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How To Maximize Your Mornings
photo courtesy of Joel bedford
Be Pleasant Until 10 o’clock In The Morning And The Rest Of The Day Will Take Care Of Itself – - Elbert Hubbard
Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort – Paul J Meyer. Top 8 Productivity Hacks will help you become productive (as is obvious). It consists of some tips, tricks and ideas to make you more efficient.
Productivity Hack #4 – Maximize Your Mornings
It is said that morning sets the tone for your entire day. Hence, starting your morning on the right note could make a world of difference to how good or bad your entire day goes. To maximize your productivity, try out following approaches and see which one works for you -
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Eat That Frog
There just isn’t enough time for everything on our “To Do” list and there never will be. Successful people don’t try to do everything. They learn to focus on the most important task and make sure they get done.
There is an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s probably the worst thing you’ll do all day. Using ‘eat that frog’ as a metaphor for the tackling the most challenging task of your day – the one you are most likely to procrastinate on, but also probably the one that can have the greatest positive impact on rest of your life – from Back Cover of Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog! – 21 Ways To Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
If you are interested, Shanel Yang has written an excellent review of the book. You can read about it here.
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Eat The Tadpoles
Martin Wildam cites that sometimes, the frogs are so huge that they can take up your entire day. This results in neither the big nor small tasks getting completed. This results in a lot more work the next day. If the tadpoles (smaller tasks) are not worked upon, there is a risk that these too turn into all time consuming frogs. And hence, eat the tadpoles first.
This approach works for me, since it feels great being able to check off a lot of things from my to do list right in the morning. It kind of gets me into the super productive mode.
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The 10 O’clock Rule
To start your morning on the right note, prepare for it the night before. The 10 o’clock rule from Life Clever asks you to set an alarm for 10 pm every night. As it beeps, start preparing for the next morning by doing simple tasks like planning for breakfast, getting clothes ready, check your calendar for next day’s activities etc.
How do you maximize your mornings? What has worked and hasn’t worked for you? Share in the comments.
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I use this site as another productivity hack: http://wipeelist.com/ it has really benefitted me
Re: asks you to set an alarm for 10 pm every night.
I am sound asleep by 10 p.m. *smile* However, it’s not a bad idea actually. I’ll just set my alarm for earlier. There are definitely things I can do before I go to bed that would help getting going the next day.
One thing I have discovered, is that I must exercise before I get home from work. Otherwise, it just ain’t gonna happen. So, I joined a gym right beside work and I go work out every day at lunch time. This is working much better!
Urban Panther´s last blog post..Are sweatpants disrespectful?
If there are things I can do the night before, I will – like get lunches ready, for instance. That’s then one less thing to do in the morning.
Lance´s last blog post..With Many Thanks, We Dance
Hi Avani: I’ve been breaking tasks down from frogs to tadpoles and it has helped me tremendously. Instead of thinking: I’ll declutter my magazines when I have a couple of hours to spare, I just take pick up a magazine as I leave the house and go through it when I’m waiting in line or at the dentist’s office. Then I cut out anything I want to keep and throw away the rest. I’m finally getting this task done
Hi Avani – Eat that Frog is an amazingly helpful book. And preparing for the following day, the evening before, really works well. You just feel less stressed in the morning – it makes life a whole heap easier.
@Sarah: Have you tried tadalist? I have heard lot of people recommend that one. I vouch for paper pen approach
@Urban Panther: Sound asleep by 10, wow! What time do you wake up ?
@Lance: Yeah, the lesser stuff we have to do in morning, the better it is. You know, a lot of people in India do not eat food from last night. Have to make fresh food everyday.
@Marelisa: One magazine at a time, that’s the way to go.
@Cath: Eat that frog has been on my to-read list since a long time. I found ‘eat that frog’ concept useful enough. Wonder what other treasures will I find inside.
hi Avani, thanks a lot for stopping by! I like your blog too. For me, I have to set my to-do list the first thing I arrive office. Yet, it’s never completed by the end of the day.
fenny´s last blog post..Different Korea (part 2)
That is so true about morning setting the tone for your day.
I just wish my head wouldn’t feel as heavy some mornings, as I age I really notice my greater morning sluggishness. Have any advice for that? (Maybe don’t get older?)
Jannie´s last blog post..Thankful Unveiling
I think I’m more likely to start with the tadpoles than the frogs.
I’m a morning person so I don’t really need to do much the night before to prepare for the next day. I wake up really early and have plenty of time to get things done. The hardest part if waking my daughter up – she’s little but loves to sleep.
Kim Woodbridge´s last blog post..Thankful for My Friend Jim
There is also a follow-up of “Eat the tadpoles”, “How NOT to eat the frog”:
http://1-2-solved.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-not-to-eat-frog.html
Sometimes a frog is not a frog…
Martin Wildam´s last blog post..Hurry home … no more running