Have you ever wondered how people can get so much done in a day, while you struggle with so many different tasks? The answer is actually not as complicated as you think, it all depends on how you start your day.
Your energy and performance all day long can be determined by your morning habits. If you start your day with positive activities, there is a high chance that your day will go smoothly and as expected. Here are 9 useful tips that you can refer to to stay productive and positive every day.
Table of Contents
1. Wake up early
There is an English idiom: “The early bird can easily catch the worm”. That saying implies that people who wake up early and work hard will have more opportunities to reach success and go further in life.
It can be said that waking up early is an important key to helping you have a productive new day . A quiet space in the early morning can help you stay awake and focus your energy on plans and work without being distracted by surrounding noise. Not only that, the habit of waking up early to catch the sunrise, listening to the birds sing at the beginning of the day, enjoying the fresh air and the scent of grass and trees also helps your mind stay in a balanced, calm and healthy state. On the other hand, when regularly maintaining the habit of waking up early, the metabolic process will take place in a rhythmic and orderly manner, thereby contributing to strengthening the immune system and the digestive system also becoming healthier.
However, you should not force yourself to wake up at 4 a.m. if that doesn’t really fit your circadian rhythm. Try to arrange for yourself a suitable and consistent sleep schedule. You can start by going to bed and waking up 30-60 minutes earlier every day.
2. Enjoy a healthy breakfast
Breakfast plays an extremely important role in health, providing nutrients for the brain, enhancing memory and concentration, and helping us maintain energy all day long. Therefore, you should not skip meals or overeat. An ideal breakfast should ensure nutritional balance and have enough protein; fiber and starch.
It doesn’t have to be eye-catching meals; If you don’t have much time, you can prepare simple but nutritious dishes, such as: a bowl of oatmeal with yogurt and fruit, cereal, salad, black bread and eggs, vegetable soup or a smoothie…
3. Set goals every day
Setting daily goals is also an important habit that determines your productivity. If you start a new day without a clear plan, you will easily get overwhelmed and get lost in the busyness when there are too many tasks that need to be resolved.
Therefore, you should take some time to plan what you need to do during the day, you can divide and prioritize important tasks, and set a clear goal of how much you will complete. How many tasks per day and how long does it take to complete them?
The habit of setting clear goals and schedules will help you stay highly focused, closely monitor your work, and effectively utilize your time during the day. Besides, this habit also helps you feel happier and live more fully when you see the day’s tasks completed effectively.
4. Exercise
In addition to helping maintain a healthy body shape, regular physical exercise every morning is also a way to help you start a new day full of vitality and positive spirit. Not only that, your memory and concentration levels will also improve significantly if you regularly maintain this healthy habit.
According to research by the University of Otago (New Zealand) published in January 2023 in the American Journal of Physiology , regular physical activity has the ability to stimulate the brain to produce BDNF protein, which is an activity. Extremely essential nutrients for memory and support brain flexibility. Research results show that, with about 6 minutes of intense physical activity, people can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and many other memory impairments.
It can be seen that physical activity is an important factor that you should not ignore if you want to improve your work productivity. So, try to find a suitable sports activity for yourself and make it an indispensable habit every morning.
5. Practice mindfulness
The hustle and bustle between work and life sometimes makes people forget to take time for themselves. Because we are engrossed in pursuing our careers, we seem to have no time left to look at the blue sky or slowly enjoy a cup of fragrant tea. Therefore, practicing mindfulness is an effective secret that can help you find balance and the true meaning of life.
You can bring the spirit of mindfulness into your daily lifestyle by meditating, writing in a journal or simply sitting still and enjoying the quiet atmosphere every morning. Besides, art subjects such as ikebana flower arranging, hand embroidery, knitting, drawing or practicing Calligraphy are also ways to help you practice mindfulness and train yourself to be patient.
Practicing mindfulness every morning will also bring you a feeling of peace, relief, a clear mind and can spread positive energy to everyone around you. When you slowly observe everything, you will maintain calm and not be easily affected by things that go wrong.
6. Limit technology use
The distraction of negative news and dozens of work emails can easily make you get caught up in your concerns and make it difficult to maintain positive energy. Therefore, you should not use your phone as soon as you wake up. You can apply the “digital detox” method, setting aside a certain period of time during the day, maybe in the morning, to allow yourself to detox and temporarily stop using technology devices. Use your phone about 2-3 hours after waking up or when absolutely necessary. If you practice this habit, you will no longer be distracted by scrolling on your phone, have more time for personal goals, and your work productivity will gradually improve significantly.
7. Prioritize difficult tasks
We often have the mentality of procrastination and avoiding difficult tasks that require a lot of time to process, thereby increasing the workload, leading to a significant decrease in work productivity.
Therefore, morning is a reasonable time for you to concentrate highly on difficult tasks. You will feel extremely refreshed once you have completed these tasks and the rest of the day will pass more smoothly.
8. Learn something new
The pursuit of knowledge is a lifelong journey and learning never stops when you leave school.
You can welcome a new day by learning something interesting. It could be reading books, listening to podcasts, practicing foreign languages through TED Talks… When you make learning an indispensable habit every morning, this will help you constantly upgrade yourself and expand your horizons. and stimulate new creative ideas. It’s interesting to realize that the vast world out there still has many new things waiting for you to discover.
9. Avoid doing many things at once
Many people believe that multitasking is an essential ability, but this is not necessarily true. Multitaskers think they are getting more done, but they are actually causing their productivity to decrease. Taking on and solving many tasks at the same time will make it difficult for you to concentrate and make mistakes, thereby leading to poor work efficiency. Besides, solving many tasks at the same time without really investing effort in a specific task can negatively affect the brain’s ability to function.
Therefore, in addition to making a daily schedule, you should make a list of important tasks that need to be prioritized first. Instead of doing many things at once, focus on handling each task completely. You will limit errors and work efficiency will also greatly increase. Quality is more important than quantity. Being productive does not mean being busy. Productivity is when you know how to make the most of your day and complete your work effectively.