1. Have a daily uniform
How many of us spend countless minutes each morning trying to decide what to wear, only to step out in the bright sunshine realizing you’ve paired black socks with brown shoes, or the tie you picked does not fit the color profile of your suit. According to Jason Abbruzzese at Mashable.com, some of the brightest minds of our time, people like Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, opted out of a flashy wardrobe and instead chose to stick to the basics, every day. This gives them more time to strategize on how to take over the world, or, as Mark Zuckerberg was quoted as saying in that same article, “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community”.
2. Do something you actually enjoy
If your only motivation for getting out of bed in the morning is a sense of duty, then likely the snooze button will win out over your good intentions. If your morning ritual includes an activity that you actually look forward to and that brings you some pleasure, this could tempt you out from under the covers. Anna Wintour, editor in chief for Vogue magazine, starts her day with an hour-long tennis match. And Margaret Thatcher woke early to listen the popular morning radio program Farming Today to prepare herself for the day. Both of these successful women custom tailored a morning ritual to fit their desires and needs. So if that morning cup of joe and curling up on the couch to read the newspaper is your push out of the bed, at least you’re heading in the right direction.
3. Don’t wait for the perfect circumstance
You tried to get in the groove this morning, rising at 5, getting in your morning jog around the block, but just as you start to prepare your morning smoothie, you get a call. You’re needed in the office ASAP. The project you planned to brainstorm this morning over coffee will need to be conference room ready in an hour. Will you make the most of that 30-minute train ride to work in order to succeed? Successful people don’t wait for the perfect circumstance to work. According to an excerpt from Mason Currey’s book Daily Rituals at Guardian.com, “One of the most dangerous procrastination-enabling beliefs is the idea that you must find exactly the right environment before you can get down to work.” He says that Agatha Christie, for example, never used a desk and could use any stable tabletop for her typewriter. One of things I do is get in an hour of email and organization in the morning before I head into the office. Knowing what my day will be like before it gets started helps me stay focused and be ready if my schedule happens to change during the day.
