When you think about it for a second, literally every successful person you know has a productive morning routine, a ritual if you may, that they do every single day to keep mind, body, and soul together.
Whether it’s in the area of sports, arts, creative writing, business, or entertainment, when you spend time with hugely successful people, you start to realize that they have adopted special morning routines to help them focus and perform at the peak of their powers.
For some, productive morning routine examples could be as simple as starting the day listening to their favorite playlist. Others may perform strenuous aerobic exercises, like plunging into freezing pools to fire up their bodies or doing a series of meditation exercises, pilates, and yoga.
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My favorite way to start my morning routine is through this guided meditation (or any other kind), prayer, and writing in my gratitude journal!
The point is getting your mind and body up and running and aligning your focus to help you start your day, whichever routine you choose to adopt. That’s the sole purpose of any productive morning routine.
Do you see why it carries the ‘productive’ tag?
Interested in creating a productive morning routine for yourself? Then you’ve come to the right place for help.
But the big questions remain:
- what elements make up a productive morning routine?
- Why is having a productive morning routine so important?
- How is having a productive morning routine going to help you work better from home, be a successful blogger or entrepreneur?
Keep reading to find out everything there is to know about creating a productive morning routine that helps grow your business!
Table of Contents
WHAT MAKES A MORNING ROUTINE PRODUCTIVE?
When quizzed about his productive morning routine checklist, business magnate and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson said,
“No matter where I am in the world, I try to routinely wake up at around 5 am. By rising early, I’m able to do some exercise and spend time with my family, which puts me in a great mind frame before getting down to business.”
It’s evident how Richard Branson’s morning routine has helped him not only become a successful businessman and investor but stay a successful businessman after so many years. His routine and many of the others mentioned in the previous paragraphs may seem so ‘ordinary’ to you, so what makes them productive? Is there a science or trick behind it?
I believe productivity is a relative term. Depending on how much work you’ve set out to accomplish for the day, you can only determine your productivity if you’re able to eliminate tasks off your to-do list. Not just doing them to say, “Oh yes, I did it after all,” but achieving the best possible results from these tasks.
In much simpler terms, a morning routine can be labeled ‘productive’ when it improves your mood, increases your focus, and increase your productivity levels throughout the rest of the day.
MY PRODUCTIVE MORNING ROUTINE EXAMPLE
For example, in my case, I wake up around 4:30 AM every morning. Then I meditate for half an hour or so and after the meditation, I map out my day using this planner. This helps me stay focused on what I need to accomplish in a day.
After that, I try to exercise whether it’s yoga, walking, or using an elliptical. The point is to get your body moving and increase your heart rate. You’d be surprised to see how good that will make you feel!
Once I’m done with all that, now I’m mentally and physically ready to tackle the day and get the most out of it. Here are 12 productivity hacks I use.
But the key is to focus on your most important tasks first such as writing blog posts, creating products, etc.
You want to make the best use of your fresh mind in the mornings. If you waste time working on less important tasks first then you will be tired and not have the same energy for the more important tasks later. That’s why you’d want to check off the important things first.
Some people do the opposite where they work on the “easy” less important tasks first just to jumpstart their day and get into the “mood” and then they switch their focus on the important tasks afterward.
What about you, what works best for you? Let me know in the comments below!
WHY PRODUCTIVE MORNING ROUTINES ARE IMPORTANT
Now let’s talk about why having a productive morning routine is important for you personally and professionally.
If you’re a freelance writer, blogger, or any other entrepreneur working from home, being able to finish up that captivating blog post, that creative design, or write a masterpiece ready for publication online without having to break a sweat is the dream. Oh, what a dream that would be. But life isn’t always a bed of roses.
Most of the time, as entrepreneurs, we spend hundreds of hours a week brainstorming new ideas. Every day is a new day with new milestones to reach, bring in more sales (whether affiliate or from your own products), and handle all other tasks associated with running a successful business online.
Related Post: 6 Steps to Starting a Successful Online Business
But you can’t afford to start your day feeling lethargic, stressed, unproductive, or unfocused. Starting your day with these negative feelings will likely lead you to have a stressed, unfocused, and unproductive life.
On the other hand, a productive morning routine sets the stage for having a productive day, keeping you feeling good, achieving goals, feeling organized, and doing all of this with confidence.
This is backed by data from years of research and the experiences of nearly every successful person in existence.
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6 BENEFITS OF A PRODUCTIVE MORNING ROUTINE
There are at least 6 important benefits you’ll get by establishing a morning routine that’s productive for your business:
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Physical and Emotional Benefits
Let’s face it, the majority of us immediately hop on social media, check our emails, or reply to unread messages first thing in the morning.
While it’s okay to want to stay updated and in touch with your friends and the online community, putting all that on hold until you strike out the activities on your productive morning routine checklist will give you more physical and emotional balance.
You will feel much better after accomplishing some of your important tasks rather than wasting time on social media for example.
As an entrepreneur, staying at the top of your game requires that you stay physically and emotionally fit.
But often working from home means getting lazy and not moving our bodies much.
Before you know it, you get used to the sedentary lifestyle and that ends up affecting your physical health such as gaining weight and eating at odd hours. I’m guilty of this too!
That’s why having a morning routine that includes daily physical exercises, yoga, and listening to a guided meditation like this for the first 30-60 minutes will set the mood right and prepare you for a more healthy lifestyle.
Meditation and yoga are great ways to improve your physical and mental health as an entrepreneur.
Check out some of the positive transformation trainings here to improve your mental and physical health! These have helped me tremendously.
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Build Healthy Relationships
If you work for someone else, do you remember the last time you came home moody and exhausted after a long and stressful day? I know that feeling because I started my online business while working a full-time job.
Read my story here.
Work-related stress can be so damaging inside and can truly affect your relationships with others. This is one aspect of your life that having a productive morning routine can fix.
Building a morning routine allows you to feel more productive at work, more confident in yourself, and more resistant to all the stressors that try to bring you down after a difficult day.
This way, you’re able to maintain better healthy relationships and stay connected to the people you love.
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Increases Productivity
This is a no-brainer because the essence of a morning routine is to improve your productivity.
My productive morning routine gives me the ability to stay positive and focused throughout the day while saving my energy for more important tasks and decisions I’ve to make daily in my business.
It can also do the same for you, setting the stage for having a productive day, keeping you feeling good and organized.
Mindful meditation sessions, physical exercise, and planning out little details of your day can constitute your morning ritual. This makes you more alert and effective all day long.
And don’t forget, productivity leads to consistency. Learning how to blog consistently or approach work consistently is an important factor in growing a successful business.
Also, having a productive morning routine is the perfect way to start new projects such as starting a successful blog or launching a side hustle.
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Increases Your Self Confidence
Managing the situations around you, completing tasks successfully, and tackling problems at work gives you a sense of accomplishment that significantly increases your confidence.
Since a productive morning routine increases your productivity, having a morning routine helps set the stage for better prioritizing and goal getting.
Just like soccer players and athletes love to start their day with some music and a run, do whatever it takes to help you feel more confident in the morning to take on whatever the day throws at you.
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Start Eating Healthy as a Part of Your Productive Morning Routine
How many times have you jumped out of bed late and hastily prepared for work without having a decent breakfast to start the day? Pretty sure you can’t count.
For my fellow 9-5 workers out there, eating healthy is sometimes overlooked. “Who cares? I could always get a Hotdog or a Burger at work.” While these junk foods temporarily satisfy your hunger, they kill you in the long run.
As business owners and entrepreneurs, our bodies are made up of the nutrients we consume in food.
If you want to think positively, be energetic, and be productive, you have to eat healthily.
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Take the time to plan and prepare a healthy breakfast for yourself every day. Your meals should include foods rich in protein, fruit, and whole grains to keep you fueled with energy and positivity.
Struggling with finding healthy snacks and food options? Try these!
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Include Mindful Meditation to Find Inner Peace
A wise man once said, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
Our mind can often be uncontrollable, like a sea raging in the storm.
I don’t know about you but I’ve a hyperactive mind that’s always racing with new business ideas or sometimes thinking about these mistakes I’ve made in my business.
Sometimes it could be a deadline you have to meet or a prospective client meeting that you need to prepare for. All these thoughts can affect your sleep!
That’s why you should consider including mindful mediation as part of your productive morning routine to help you calm your mind and focus on the present moment.
WHAT TIME SHOULD I WAKE UP TO BE PRODUCTIVE?
This is a common question and you might be wondering this as well!
While you may be eager to get started with having a productive morning routine, you may be tempted to mirror the habits of other successful entrepreneurs.
But the problem is that we all are unique human beings and what works for one successful entrepreneur may not necessarily work for you! You have to find out what works best for you.
For example, waking up early at 4:30AM works for me but that doesn’t mean it will work for you too. Maybe you are a night owl instead.
So it’s important to develop your own productive morning routine and wake up at the time you’re comfortable with.
I will say that most successful entrepreneurs do get up early!
The ideal time to get up depends on several factors such as your business’s nature, what your chosen morning routine entails, and how much time you’re willing to dedicate to the routine. It’s best to figure out what works best for you.
HOW DO I MAKE MY MORNING ROUTINE PRODUCTIVE?
So, you finally made the important big decision to create your own productive morning routine to help you and your business grow. Check out this list of things below to get the most out of your morning routine:
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Make Plans For The Next Work Day Before Bed
As an entrepreneur, you have to make tons of business decisions throughout the day. Why not make your life easy with more strategic planning?
That’s right, you can radically reduce the number of decisions you have to make by
- making a detailed to-do list,
- planning your morning routine for the next day,
- making breakfast and lunch before the next day,
- gathering all the necessary supplies you’ll need in advance.
Make all these small decisions and organize yourself better before tomorrow!
Grab this goal-setting planner to help you plan ahead for success.
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Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Now that your to-do list is ready, you’ve decided on what clothes to wear for the next day, prepared breakfast and lunch in advance, the next most important thing to do is sleep!
To be as productive as you want to be and help your business function optimally, you need about 6-8 hours of quality sleep.
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As entrepreneurs, we are constantly thinking about new business ideas, solving real-world problems, and providing value. All this will be extremely difficult if you didn’t recharge your brain through adequate sleep.
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Avoid Occasional Snoozing
Raise your hand if you’re guilty of slamming the snooze button of your alarm clock? Yeah, I see you!
Most of us are guilty of this, and we think we need that 10-15 minutes of extra sleep. Snoozing your alarm only eats away valuable time from your daily schedule and makes you lazy.
Try to be consistent with your morning routine and wake up at the same time every day.
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Eat a Healthy Breakfast
Have you ever wondered why ‘breakfast meetings’ are more productive than afternoon meetings?
It’s because having a proper breakfast gives you the energy and enthusiasm to power through your daily morning routine.
Because only a healthy person can be productive, your business is more likely to grow when you eat healthily and remain energetic throughout the day.
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Resist the Urge to Check Your Email or Social Media All Day
To kick-start your day in the best way, resist checking social media, your emails, or texting first thing in the morning. This can be so difficult to do because social media addiction is a real problem these days.
Picking one or two specific times a day to check your email or social media is one of my favorite productivity hacks.
Plus, you need a little more quiet time away from the Internet when you wake up in the morning.
Having quiet time to think gets you in the mood for your morning routine. Time away from all the pings and tweets and blaring notifications allows you more time to generate more creative ideas and connections to help you accomplish the tasks on your to-do list.
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Exercise, Yoga, and Meditation
You might be new to yoga and mindful meditation, but everyone knows how important exercise is for proper physical and mental wellness.
Yoga and mindful meditation help you relax and enjoy the present moment. These practices bring mind, body, and soul together to create a perfect mindset suitable for you to face the day.
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Listen To Some Music
I don’t know about you, but I definitely love to listen to some inspiring songs to kick-start my day.
One song that always seems to lift my mood every morning is Labrinth’s Mount. Everest. Some people prefer rock music; others would go for gospel or RNB.
Whichever sets you in a good mood, ready to take on the world, you should go for it. Your pre-work music ritual should signal your brain that it’s time for some serious work to be done.
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Work Smart
At this point, what I have to say is simple. Just work smart like it’s the first and only job you have to do for the day. Focus more on work quality than the quantity of work you take on.
Avoid distractions during deep work hours, put your smartphones and tablets far from your reach, and maintain 100% focus.
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Track Your Work With a To-do List
This is where the true measure of your productivity is tested.
The only way to know if you’re productive is to have an authentic means of measuring your performance at the end of a busy workday. Check out your pre-designed to-do list and strike out tasks you’ve satisfactorily accomplished from your checklist.
If you use apps like Asana or Trello to track your productivity then those are great too.
10. Reward Yourself and Celebrate your Wins (big or small)
Finishing your work, making your clients or customers happy, and getting paid for your products or services is the reward every entrepreneur desires.
With a productive morning routine, you can easily achieve this goal when you stick to your routine.
But it’s also important to reward yourself and celebrate your wins whether big or small.
Treat yourself to your favorite snack, drink, and share your wins with us in my Facebook group here. You owe it to yourself!
HOW TO BECOME A MORNING PERSON EVEN IF YOU’RE A NIGHT OWL
Night owls have a little problem waking up at 4 or 5 AM to observe their productive morning routines.
I used to be a complete night owl and that’s how I got through law school (staying up all night researching and writing papers or studying for my exams).
But I ended up marrying an early riser who showed me the importance of waking up early and establishing a productive morning routine.
As I read stories of successful entrepreneurs, I noticed how everyone talked about waking up early being an important contributing factor to their success.
But if you are a night owl wanting to change those habits, what can you do to become a morning person?
The solution lies in learning to hack your body’s biological clock. To do this, you’ll have to:
- Start by waking up 2-3 hours before your regular wake up time.
- Try to limit light exposure in the evenings to set the mood. Go to bed 2-3 hours earlier than your usual time.
- Set a new sleep and wake up time and stick to it no matter what happens.
- Eat breakfast as soon as you wake up in the morning, no occasional snoozing. Breakfast will help energize your body for the day and avoid eating any dinner after 7 pm.
- Steer clear of caffeine after 3 PM to help you sleep better at night
CONCLUSION- Productive Morning Routine
Like they say, “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”
What may seem ordinary and extra to the ordinary man is being adopted by millions of successful business people and entrepreneurs worldwide.
Is it one big coincidence? Definitely not. Be extraordinary by creating a productive morning routine for yourself.
We shared so many tips to help you create that morning routine even if you are night owl. Let me know what works best for you!
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