Your day’s productivity actually starts the night before.? Yes, what you do at night can affect how much you can accomplish the following day. If you are prepared for the day ahead, you will be more productive.
“When you are prepared to start your day, knowing what you need to do, you will be more productive. Proper planning, should be done the night before, taking no more than 5 minutes,” says productivity expert Mitzi Weinman, founder of TimeFinder and author of?”It?s About Time! Transforming Chaos into Calm, A to Z.”
And when you do wake up, make sure you don’t get up to a frenzied environment, which will only zap your energy. “Create a peaceful morning ritual to ground yourself for the upcoming day: Establish a dedicated time for yourself before plunging into your hectic work day,” suggests Luca Cusolito, founder of full-service strategy agency Creative Enabler. “I recommend finding a scented candle or incense that is specifically lit at the beginning of the day to establish a sensory ritual to start the day.”
Start your day by contacting someone. “Reach out to two people in your personal network to check in with to keep that human connection and keep a momentum of social exchange,” says Cusolito.
Prioritize your day. “Plan to do the most important or most difficult task first; working from higher priorities to lower priorities throughout the day will make it easier to go home at the end of the day. And you will have a more productive day,” advises Weinman.
Forget about things that are not really important. “Don’t waste mental energy,” says Bonnie Treece, owner of education start-up, The Brain Domain LLC. “I’ve found that worrying about minute details that are not in direct relation to work will decrease productivity. The more you’re bogged down with details that don’t really matter, the less mental energy you have for the tasks that really do matter.”