2 Secrets to Having Super-Productive Mornings Having trouble getting motivated in the a.m. hours? Here are some tips for being productive -- in the right kinds of ways.
By Jason Fell
I am not a morning person. And I assume with confidence that many of you also despise rolling out of bed and getting right to work.
No fear. Behavior science expert and entrepreenur James Clear has some tips to help you jumpstart your mornings.
1. Manage your energy, not your time.
This is a big one. We often organize our days around tasks that need to be completed and the times we think they need to be completed by. However, we should be thinking instead about what tasks we accomplish best at what times during the day.
"Time is relatively useless if you don't have the energy to complete the tasks," Clear says.
2. Eliminate distractions.
Smartphones represent one of the biggest distractions for people in the mornings, Clear says. People wake up to an alarm on their phone, then pick it up and start checking the news and responding to emails. "Right away, from the very beginning, their mind is filled with all of the other urgencies of the day," Clear says. "They start to respond to someone else's agenda rather than their own."
Clear says he puts his phone in a separate room before bed, so that he is physically separated from those distractions. He also tries to avoid checking his phone and answering email until noon or 1 p.m.
Now, waiting that long to check email for many entrepreneurs and other professionals might be impossible (I know it is for me). But the idea of separating yourself from distractions before bed and right when you wake up is worth consideration.
For more, check out the short video above.
Related: 8 Steps to Having Wildly Productive Mornings
