Last Updated on September 2, 2024
The Power Hour
High school students have it made – the first thing they do when they get to school is hang out in homeroom for a few minutes. Joking around with friends about the weekend and checking the day’s class schedule is a good precursor for what every adult should do as well: prepare for the day ahead without diving into tedious work right away. In Adult World, “homeroom” should last for longer than eight minutes and it won’t necessarily include our best buddies. The first real hour of the workday – the “Power Hour” – plays a huge part in setting up the day for success.
E-mail Can Wait. It Really Can.
Busy people, especially those who run their own business, know that “I need to check e-mail right this second” feeling. It usually kicks in shortly after the alarm clock rings and it doesn’t end until way into the evening. The truth is, though, that if you don’t check your e-mail first thing in the morning, you’re actually getting off on the right foot. Here’s why:
- If something is truly urgent, you’ll get a phone call or a text. Otherwise, “urgent” e-mails can wait a few more hours.
- Once you open your inbox, it’s hard to close it. Constantly looking for and responding to new e-mails takes focus away from other projects, even if the only “project” that’s currently being tackled is making coffee.
- Aggravating e-mails will cause worry and be a distraction right up until it’s actually time to deal with them.
- Checking work e-mail outside of the office, even if it’s a home office, just doesn’t feel good. Instead, it’s like the morning and personal time were skipped over for work tasks that could have waited.
Need more convincing? David Karp, the Founder of Tumblr, doesn’t check his e-mail until 9:30 a.m. or even a little later if he can help it. Author Julie Morgenstern also wrote about the tactic in her book Never Check Email In the Morning. Plus, not responding to an e-mail the second you get it helps prepare your contacts to not expect a note back right away.
Get One Horrible, No Good Project Outta the Way
Mark Twain wrote, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” That’s why some people can wake up and hit the gym before the sun rises and why others seem to have tackled their biggest work to-do items before your computer has even warmed up.
Everybody has their own frog, and if you don’t deal with it early on, it’ll weigh on you for the rest of the day. Make it even easier to handle a “frog” by setting up everything the evening before. For example, let’s say you need to write a blog post for your website every day, but you never seem to get around to it even though you know it’s important. The night before, decide what you’re going to write about and leave a few notes on your desk. The task will seem less daunting when you remember that it’s already been started.
More Scheduling Tips from the Rich & Famous
- Karl Lagerfeld gets seven hours of shut eye, regardless of when he actually hits the sack.
- Jennifer Lopez has also said that her secret weapon is a solid eight hours of sleep every night.
- Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney, wakes up at 4:30 p.m. so he can read newspaper, listen to music and watch a bit of TV before heading off to work.
- Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter, has theme days during the week. (Product development on Tuesday, marketing on Wednesday, and on and on.)
- Steve Murphy, the CEO of Christie’s, feels that reading poetry and planning his day first thing in the morning makes him feel more strategic.
No matter which bits of advice fit with your own personality, the important thing to recognize is that being more successful each day lies in taking control of your routine so that you can be at your best.
Check out our previous articles!
- Self-Motivation: What is It, Why People Lack It, and How to Get It
- How to Develop True Passion in Your Life
- The Power of Positive Thinking Unveiled
- Learning Specific Skills with Online Classes
- How to Build Confidence Like a Champ
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About The Author
Sameer Bhatia is the founder of ProProfs.com, which provides a popular software to create a survey. Through its survey software, ProProfs lets anyone create online survey for business or education for free.