5 More Things Successful People Do Before 8 AM

Rise and shine… again! My recent article 5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM explored five things successful people do in the morning – exercise, plan their day, eat a healthy breakfast, visualize, and complete their most dreaded tasks first. But what else do early risers do that makes them so successful? Here are five more things that will help you be the best that you can be from the second you open your eyes. 

1. Avoid The Snooze. 
Most mornings we’d do anything to get an extra 5 minutes of sleep in the morning. Or 10. Or 15. The snooze button may feel like your best friend, but beware. Snoozing often leads to a rushed morning routine. First you’re sacrificing ironing your shirt to get some more shut-eye, then your breakfast, then your shower. It’s a slippery slope that leads to a disgruntled and flustered start to your work day. Instead of snoozing indefinitely, train yourself to get up right when your alarm goes off. If you have a hard time waking up, set your alarm 10 minutes earlier than usual, and spend that time waking up over a cup of coffee in the kitchen or on your porch. Snoozing may feeling great in the moment, but the sooner you’re up and at ‘em, the more time you have to relax into your day.

(Photo credit: John Christian Fjellestad)

2. Get Your Daily Dose of News. 
Whether via paper, internet, TV, or radio, the morning is an excellent time to catch up on current events. Even if you merely skim a few articles over your bowl of oatmeal, it’s important to get your news in before your work tasks and errands suck up your extra time. Disney CEO Bob Iger gets up at 4:30 AM to read the paper. General Electric GE +0.29% CEO Jeff Immelt gets up at 5:30 to watch CNBC. Use your morning time to stay up-to-date and informed.

3. Clean Your Workspace. 
At the end of the work day, the last thing you want to do is straighten up. This often means sitting down to a cluttered, dirty desk come 8 AM the next morning. Before starting in on your emails, take a minute to clear your space (and your mind). Throw out old papers, throw away yesterday’s lunch wrappers, file documents you don’t need right away. Keep only the necessities on your desk, and keep them as orderly as possible. A clean desk will help you to focus better and see your tasks more clearly. It will also make you look more put together and professional. After all, it’s your workplace, not your bedroom.

4. Shower. 

While it may seem fairly straight forward, showering in the morning is key to a productive day. Yes, a nice hot shower can relax you before hitting the hay, but a morning time shower can have several benefits. For starters, a shower is the perfect way to wake yourself quickly. Instead of floundering about rubbing your eyes, a shower can energize you instantly so that you have more pre-work time for other things. Washing in the morning can help you at work, as well. Being freshly groomed helps you to feel prepared and ready for the day, and allows you to focus more easily on tasks at hand. Oh, and it might even impress your boss.

 5. Practice Gratitude. 

Waking up can be a particularly negative time for some. It’s easy to dwell on your tiredness or the busy day ahead of you. Instead of starting out your day on a pessimistic note, try practicing gratitude first thing after opening your eyes. The quietness and peacefulness of the morning lend themselves well to this activity. Take a minute to list five things you are grateful for. It can be little things like a sunny day, or something bigger like the love of your partner or children. While you get ready for your day, reflect on the things on your list. It will boost your mood, while allowing you to think about something besides your to-do list.

Jim Rohn Have A Solid Plan (For Teens and Adults)

Will Smith - Ultimate Motivational Speeches

The 3 Habits Productive People Find Time for Every Day

To keep yourself productive, it's essential that you build habits to help you organize your day and get the most out of your time.
Here are three of the most powerful habits.

1. Become an early riser by going to bed early.

There was probably a period of time in your life where it was easy stay up late into the night (or early into the next morning) trying to get things done.
For me, however, that period was over a long time ago. Recently, I’ve come to realize that all eight-hour periods just aren’t created equally.
Going to bed at 10 pm and waking up around 6 am is EXPONENTIALLY better than going to bed at 3 am and waking up around 11 am, even though number of hours you sleep is the same. I’ve tested this over and over again, and the evidence is pretty clear: I don’t perform well if I stay up past 11 pm-ish.
Early risers really do have a distinct advantage when it comes to mental clarity, acuity and energy.
Simply put: waking up early works better than any other strategy for becoming more productive. But you have to make sure you get enough sleep to back it up. So get to bed!
I’ve had to give myself a bedtime and be my own parent by ruthlessly enforcing it. It was harder than it sounds, because I’ve been programmed to stay up late for so many years.

2. Start every day with an intention, focus or meditation.

Starting your day with  a clear idea of what you want to do changes EVERYTHING.
Have you ever had a day where as soon as you woke up, there were already missed calls, text messages and emails screaming for your attention? You felt like you were struggling to stay afloat before breakfast. Oh, that sounds like every day, you say? That needs so stop.
If you like, you can meditate. You know, cross-legged, a candle, with some nice music playing in your ridiculously expensive Beats headphones. But if that's too much, you can just "take 10."
Take 10 slow breaths, think about your main objectives for the day, then get moving. This seems too simple to have an effect, but it’s not. If you’re used to getting up already in battle mode, then you’ve probably forgotten how it feels to have a moment to yourself.
Take a few of those minutes back to refocus yourself. It really helps. You can also use that time to create a better to-do list.

3. Physical activity. Do it.

Working out is probably the highest-leverage tool in your arsenal. It predictably and reliably makes you feel  better and keeps you both physically and emotionally healthy, all year round.
To have the mental energy to take on the full calendar of to-do’s that people want from you, you have to be in the gym.
Period.
Training yourself physically not only gives you benchmarks to hit on a regular basis, but it also creates a predictable backbone in your daily life that you can count on, even if everything goes wrong. Mentally, that’s very comforting.

Trust me, I know that integrating these habits into your life won't be easy at first. But if you're not healthy, your business can't thrive anyway. Consider them a long-term investment in your business.

Sources
www.entrepreneur.com/article/239267 - Daniel DiPiazza
www.nadiyahvidsten.com
www.playingwiththeuniverse.com
www.dumblittleman.com