| The first hour of your day does not only set the | | | | get caught up with busy-work and never have |
| tone and the focus for the rest of your day but | | | | any real control of your time. |
| it’s also likely to be the only chance you’ll | | | | 3. Daily Habits (Make some or break some) |
| have throughout the day to stop, think and plan | | | | Take some time to think about what you |
| while everyone else is chatting, reading and trying | | | | normally do in that first hour at work. Everyone |
| to confront what has to be done. | | | | has morning habits – it may be having a |
| Can you get to work earlier than your colleagues? | | | | coffee, reading the newspaper or going through |
| Arriving at work a bit earlier means you’ll | | | | emails. Before you know it you are already an |
| miss the traffic or crush on public transport, | | | | hour into the working day and you haven’t |
| you’ll have some ‘quiet’ time to | | | | even started on the real tasks. Do you need to |
| yourself before anyone else comes in (and it | | | | change your morning routine? |
| could also carry the added benefit of impressing | | | | 4. Use Your Travel Time Productively |
| your managers). | | | | If you really want to have a successful day, use |
| Here are 6 suggestions to make your first hour | | | | your travel time between home and work to |
| moreproductive: | | | | think ahead and prepare a plan for the day. |
| 1. Get a Healthy Start to the Day | | | | Rather than listening to music or the radio maybe |
| The first thing is to start the day in a healthy | | | | you could listen to audio learning material. |
| way. Research shows a third of all workers skip | | | | 5. Make an ‘Action List’ |
| breakfast. This can reduce concentration levels, | | | | Once you have the day’s objectives in mind, |
| increase stress and create a negative mood. | | | | you can put the plan into action by writing them |
| Having a healthy breakfast really does give you | | | | down on an Action List. When you sit down and |
| the energy to get through a busy day. Coffee (or | | | | think about the day ahead, write down all of your |
| acaffeine soft drink alone is generally not | | | | thoughts and then |
| considered a healthy breakfast! | | | | Triage your list. A helpful way to see the day in |
| 2. Get Organised | | | | full is to open up yourdiary or your computer |
| Use the first hour of your day to sort out | | | | calendar. |
| everything you will need throughout the day. | | | | 6. Be Prepared |
| Create a plan for your day, get your files and | | | | Lastly, a major time saver is to have all of your |
| folder ready to be actioned, confirm any | | | | work materials to hand. I am sure you’ve |
| appointments by sending a quick confirmation | | | | experienced that burst of panic when your |
| email and take care of anything that should have | | | | manager orclient asks for a file that you just |
| been done last night before. Block off ten to | | | | can’t seem to find quickly enough. Before you |
| twenty minutes during the first hour of your day | | | | start your day and do any work, make sure you |
| to organise yourself. If you don’t, you may | | | | are prepared. |