Productivity is an integral thing. Ask any worker around what the most challenging aspect of their job is. Chances are a majority will list lack of productivity as a real deal-breaker. It takes so much effort for them to be productive, especially at the start of the day. Entrepreneurs also suffer from the funk, like the ‘regular’ people.
But fret not for there are ways that can make productivity a truly natural thing for entrepreneurs. There’s no big secret here, just some simple common sense tips to fire up your neurons in the morning and let you make the most of your early hours. Here are some of the tips:
Mornings Give You A Natural Head Start. Capitalize On It.
Remember Richard Branson, someone who launched what seems like hundreds of companies in the span of 40 short business years? Do you know what lifestyle habit he follows? His day starts at 5 am in the morning. Every day, he wakes up at that time. But how does that help him? And more significantly, how would it help you?
- It gives you ample time to collect your focus, far from the noise and the humdrum of the daily life. In short, it gives you time to get your mind ready.
- When you wake up early and you give your mind the time to collect its focus properly, you will observe your mind is armed with discipline. This discipline is reflected in the actions you take, such as when you get out of bed BEFORE you even get out of it. You visualize everything beforehand, making your action happen earlier than you do so.
- You cut through the crap, making less choices but significant choices that get things done. You don’t devote your energies to anything or any thought that may distract you from your goal(s), no matter how mundane or frivolous those choices seem to be. You save your mind energy for what matters.
Now, when you combine clear focus with steely mindful discipline, you are able to do a lot more in the formative morning hours than in the whole day put together. In short, your productivity gets a supercharged boost. So, do consider setting that early alarm for your morning routines.
Instead of devoting too much time (and energy) to things like what to have for breakfast or what to wear to the office, you can think about accomplishing the goals you have set for yourself. This does not mean you don’t make the proper wardrobe or dietary calls at all. It means you mentally walk through your day, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. You are, in essence, simplifying your decision making process by automating most of the insignificant ones.
Creativity and Personal Growth
In the bestselling book “The Power of Full Engagement” authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz emphasis the importance of managing your energy instead of your time. This works especially well for morning productivity. There may be certain things that you can do better in the mornings.
Some people lose some of their creative energy as the day goes on. Things like email, meetings, and operational tasks, can cause a person’s creativity to nap. If you are one of those types of individuals, try to use your time in the morning to nurture your creativity.
Maybe the mornings could be the time when you brainstorm new ideas, develop new marketing strategies, or find new ways to grown your business. It may be harder to do at the end of the day when you’ve been working on so many other things.
The same could be said about the right time for personal growth. Many, many successful entrepreneurs and CEOs use mornings to read, exercise, pray, or spend time working towards completing a personal achievement (ie train for a marathon). We’ve said it many times on this site, your business will only grow as much as you will. Take time in the mornings before the busyness of the day begins to do something that will bring you personal satisfaction and that will also help you grow as an individual.
In her book What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast-A Short Guide to Making Over Your Morning, Laura Vanderkam outlines a few things successful people routinely do to start their mornings. It seems that habit formation is essential for a productive morning. Trying to revamp your entire morning by redoing every bad habit is a doomed mission. The most effective way to change your morning habits is to change one habit at a time. That habit will eventually turn into a part of your morning ritual and thus create the opportunity to introduce a new habit.
These tips are enough to help the most forward-thinking entrepreneurs make the most of their day and that too just by waking up early in the morning. Waking up early is great for the grey matter cells and it only bodes well for making decisions that can significantly impact the direction of your business.
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