4 Secrets Entrepreneurs Should Know to Optimize Their Morning Routine These four actionable secrets can help entrepreneurs prime themselves in the morning to crush their day.
By Bertrand Ngampa •
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Your mornings can either make or break your productivity for the day — so it's important to set yourself up for success. In general, a bad morning routine can lead to long work hours and a risk of developing depression or anxiety-related symptoms.
Follow these four secrets to prevent burnout, stress and other related issues.
1. Deep sleep for eight quality hours
Lack of deep sleep severely impacts your health, mental wellbeing and professional performance. The consequences are immediate and long term. Weight gain, heart disease and diabetes are a few of the effects associated with lack of sleep.
However, the quality of sleep trumps the quantity of sleep. You have heard that eight hours of sleep is a must. However, eight hours of good quality sleep trumps a massive quantity of mediocre sleep.
There are a few practices that can help you achieve deep sleep:
- Turn off your cell phone one hour before bedtime so that you don't disrupt good circadian rhythms with artificial light exposure from a lit screen.
- Keep your electronics out of your bedroom.
- No caffeine within six hours of going to sleep.
Related: Do You Get More Sleep Than Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Winston Churchill?
2. Drink 12-16 ounces of water
After an eight-hour sleep, you probably feel sluggish and dehydrated. That's because during those hours of slumber, your body's been busy working to heal itself from all that wear and tear it endured throughout the day. Guess what: Your brain needs water too! The best and correct time to hydrate is when you have awakened from your deep sleep.
If you want to feel sharper mentally, drink some water as soon as possible after waking up. Drinking water within 30 minutes maximizes benefits like increased blood flow, heightened overall wellbeing, increased alertness and mental clarity.
3. Workout in the morning
Get up and get moving. You might think you're too busy, but it has been well documented that sitting all day is detrimental to your health in many ways — increased risk for heart disease, tightness and weight gain to name a few.
It's hard enough to get out into nature every day, so why not take advantage of the morning time and prioritize getting your workout done? Great ideas for a morning workout might include waking up and going outside to walk or jog, doing some weight lifting at the gym, yoga or even group fitness classes.
Related: 4 Scientific Reasons Exercising Is an Entrepreneur's Biggest Competitive Advantage
4. Clear your mind by journaling
We all have a million things buzzing around in our heads at the same time. Journaling is a time-tested way to clear your mind and prioritize what's most important at the moment. All of us carry around thoughts about our daily tasks, worries for tomorrow or plans to fulfill our entrepreneurial goals. But with so many responsibilities on our shoulders, it can be hard not to let work get in the way of life. Take some of that weight off by using your journal as a place for decompressing after a long day's worth of business meetings, sales calls and even bad online reviews.
By intentionally creating an optimal morning routine for yourself, you can take your productivity to the next level. A good eight hours of deep quality sleep is your golden ticket to jumping your morning routine. Your workout will get the blood flowing and let your body know it is time to wake up and serve your customers. Journaling will give you the much-needed time to focus on yourself before you are consumed by your business, thoughts and how to help your customers. Implement these four secrets to create a daily routine that will flow positively into your business and life.
