13 Killer Habits For Starting Your Day

Have you ever contemplated how your entire day often hinges around what you do in the morning? Let’s consider this further – if a few hours of the day are often responsible for how well the rest of your day goes, doesn’t it make sense to pay a little more attention to how you spend them?

So, how are you spending yours? Is there room for improvement? If so, why not try one of these 13 habits for starting your day ready for success?

“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning.”

–Albert Camus

Successful Habits

Your mood changes significantly based on how your body feels. Keep things at full speed with these tips:

1. Drink 8oz of water as one of the first things you do when you wake up. Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day by drinking a glass of water every hour to 90 minutes.
2. Take a 10-20 minute break from whatever you’re doing every 90 minutes to keep your mind focused and clear.
3. Instead of waking up slowly, get up and do some stretches or light aerobic activity such as jumping jacks or jogging in place to set your metabolism to high speed for the day.
4. Start off with a healthy, mood satisfying breakfast and follow it up with small meals or snacks every 3 or so hours all day.

Positive Influencers

A positive attitude is created with a diet of positive influencers. In other words, feeding our mind the good stuff. Here are a few tips on how start the day off with the right inspirational tone:

1. If you’re religious, start the day with a devotional passage. Ponder the things you’ve read and how they can influence your decisions throughout the rest of the day.
2. Read a favorite inspirational book for 20 minutes each morning.
3. Instead of getting your daily dose of news from the traditional media, try out Happy News instead for a refreshing change. Unlike most news sites, every news story is reported from a positive angle.
4. Have an attitude of gratitude! Amazing things happen when you come from a place of appreciation and thankfulness. Start the day off in this blissful state by writing in a gratitude journal each morning.
5. Meditate or take 30 minutes in silence to contemplate your life and what you appreciate about it.

Keeping It Productive

Nothing kills a great mood faster than feeling frazzled and unaccomplished. Successful people know that things only get done when you know what needs to be done and have the tools to do them. Use these tips to streamline your productivity:

1. At some point during your morning, write down the three or four most important things you MUST get done for that day — and do them!
2. Limit the time you spend checking email and social media sites in the morning. Even better, go mobile and do them before you even get to your desk.
3. Always know what’s next. Needlessly wasted time most often occurs between tasks. You can get back more time in the day if you know exactly what you need to be doing next. Then, when you’ve finished a task, you can jump straight into the next one without wasting thinking time.
4. Start the day with by doing something that upon completion will leaving you feeling accomplished. Even if you do get called away by unexpected meetings or phone calls, you’ll at least have done something that made you feel productive.

A final thought…

“Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.”

–Marsha Petrie Sue

By Jennifer Good

Jennifer Good writes on many topics related to content marketing, social media, leadership & productivity for leading publications. You can also find her at JenniferGood.com.