6 tips for starting your day right!

Sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t; it’s how life works. However, in order to be productive, you must start in the mornings and setting out a routine will set you up for success in the workplace.

Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job said “The first few minutes at the office can be the most stressful because there’s a level of anxiety about what you may face” and then further went on to explain “It takes greater self-awareness, a positive mind-set, and self-training each morning to counter what feels like negative gravity pulling you down as you face overwhelming demands”.

Looking to work in the way you want, when you want? Find out how with Hosted Workspace >>

If you want to change your productivity and attitude at work in a positive way, you need to change the way you get up and prepare for the day in the morning. Read on to find out our 6 tips for starting your day right.

Start Your Day Early

For many us, starting early is difficult and something we dread. However, research has shown that early risers are more productive and happier than the typical night owl.

Furthermore, by starting your day early you will give yourself a sufficient amount of time to reflect and get ready, which will, in turn, give you a clearer mind. Waking up late may mean you rush everything and then you risk bringing this attitude into work.

Another important aspect linked to how you get up is that you must avoid hitting the snooze button! While that extra 10 minutes of shut-eye is something you want at the time, this sleep is extremely light and low-quality, doing you more harm than good. The sleep period of your body is around 90 minutes, and you’re ripped out of restful sleep when your alarm goes off. An additional 10 minutes will not give the body enough time to make it through another cycle, causing negative impacts psychologically. When setting your alarm, set it for the time you actually need to get up.

Drink Water and Eat Breakfast

When you sleep, you become hydrated. By drinking a glass of water when you first wake up, you will replenish your body’s hydration. The Ayurvedic practice is a method some use where lemon is added to a glass of warm water. It is said to help remove toxins from your digestive tract which may have built up overnight. Whether it is with lemon or not, wake up and drink a glass of water to ensure you have a healthy refreshing start to your day.

You may have heard people around you saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” and this couldn’t be more true! It helps you get your metabolism started and has been linked to good health. A healthy breakfast should consist of whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats. As the old saying goes “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper”. Eating breakfast will not only change your activeness but will improve your alertness and concentration throughout the day.

Reflect On Previous Day

When you first arrive at work, begin by reflecting for the first 10-15 minutes on the previous day. What did achieve yesterday? What didn’t go to plan? Are there ways you could make today better?

Doing this will clean the state and give you a clear direction for the day ahead, helping you decide what you are hoping to achieve in light of what happened on the previous day.

Set Roadmap

Setting a schedule and drawing up a to–do list helps you to assess and devote your time to tasks. Springing straight into the task that comes to your head first can often create a disorganised cycle for the day.

Give yourself a sense of purpose and start by writing your tasks down clearly. Following this, take time to go beyond the simple to-do list and prioritise tasks so that you can move forward by noting the key tasks in your calendar with any important meetings. Putting things in your calendar in addition to writing them down will mean your employees can have more of sense of when you are and aren’t free without disturbing you.

Effective road maps will also enable you to set a pace that you want to work. For example, a widely used technique called the Pomodoro Technique allows you to break your work down into intervals of 25 minute which are separated by short 5 minute breaks.

Choose The Right Workspace

Depending on your workspace, it can be incredibly easy to become distracted from the task at hand. Busy office settings have within them a world of distractions. As a result, many choose to work from home to give them uninterrupted time to focus. In order to do this securely and efficiently, organisations are using Hosted Workspaces as they enable you to work from anywhere, at any time, providing you have an internet connection.

Organising your workspace goes hand in hand with choosing the right place to work. It is paramount for productivity to be able to find things when you need too, and we don’t just mean physical things! Use 10 minutes of your day to bring not only your physical workspace but your online desktop as well.

Keep Positive

Restart your thoughts and focus on the day ahead of you. If you hold onto any negatives that have happened previously, you risk letting them affect your achievements in the future. In fact, research has proven that negative thoughts will not only impact your productivity but your long-term health as well!

Your morning habits will set the tone for the rest of the day. Armed with the knowledge in this blog, you can make tomorrow a good one.

Please get in touch for more information on our Hosted Desktop.