Welcome back to Rise + Thrive, a multi-part series about how to wake up early and build strong morning rituals for daily success. View every installment here.
The benefits of getting up early, if you can swing it, are simple and clear: it gives you a “golden hour” (or more) during which you can focus on whatever you wish, in the peace and tranquility of the morning hours—before the distractions of the day begin to take over.
Becoming an early riser can revolutionize your life if you make good use of the extra time it gives you.
Here are some productive things you can do if you decide to make a habit of rising early:
- Read.
- Journal your thoughts.
- Pray or meditate.
- Exercise or go for a walk.
- Think about the day ahead.
- Focus on your most important project.
- Envision your day as if everything were to go your way.
Bottom line: Becoming an early riser can open up a pocket of time for you to set the stage for a successful day ahead. These early hours present a key opportunity to carve out some time for yourself, allowing you to focus on what’s truly important to YOU—before the demands of the day take over.
And this, along with eliminating surface-level distractions, is a master key to productivity.
Actionable insights
Here’s how you can craft a motivating morning ritual to enhance your productivity:
- Spend three to five minutes while you brush your teeth to think about 2-3 ways to advance your goals today. And before you begin your day, write them down. Researchers tell us that when we write down our goals, we’re 42% more likely to accomplish them.
- Carve out a block of time to make progress against your daily goals. Most of us experience our highest levels of willpower and motivation within 2-3 hours of waking up each morning—it’s when your brain is firing on all cylinders and operating at its peak (assuming you got a decent night’s rest). I’d suggest taking advantage of this window by carving out a minimum of 30 minutes (ideally 90 minutes) to move the needle on your most important goal of the day. Doing so will allow you to produce a higher quality of work.
- 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.
- Finally, have a quitting time set up. Parkinson’s Law says that our work expands—or contracts—within the allotted amount of time we give it. An article you could write in an hour takes up a whole week if you let it. Setting up a deadline makes you more judicious with your time.
Wanna see what my morning ritual looks like?
Check it out here: My Morning Ritual by Dean Bokhari
More from the Rise + Thrive series
- Dean Bokhari’s Morning Ritual
- A Motivating Morning Ritual for Productivity
- The 4 Components of a Healthy Morning Routine
- How to Wake Up Early and Work Out—An 8 Step Guide
- A Morning Ritual for Working Moms
- 11 Tips to Wake Up Early + Become a Morning Person
Master the Morning
Get step-by-step guidance on how to wake up early and build a personalized morning ritual that suits your lifestyle with Master the Morning, a research-backed training program by Dean Bokhari.
