More and more I am beginning to find that the first 2 hours of my day will determine the productivity for the rest of the day. This isn’t in the same vein as someone who jumps on the scales and is depressed all day if they have gained a pound. What I am talking about is the mental and strategic preparations you do to make sure you know what the day ahead involves. If my first two hours are very lax, I find I don’t get much done for the rest of the day.
If I start my day in the frame of mind where I want to make this day count towards increasing my success in business, I find my day becomes geared towards that.
In this post I detail 3 questions you can start your day with to focus your attention on what is important about the day ahead. When I have started the day by getting up and going straight into work, I have found my mind isn’t completely in the game and as a result the outcome suffers. If you are an early bird like me, the morning should be the time when you do your best work; having a mind that is all over the place prevents you from taking full advantage of the situation.Whilst in future articles I will go into more strategies to ensure your day is the most productive it can be, here are 3 questions you can start the day with that can fine tune and stream line your thinking for the day forward;
1. What do I have to do today?
This is your checklist question. What actions are you going to do today that will work towards achieving your more long term goals (you’ve got those, right?). Make the list no more than 6 actions and look towards them being actions you can complete today. “Write my book” isn’t likely to be complete in one day but “write 5 pages towards my book” is more realistic to complete.
2. How can I improve my connections today?
More and more it is becoming apparent that connections count when becoming successful in building a business. In his book, ‘tipping point’ Malcolm Gladwell talks about ‘connectors’; people who have a massive network of people and one of the interesting points that comes from the piece is ‘connectors’ actually work at building their network. They know the birthday of each connection, they send Christmas cards, and they attempt to bring together people who could help each other. It is very rare to have someone with a large number of connections who is not successful and that is because your network of connections is big enough for opportunities to occur more frequently.
3. How can I add value?
Apple gave people value through innovative technology, Gary Vaynerchuk gave value by educating people about wine in a down to earth easy way, and Tim Ferriss gave value by showing people how they can make changes in their life quicker. By consistently asking how you can add value, you are ensuring that ideas are never far away from the forefront of your mind. You might not always get an answer when you ask this question, yet don’t let that dissuade you; have trust that, in time you will come up with answers that could potential change the game for you.
For some, the morning time is met with a feeling of contempt especially in the Winter time as we dragged ourselves out of the comfort of our bed. By starting the day with some strategically directed questions you can quickly get into a productive mindset far quicker and begin to start your days on a high.