It’s Monday and I’m about to embark in a brand new week full of tasks, emails, phone calls and much more at office. Since I started working at BeyondTheRack.com, I feel that I’ve been much more organized since I’ve developed some new work habits. It’s been just over 3 weeks now and I can truly say that I feel much more productive and accomplished towards the end of each day.
I decided to simplify the way I start my mornings and discipline myself in doing certain things that would make me achieve my daily goals.
Here are my favorite 5 morning rituals you should consider doing yourself:
1. Say hello to everyone at the office with a big smile
If you want to build a good relationship with everyone at work or individuals within your team, you must communicate with them on a daily basis. One way to help you do just that is to say hello to them for thing in the morning.
Now remember, don’t just say hello and continue walking. There’s no harm in having a nice smile as well as asking some questions like:
- How are you?
- How was your weekend, night or evening?
- How are the kids/pets doing?
You don’t need to extend the hello to everyone but you can do so to one person a day. You do want to limit the time you spent talking since you have work to do. People love sharing what they’ve done or how they feel with others. All you have to do is ask and genuinely listen to them.
2. Get a cup of energy
What do I mean by a cup of energy? It could be:
- a cup of coffee
- a cup of water
- a cup of fresh juice (smoothie)
- a protein shake
Whatever it is, you need to get your organs going. If you don’t eat breakfast, at least drink some water as it will energize you.
3. Write down the most important tasks on my daily to-do list
This is something I learned from a previous employee who used to work for me in my previous career at iNetVideo.com.
He used to always have a writing pad beside his keyboard where he would write down all tasks I’ve assigned to him throughout the day or week. He was always on top of things and very organized whenever I needed something done on time.
Not that I’ve never utilized a task list, but I decided to use the traditional way of writing things down rather than using a digital app like Evernote, Todoist or Basecamp to organize my to-do lists. For some reason, writing things down made me own those tasks. Also, having them right in front me was sort of a constant reminder that I needed to finish them.
When a task is started, I add a check-mark and when it’s completed, I simply cross it off. At the end of each week, I would move everything that’s not completed to the following week.
4. Fast Read Top Industry Articles
One way to stay up-to-date on what’s going on in the world of eCommerce, I make it a habit of reading top industry news & articles from the previous day or week.
Our industry is constantly changing and evolving by the minute. If I want to ensure that I’m taking into account all those changes while working on my projects, I need to spend some time on reading top headlines. This is a great way of educating yourself and being prepared for any unexpected questions that may arise during meetings.
Here’s a list of websites I follow within the eCommerce industry:
A great tool you may want to consider is called Feedly. It’s a great way of centralizing all your favorite blogs so that you don’t have to waste time visiting each one for the latest updates.
5. Breathe & Start
Now that I’ve said hello to everyone, got my energy up, written down all my important tasks and read the the latest news in eCommerce, it’s now time to get started.
That’s where I would read & respond to emails, attend meetings, conduct phone calls and do just about anything to complete all my daily tasks effectively while staying on top of projects.
This morning routine really works for me and so far, I’ve been able to move forward with my projects with ease and limiting the amount of stress that I have to deal with.
Try it!
What is your morning ritual?