Things to do before 8am

In October of 2013 Jennifer Cohen write an article for Forbes.com, entitled “5 Things Super Successful people do before 8am”. I loved this article. It made me think of what I should be focusing on each day. I’m going to paraphrase her article. You need to read it for yourself here.

Over the years I have become more of a morning person. I have come to prefer getting as much done as much “have to” stuff done in the morning and leaving the afternoon for more fun stuff.

Did you know some of the wealthiest and successful people are awake before dawn. Margaret Thatcher was up every day at 5 a.m.; Frank Lloyd Wright at 4 am and Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney wakes at 4:30am.

I’m not that much of a morning person. 6am is my normal time to get up. Sleeping in is 8am. While I do some of this list, I have some work to do on the others.

1. Exercise. This is my favorite thing to do in the morning. Having Fibromyalgia, I wake in the morning usually stiff and sore. When I get moving when I first wake up, it helps relive the stiffness. My favorite exercise is walking. I love to walk around my neighborhood early in the morning. I do feel very grateful as I watch my neighbors hurry to get out the door for work and I don’t have that worry.

2. Map Out your Day. Jennifer Cohen says, “Maximize your potential by mapping out your schedule for the day, as well as your goals and to dos. The morning is a good time for this as it is often one of the only quiet times a person gets throughout the day.” I find this true. Once kids are up, my quiet time is over.

3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. This is easy for me. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. In fact, I could eat breakfast foods for every meal. I know so many people that don’t take the time to eat anything. We have all seen the studies that prove not eating breakfast is bad for our health. The article points out, “Even five minutes of talking with your kids or spouse while eating a quick bowl of oatmeal can boost your spirits before heading out the door.”

4. Visualization. This is something I have never done in the morning. I usually do my visualization at night before I go to sleep. But I like what the article says. “These days we talk about our physical health ad nauseam, but sometimes our mental health gets overlooked. The morning is the perfect time to spend some quiet time inside your mind meditating or visualizing. Take a moment to visualize your day ahead of you, focusing on the successes you will have. Even just a minute of visualization and positive thinking can help improve your mood and outlook on your work load for the day.”

5. Make Your Day Top Heavy. This means doing the things we don’t like to do first and saving the more pleasurable things for later. When we procrastinate the dreaded items of the day, it can lead to unnecessary stress. This is the way I prefer to spend my day. Doing the things I don’t want to do first and leaving the other stuff for the rest of my day.

I feel pretty good. I’m currently doing 3 out of 5. Not bad but gives me some room for improvement. So how about you? How are you doing one these success habits?