Your alarm goes off. Depending on your personality, you either spring out of bed ready to meet your day or you drag yourself into the kitchen for a much-needed caffeine boost. However you meet your morning, are you sure you’re doing enough to maximize your productivity?
The right pre-work habits can set the foundation for a successful day. A few tweaks to your routine and you can establish a tone that will ripple out into all your subsequent endeavors.
Here are a few ways to start your day that can increase your overall productivity:
Get Plenty of Sleep the Night Before
It’s tough for business leaders to get enough sleep. Busy schedules, combined with a stressful job, make it difficult to peacefully drift off to dreamland. One study found that 43% of executives report not getting enough sleep at least four days a week.
However, finding time to rest represents a secret ingredient to success. Adequate sleep keeps you sharp and innovative. Take the time needed to properly recharge each night. That way, you can maintain your long-term effectiveness.
Exercise
Early mornings are the curse of a hectic schedule. It can be tough to get the blood pumping. Rather than turning to coffee to jumpstart your morning, look to a more natural solution.
An early workout can set a great tone (literally) for the rest of the day. You’ll greet your business responsibilities with more energy and vigor. At the same time, you’ll protect your physical health, which will keep you in top form over the long haul.
Set Clear Objectives
As you start each day, know what you’re working for. Go beyond a simple to-do list. You want to think carefully how to balance short-term and long-term deadlines, getting the most out of your limited time.
The key here is prioritizing the demands for your time. Triage your potential goals and focus on the ones that require the most attention. This will provide a framework for a more detailed plan.
Have Your Day Mapped Out
Once you have your general objectives figured out, you can get more granular about your schedule. This information will let you make a plan for your coming day. At the same time, you’ll have the framework needed to extract as much value as possible out of every moment.
A well-structured schedule will also keep you disciplined. Setting aside prescribed time limits will prevent you from falling into rabbit holes or getting distracted by less-consequential tasks. You’ll have your prearranged program to give you direction — as well as a way to refocus if you happen to get sidetracked.
Don’t Overschedule
Creating a well-structured schedule doesn’t mean filling every moment of your day. Often, getting too aggressive in scheduling can become counterproductive.
One unforeseen glitch can create a frustrating cascade throughout your day. Meanwhile, you don’t have the flexibility you need to respond to emergencies. What’s more, too much activity undermines your ability to achieve any particular goal — your attention is always being dragged somewhere else.
So, as you map out your day, leave some breathing room. Have a few anchors — times set aside for high-profile goals. But, at the same time, leave space for you to react to changing circumstances.
Set the Agenda with Your Staff
Micromanagement just wastes your time. You end up burning effort on activities that can be completed by others in your organization. Better to reserve your resources for tasks that require your unique input.
To get the most out of your skills and expertise, learn to lean on those around you. Trust your staff to complete as much as possible. Your job is to coordinate their efforts and concentrate on the assignments that only you can finish.
Contact Our Experts at PrideStaff Bend Today
Of course, the first step in this process is finding a staff you can trust. A top staffing partner, like PrideStaff, makes that easy. Contact PrideStaff Bend today to find team members that make delegation an easy choice and help you get the most out of your day.
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