morning

This Article Will Make You Feel Better About Your Morning Routine

By in Living Well Tags: , , ,

WakingUp_AlarmClock

The morning routines of wealthy, successful business people often seem to involve lots of activity and very little sleep. They get up really early, exercise, meditate, answer emails, and then they’re off to work. (Or they just start working the minute they get up. Sleep never seems to be a priority.)

Richard Branson gets up at 5:00 a.m. every morning. Tim Cook (CEO of Apple Inc.) claims to get up at 3:45 a.m. And Elon Musk may not really sleep at all – it seems that he often pulls all-nighters and naps under his desk.

So do you have to be sleep-deprived in order to be successful? Luckily, it appears that the answer is “no.” Because Jeff Bezos (founder, chairman, and CEO of Amazon) is here to prove to us that you can be well-rested and still be one of the successful business people on the planet. According to a recent interview with Bezos, he does the following:

  • Goes to bed early, wakes up early, and sleeps eight hours a night. He says that he has more energy and makes better decisions when he’s well-rested.
  • Putters around in the morning. He takes it easy and doesn’t rush to get ready. He drinks his coffee, reads the newspaper, and has breakfast with his kids. No meetings are ever scheduled before 10:00 a.m. (He also doesn’t allow meetings to run late into the afternoon since he feels wiped out by 5:00 p.m.)

A variety of studies have also dispelled the notion that you need to “sleep less and work more” in order to be happy and successful. Research indicates that when people try to be productive at all times and move quickly from one task to the next, they often end up feeling stressed and unhappy. And when people multitask, it’s easy to go off on a tangent and lose sight of the bigger picture. So a multitasker might get some things done, but the most important tasks might be neglected or forgotten.

In addition, research indicates that our brains can really only focus on work for about four hours a day. And no matter when you get up in the morning, that number is not going to change. So if you get up at 4:00 a.m. and start working, that’s fine. But you’ll probably feel tired and unproductive by 8:00 a.m.

So in conclusion, be like Jeff Bezos. Get some sleep. Take the time to putter around in the morning, if that’s your style. Listen to your body and figure out a morning routine and a schedule that works for you. You’ll be calmer, happier, and more productive.

 

Stillman, J. (2018, October 22). Jeff Bezos’s morning routine is the opposite of most productivity advice. Maybe yours should be too. Inc. Retrieved from: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/jeff-bezos-morning-routine-is-opposite-of-most-productivity-advice-maybe-yours-should-be-too.html?cid=hmside1

Things to Do in the Morning That Can Make You More Successful

By in Learning, Living Well Tags: , ,

Waking_Up

Forbes magazine recently published an article about the seven things that wildly successful people do every morning. Now I’ve had my share of successes in life, but I don’t think I can describe myself as “wildly successful.” I think you’d have to have some sort of beachfront estate and maybe an exotic pet to make that claim.

So if you’re like me, and you’re only moderately successful, perhaps you can benefit from these suggestions. Here’s a quick overview of what super-successful people do during their morning routines:

  • They drink lemon water. Lemon apparently provides physical and mental energy. The article cautions that you should always mix it with water because straight lemon juice is hard on your teeth.
  • They get some exercise. They get up very early and get moving. This doesn’t sound very appealing to me, but studies have shown that exercising first thing in the morning can improve your mood and increase your level of energy.
  • They don’t do work. They don’t immediately start looking at their work emails. Instead, they take some time to do something positive and non-work related – like exercising, maybe!
  • They have a healthy breakfast. So no Pop-Tarts. Studies have indicated that eating a healthy breakfast can help to you to concentrate, enhance your memory, and make you feel more energetic. It can also help you to feel fuller, longer.
  • They engage in mindful meditation. It’s believed that this practice helps to reduce stress, and boost creativity and productivity.
  • They decide what they want to accomplish that day. They get very specific about their goals for the day, and later they feel good when they get those things accomplished.
  • They say “no.” The article doesn’t really make it clear who these people are saying “no” to first thing in the morning. But I think the gist of it is that when people ask you to take on more than you can manage, you need to be able to say “no.” It’s important for your mental and physical health.

So there you go. Do these things, and success will certainly follow. Your beachfront estate awaits!

 

Bradberry, T. (2016, October 18). 7 things wildly successful people do before 7:30 a.m. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2016/10/18/7-things-wildly-successful-people-do-before-730-am/#796c7d633916