Studies show that it takes 30 days to create a new habit and for it to stick. It’s important to start simple, be consistent and commit to wanting to make that change. As we start a new year, and a new decade, it’s the perfect time to create new career related habits to create a more efficient working day, and a smoother work/life balance! Below are some tips on how you can take control of your day.
By settling into a stable morning routine, you will start to reduce the likelihood of feeling rushed, which generally leads to feeling more stressed in the mornings. Rushing means you are more likely to forget important documents, arrive late, which results in a bad start to the day. Set an alarm to wake you up an hour before you usually do, eat a substantial healthy breakfast and get to work in adequate time to settle at your desk and set up for the day. Not only will you feel a lot more calm, but a Yesware analysis of 500,000 emails found that correspondence sent between 6 and 7 a.m. were more likely to get a reply than those sent between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., no matter the day of the week.
Are you familiar with the phrase ‘swallow the frog?’ It originates from Mark Twain, who once said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” The ‘frog’ represents the task that you least want to do, and the one you’re most likely to try and avoid. If you tackle that first, you start the day on a productive note, you have freed up chance to tick smaller jobs off your to-do list, and you will most likely get a huge surge of motivation to get through the remainder of your important tasks.
Social Media can be one of the biggest distractions to a person’s day, especially when it comes to procrastinating. Mute any notifications, set your personal phone to ‘do not disturb’ mode, or even better, keep it out of sight in your bag or a drawer until your scheduled break. Set specific times to check your emails throughout the day to avoid getting side-tracked, or if you’re concentrating on an important task, put your headphones in to signal to others that you’re unavailable for a while.
Establishing a daily routine has a multitude of benefits when it comes to efficiency and planning your day. You know exactly what you need to do each morning, you have allocated sufficient time to it and you are fully in control. Your routine doesn’t have to be elaborate or complicated either. Something simple such as eating breakfast, making your bed or listening to your voicemails first thing all count towards an established routine, and by setting small, manageable goals, your daily habits are much more likely to continue. We’ve gone more into depth about the benefits of a morning routine here.
Which changes are you going to make to your working day to ensure you are in control? Follow us on Instagram and share your 2020 New Year tips with us.
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