How To Increase Your Morning Productivity

Mornings, especially Monday mornings, can be rough. It can be hard shaking off the tiredness and remembering where you left off the day before. Because I don't like spending too many hours spacing out, I've been trying to find ways to be more productive in the morning. Here are some things I've found that work for me.

1. Make a list before you leave work or go to bed of the things you want to accomplish the next morning. This will give you a type of roadmap to utilize before the coffee's kicked in!

2. Start drinking your caffeinated beverage of choice (if applicable) about 30 minutes before you actually need to be productive

3. Wake up at least an hour before you need to leave for work. Everyone's groggy and kind of disoriented in the morning. It's best to leave that for stumbling around your apartment, so you're bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when you get to the office or school.

4. Ease your way into the day. Break up a big problem into tiny, manageable chunks and start knocking them off your to do list. Otherwise, the big problem will start to seem overwhelming and may discourage you from starting!

5. On that note, sometimes it can help to make a rough schedule for your day. While this may not work for everyone, I find it best if I outline my day at the beginning, using my list from the night before as a starting off point. This way, I'm motivated by my self-imposed deadlines and I keep moving instead of getting bogged down in a single project all day. My list looks something like:

• 9 - 11 am: Research
• 11 am - 12 pm: Draft memo 
• 12 pm - 1 pm: Lunch/Errands
• 1 - 1:30 pm: Administrative things/meeting with attorneys
• 1:30 - 3:30 pm: More research (sometimes continued from this morning
• 3:30 - 5 pm: Outline task list for new projects.  

6. Take breaks. Studies have shown that workers are most productive when they work for 52 minutes then take a break for 17. Breaks are great for letting your brain sit on the idea for a while and who knows, you might have a stroke of brilliance when you come back!

I hope everyone has a decent Monday!