Personal Productivity
Why All Remote Workers Should Have a Morning Ritual
AUTHOR: Kayla Matthews
If you’re now working remotely, or have been for a while, you’re one of many. Working from home is becoming an increasingly viable option as technology advances to provide the ability to do so. But sometimes, getting down a morning ritual to wake yourself up can be tricky. Luckily, there are steps you can take to help you get into positive habits that will shape your day.
A morning ritual can help in times of need. If you feel disorganized, stressed or uncertain about anything in your life, you can implement a schedule. This will bring certainty and regularity to your life. With a better structure, you will be more productive, manage your emotions better and formulate powerful habits.
Plan Your Morning
Your morning ritual starts the day before. During the last few minutes of your shift, you’ll want to get into the habit of planning out tomorrow. This will set a tone of certainty so that you know what you’ll need to accomplish in the morning. You can organize your tasks so that the high-priority responsibilities come first.
You’ll also want to get a good night’s sleep to stay healthy. Plan your alarm precisely so that you have enough time in the morning to get everything done before starting work. Then, you will also know when to go to sleep to get enough rest. The key is not just waking up to be awake, but rather waking up to be productive.
Exercise and Eat Right
Start your day on the right note. Maybe you’ll want to go for a run or a walk before you start work. Maybe you’ll want to go to the gym. Or maybe you’ll workout right from home. This will allow your brain and body to sync up and wake up.
You’ve probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So, you should take the time to eat right and healthy. Don’t skip this step. People need food — it’s the fuel that keeps you going. And, when you eat right, breakfast can help wake you up and put you in a better mood.
Exercise and eating right go hand-in-hand.
Work on a Side Project
Before starting your work shift, you should take some time to work on a project for yourself. This shouldn’t be something like checking emails. It should help you with something you’re passionate about and that you enjoy. So, exercising could be it. But it could also look like writing, reading, drawing or learning a language.
Getting in this habit lets you have a positive activity to look forward to when you wake up. From there, you can ease into work seamlessly. Getting up in the morning can sometimes be hard. But if you allocate the time for yourself, that will be your personal space to get into the swing of things.
Tackle Your Highest Priorities
This is where the to-do list that you made the day before starts to come in handy. You should organize it so that your highest priority project or task is at the top. This way, when you transition from exercising or your personal project to your top priority, you’ll have the energy and drive to do so. Not to mention, it will all be easier after you accomplish the toughest thing first.
Mark Twain once said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” The frog is, of course, metaphorical. But the principle stands. Once you take that hard task into your own hands and push through it that sets the tone and productivity level for the rest of your day. This is a habit you should adapt. From there, waking up will be enjoyable. And the rest of your day will work out productively.
No comments