How do I change my morning to be more productive?

Do you find it hard getting your daily tasks done?

Are you too easily distracted by the fast life you are surrounded with?

Do you want to know how to be more productive and have a more balanced day?

I do, and I will share with you how I am making some changes in my life to make better use of my time.

I have recently implemented easy little tweaks that give me a better sense of direction and purpose. It started with a podcast about social media marketing (which I highly recommend). I exhausted these great but few interviews and one of them led me to another podcast called "Beyond the To-Do List." It is full of interviews with successful people, what their routines  are, what habits they have adapted to capitalize on their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. Each interview is inspiring and invigorating and has given me some great ideas.

I found a few common threads in each of these interviews.
1. Starting the day with some sort of exercise.
2. Prioritizing the day.
3. Sticking to the plan.
4. Taking breaks and ending the workday to return to a personal life.

So the questions are: What can I do to take these important things that others have learned and adapt them to my life? and do these concepts apply to my vision? Yes they do. It doesn't matter if you run a business, are retired, or work a 9 to 5 job, these concepts can make a huge positive impact on your life.

How am I becoming more productive and well balanced? I am creating my day, from the moment I wake up, with intention.

If you are like me, you like to start your day with coffee. I am the kind of person who needs motivators, and for this exercise I need something to motivate me from the moment I open my eyes. So how about if I create a routine that uses my java love as a reward? There's a cafe called "Go-Go Coffee" about a mile from my house and they have some amazing coffee, no bitterness, strong, full of flavor with a nuttiness. Yum!

I made a new pact with myself that I can only have coffee if I walk to Go-Go's and order it from there. There's my morning exercise, check. And along the way I listen to some sort of podcast to inspire and motivate me even further, and once I have that coffee in my hands, my blood is flowing and my mind is full of ideas. That's when I pull out my trusty handmade journal and my pen and start scribbling.

Getting things done!

The podcast is still going at this point and I start by taking notes, and when the podcast ends I transition to writing about my day and what needs to get done. I make a list and prioritize what is urgent and important, what is not urgent but important, what is neither urgent nor important, and so on. This gives me direction and I stick to it, I start with the most important and the most difficult thing and work my way down the list throughout the day.

Has this made a difference? You bet your booty! I am using my time more wisely and at the end of the day I look at my list and all of the things I have accomplished and it feels great. I can't wait to get up in the morning to do it again.

So what about taking breaks and having a hard cut off time from work? I still struggle with this. I get lost in my work, and when I'm in the groove, I'm in the groove! Folding, cutting, sewing, dyeing, pasting, gluing, I can go on for hours without a break.

But one step at a time right?

If you have any ideas or habits that you find beneficial, please share them in the comments below.

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