If you’re struggling to be productive in the morning, it might be time to take a look at your habits. There are many bad habits that can cause you to lose your focus and get derailed before the day even begins.
These bad habits aren’t healthy and will make you less productive in the long run. Luckily, there are ways to overcome them.
- Snooping
Snooping is a bad habit that can make you less productive in the morning. It can cause you to get lost in a wormhole of web browsing and distract you from your tasks.
Snooping can start out as mild suspicious behavior but can eventually become a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It can also cause trust issues between partners.
- Gossipping
Gossiping is a bad habit that can keep you from being productive. It can also hurt your reputation and relationships with other people.
It can be easy to become a gossip because it’s an instinctual thing to do, and it can be hard to stop once you start. Here are some tips to help you break the habit.
- Checking Email
Checking email first thing in the morning can be a real distraction. It takes your focus and motivation away from the bigger tasks that you’re trying to get done.
Psychologist Julie Morgenstern advises not checking emails until you have devoted a block of time to the important work that needs to be done. This way, you’ll get more actual work done in the early part of your day instead of spending it distracted by emails.
- Checking Social Media
You can easily waste your morning scrolling through Facebook, Instagram and other social media channels. It can also distract you from getting your most important tasks done, experts warn.
Not only does it not make you more productive, but it can actually sour your mood and leave you feeling anxious. Instead, start your day off on the right foot by taking a few minutes to meditate or read a book.
- Checking Your Phone
Checking your phone immediately when you wake up is a bad habit that can be detrimental to your physical and mental health. It can make you anxious, irritable and unable to focus on other tasks.
It’s important to set a healthy tone for your day by checking your notifications on a schedule. This will retrain your brain to respond to alerts without instantly reacting.
- Not Getting Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is essential for our physical, mental and emotional health. Short-term sleep deficiency can increase our risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely to report poor sleep quality (45 percent and 49 percent, respectively), and less likely to get sufficient amounts of sleep (8 hours or more per night). They also are more likely to feel stressed due to lack of sleep.
- Not Prioritizing
Prioritizing is one of the most important habits to have in order to be productive. However, many people neglect this crucial part of time management.
To effectively prioritize your tasks, you must first rank them based on their urgency and importance. Then, you can decide how to proceed.
- Not Setting Goals
Studies show that 40% of your actions each day aren’t decisions — they’re habits. And bad habits are hard to break.
One of the biggest things you can do to improve your productivity is to start setting goals. Not only do goals give you a direction, they also motivate you to accomplish them.
- Not Getting Enough Exercise
Getting enough exercise is a critical component to achieving your goals. Whether it’s a few minutes at the gym or an hour on a bike, it can make a world of difference in your life.
However, many people are confused as to how much exercise they should be doing. This can often be a contributing factor to bad habits.
- Not Taking Breaks
Taking breaks can help you be more productive in the morning and maintain your mental and physical health. But many people struggle to take time away from work.
Studies have shown that if you’re not taking breaks, your performance will decline over time. That’s why it’s so important to plan and stick to them.