For my writer friends, some ideas for beginning your day in order to be more productive:
GET UP, GET DRESSED
EAT BREAKFAST: Make it healthy!
BE THANKFUL: Think of at least one thing to be thankful for.
REFLECT: What did you do yesterday to advance your goals? What can you do better today?
STRETCH, WALK AROUND: You’re going to be sitting for a while. Get in some stretches and walking before you get to your desk.
GET COMFORTABLE: Wiggle into your seat. Be sure your mouse and keyboard are in comfortable positions. Is the lighting the way you want it? Has something appeared on your desk that’s in your way and needs to be moved? If you usually have something to drink nearby, is it there?
CALENDAR AND TO-DO LIST: Check your calendar so you don’t forget anything you need to do—an appointment, an email wishing someone a happy birthday, etc. The to-do list should have been written and items prioritized the night before, so go over it to be sure you still like the way your arranged your priorities. If you didn’t do it the night before, do it now.
CHECK EMAIL IF YOU MUST (better to wait until after you’re written your morning words, I’ve found): But don’t answer any unless they are extremely important. Just look through the names and subject lines to see if anything really important came in, like that million-dollar book contract.
SMILE.
WRITE.
Excellent advice! I think it’s important to write consistently each day. I’m a morning person and so I choose to write early. But some people are night owls. Whatever works!
Thanks, Jacqueline. I didn’t used to think I was a morning person, but I learned that it was best to write first thing, or I might not write at all.
I have a similar plan. I write best in the afternoon. At least right now.
Carol, I should have mentioned those who are nightowls and the rare birds like you who do better in the afternoons. I do stand by my other hints for starting the mroning right, though! Thanks for commenting.
Good advice, Jan. I especially agree with the point that a writer needs to get up and go to her desk like a professional. I’m not one for lying around in a bathrobe pretending to listen to my muse. Get up and get working. And yes, a good breakfast to keep me going.
Always watching my weight, I admit I don’t often have a “good” breakfast–just coffee and orange juice. But I put it in the post because I know the experts always say it’s a good thing. Thanks for commenting, Susan.