Improved creativity, focus, and inspiration begins with a morning routine
Time management is the name of the game in this busy, workaday world, and many of the most effective people in business and in life swear by having a morning routine.
A morning routine means different things to different people. All any morning routine is is a series of activities that helps to shake off the fog of a good night’s sleep, focus energy on a specific task, and eliminate any distractions that can prevent productivity right out of the gate.
Sometimes that does, in fact, begin with a focus on personal health and wellness.
Meditation, even if it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes, can really help to center yourself, isolate your thoughts, and become more intentional about the day ahead.
Shashank Shekhar, CEO and founder of Arcus Lending is one of the top originators who begins each day with meditation, and says that it has been a “game-changer” for him. Mortgage coach and author Cindy Ertman also begins every day with a 15-minute guided meditation session and has improved in some non-tangible ways.
“I find that I’m much more creative, much better at solutions, it calms my mind, I start my day in a peaceful place and it sets the tone and balance for my day,” she said.
If meditation is a little too intangible for you, then maybe it’s time to get physical.
That doesn’t necessarily mean hopping on a treadmill or slipping on some running shoes for a pre-dawn jog. Just doing a series of stretches after hopping out of bed can boost blood flow and circulation, sending more oxygen to the brain. Research has indicated that doing some sort of cardio activity in the morning can lower blood pressure up to 10%, a benefit that lasts throughout the day.
Even on a good day things pop up to derail plans, so it often becomes difficult to leave the office a little early to get in that workout before picking the kids up from school, or else it becomes too easy to make a couple of extra phone calls and forget physical activity altogether. Making an effort to start the day with some kind of movement has personal benefits in terms of health and wellness, but it also is an indicator to other team members that it’s a priority. Committing to being healthy is something that other team members and partners can get on board with.
Something else that Ertman does in the morning is some kind of education piece. Whether that’s reading an industry blog for 10 minutes or listening to an audiobook on the way to work or playing a marketing podcast while getting dressed, consuming content by other experts can help you interpret the factors influencing the market and making you a more informed resource to your partners.
As any professional knows, sometimes even the best laid morning plans get ambushed by a last-minute school project or a flat tire or an emergency of some sort. Because of this, it’s worth considering starting the morning routine the night before.
Ben Anderson is a branch manager and senior loan advisor at RPM mortgage, and the last thing he does before leaving the office each evening is to make a to-do list for the following day. He then uses that list to time block and effectively manage the time it takes to complete those tasks.
Shelby Elias, founder of United Wholesale Lending, does the same thing, identifying the top four things that he wants to handle first thing the next day.
“I don’t waste any time [because] I’ve already identified exactly what I need to do the next morning,” he said.
Whether the day begins with a list, a workout, mediation, affirmations, some combination of the above or something else entirely, the key to implementation is making it easy to get started. Don’t place an alarm within arm’s reach if that makes it more likely to tap ‘snooze.’ Don’t leave workout clothes in a drawer if that means having to fumble around in the dark to put them on. Don’t wait to download that podcast in the morning if it’s something that can be done the night before.
Making things easier for yourself in the morning means that you’re more likely to stick to a morning routine and be more productive throughout the day.
