Morning ritual for productivity

Lesson summary

Becoming an early riser can revolutionize your life—and your productivity—if you make good use of the extra time it gives you. These early hours present a key opportunity to plan a productive day, carve out some time to make progress on your goals, and focus on what’s truly important to YOU—before the demands of the day take over.

Here are some simple tips you can put to use every morning to (1) plan a productive day, or (2) use part of your morning ritual to work on something important:

If you want to use a portion of your morning ritual to work on something important: 

• Rather than reaching for your phone when you wake up, reach for a notecard and write down the one most important thing you plan to accomplish this morning. This could be a different task each day, or a larger goal or project you plan to make progress on—little by little—each morning.
• Decide on time and duration. Determine what time you’ll start and how long you’ll work each morning. 30-90 minutes is ideal, but it depends on how much time you have each morning.
• Create a recurring appointment on your calendar to work on your one thing each morning. Label it as “Deep Work Time”. Protect this block of time and stick with it religiously, until it becomes a natural part of your morning.
• Shrink the gap of time between when you rise and when you work. The goal is to wake up and dive right into your most important task, project, or goal. Move quickly and don’t waste time looking at your phone. Get up and GO.

If you want to use part of your morning ritual to plan a productive day:

• Dedicate 5-10 minutes of your morning ritual toward planning your day.
• Get a notepad, notecards, or planner, and list what you plan to accomplish each day. Researchers tell us that when we write down our goals, we’re 42% more likely to accomplish them. Having a list is like having a second brain. And the structure that comes from knowing what needs to get done and how important each of those things is will provide you with focus.
• Use the 1–2–5 list-making method to prioritize your daily tasks. If you want to add some structure to your list, use my 1-2-5 list-making method to prioritize your daily actions in the following way:
  • 1 Big Thing (1BT)
  • 2 Medium Things (2MT)
  • 5 Little Things (5LT)
• Determine how long you’ll work on each item in your list and block off time in your calendar to work on them.
• Throughout the day, whenever you feel your brain fluttering away and getting distracted, slide that written reminder of your goals a little closer and take a quick look at what needs to get done today. Simply looking at your goals when you start feeling the distractions trying to hi-jack your brain will help you re-focus and get back on track anytime you lose your way.