential for our bodies and hydrating right after waking up is very beneficial. Here are some benefits our bodies can get from this habit:

• Drinking water right after waking up improves your metabolism and helps in weight loss.
• It helps your hair health by increasing its shine and texture. It also improves skin health.
• It relieves heartburn and indigestion as water decreases the acidity and dilutes your stomach.
• Drinking water will rid your body of toxins which will prevent kidney stones and bladder infections.
• It strengthens the immune system.
• Lastly, it improves your mental performance.

Exercise near the beginning of the day

Exercising releases endorphins or happy hormones and research shows that exercising during the day before work improves moods and increases one’s ability to deal with the demands of work, hence then improving your productivity levels throughout the rest of the day.

Exercising improves concentration, sharpens memory, prolongs mental stamina, enhances creativity, and lowers levels of stress. Whether it’s a quick jog or a 30-min session in the gym, your body will gain the benefits of exercising no matter the intensity. Start slow and gradually develop your exercises as your body gets used to it day by day.

Write out a short to-do list (priorities of the day)

Another morning routine you can incorporate and make into a habit is to jot down 2–3 priorities you need to do within the day. By writing down these priorities, you are setting up your day by forming a plan on how to tackle them. Most of us work on some sort of a detailed schedule or to-do list, and while having this kind of organization keeps us at bay, it’s important to identify which tasks are the priorities. Take the time to think about the key priorities to focus on for the day.

Practice Gratitude

Practicing gratitude can be done in many ways like praying, meditating, saying your affirmations, and even sending out thank you messages or emails. Whatever way you choose to show and practice your gratitude, incorporate it into your morning routine. Practicing gratitude promotes positive emotions and can boost one’s mood for the entire day. It improves one’s well-being and health and counters negativity which you don’t want to have early on in the day.

Read

Reading is one of the successful people’s practices. When you read, you learn more and can then achieve more in your industry. You will also be more aware of current events and how these may affect your business. Reading is not just a pastime, it’s also a way to a life of success.

Plan Ahead

While reading this may give you a bout of inspiration and motivation to plan out and start your own productive morning routine right now, there’s also a possibility when you will feel unmotivated when it’s actually in the early hours of the morning when you still feel like just lazing out in bed. It’s not easy to just do all things in one go. Most likely, you’ll have to plan ahead your actions in order to successfully put into place a decent morning routine.

To make things easier for you to start out, start by removing distractions and setting up things the night before.

Turn off your phone and keep it out of arm’s length before your sleep. If possible, don’t keep it in your bedroom. The thing with picking up your phone first thing when you wake up is you can get distracted by checking social media, emails, watching videos, and more. This is the number one thing that will derail a productive morning routine. If you need an alarm clock to wake up, use an old-school alarm clock instead of your phone.

Create Balance

A good morning routine has balance and to ensure that yours is effective as well as balanced, incorporate a behaviour for each one of the 4 main areas of self-improvement: Mental, Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual.

Examples of habits for each area:

• Mental: Reading, Listening to Podcast or Music, Planning your Day, etc.
• Emotional: Practicing gratitude, Bonding with family, etc.
• Physical: Exercising, Eating a healthy breakfast, etc.
• Spiritual: Praying, Meditating, Spending time with nature, etc.

Final Thoughts

Creating a morning routine to maximize productivity can be simple as long as you do it slowly but surely. Practice these routines every day and gradually, you’ll notice a great improvement in your daily life. Don’t underestimate the importance of a good morning routine because getting off your day with a good start can make a big difference.