What Successful People Do With The First Hour of The Work Day

We are going to veer off course this morning. It’s the beginning of another work week. We came across this article and thought it was worth sharing with everyone.  I’ve often asked myself this question and I know most people do. What Do Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day? Fast Company writer Kevin Ourdy did his homework and has the answers. It is oh so interesting and logical. I just started following his recommendations and have noticed my day is going a bit smoother. Here’s a few of the top habits and the link to his great article. It’s worth the read no matter what you juggle. Here’s a quick summary.

Kevin says “How much does the first hour of every day matter? As it turns out, a lot. It can be the hour you see everything clearly, get one real thing done, and focus on the human side of work rather than your task list. Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too.”

1.Don’t Check Your Email for the First Hour. Seriously. Stop That.

Tumblr founder David Karp will “try hard” not to check his email until 9:30 or 10 a.m., according to an Inc. profile of him. “Reading e-mails at home never feels good or productive,” Karp said. “If something urgently needs my attention, someone will call or text me.”

2. Gain Awareness, Be Grateful

A devotee of Tony Robbins, the self-help guru, who pitches the power of mindful first-hour rituals,  suggests setting up an “Hour of Power,” “30 Minutes to Thrive,” or at least “Fifteen Minutes to Fulfillment.” Part of it involves light exercise, part of it involves motivational incantations, but the most accessible piece involves 10 minutes of thinking of everything you’re grateful for: in yourself, among your family and friends, in your career, and the like. After that, visualize “everything you want in your life as if you had it today.”

3. Do the Big, Shoulder-Sagging Stuff First.

That means get the big, difficult stuff behind you early in the day and choose it carefully. Tackle that terrible, weighty thing you don’t want to do first thing in the morning then its not over your shoulder all day. I need to practice that more.

4. Your Own Equivalent of  “Customer Service”

Keep in touch with contacts from year-ago, check in with coworkers you don’t regularly interact with, asking questions of mentors, and just generally handling the human side of work that quickly gets lost between task list items. I love that idea. We all need to pick up the phone more, make contact and renew our friendships.

To read all the details, check out the article at Fast Company. We can all use a bit of help to get our day started. Now I promise we’ll get back to all the fashion fun.

xo

NJ, The Brunette