This guest post is by Julie Carr of Plagtracker.com.
Most people think that breakfast should be the first thing a person does in the morning, but the savvy minorities know that the time prior to breakfast can be the most productive.
This is because it is when a person may focus, because they have not yet encountered the worries and distractions that haunt the honest citizen’s day.
Here’s a way we bloggers can use this precious snippet of time in the most productive and efficient way.
The night before
We all have to-do lists, but the most effective to-do lists are written the night before.
Bullet point all the tasks you need to do before you have breakfast the next day. When the morning comes, you must go down the list, one bullet point at a time, until you reach the bullet point that says “breakfast.”
The trick is to single-mindedly complete each bullet point in turn. Do not try to do two at the same time, or try to change the order. Take on one task until it is done, then move onto the next.
Add to your ideas journal
This is a file into which you put all the ideas that come to you during the day. It contains notes and things to research that relate to your ideas.
How you make this file is up to you; you can create a list, or create a folder and put different folders inside for ideas, notes, research, questions, and so on.
If you have a smartphone or tablet, then create an ideas journal on there so that you can add to it during your day.
Check your mail
Once you have added any of your early morning ideas to your ideas journal, you should check your mail.
This is going to alert you to anything that may disrupt your day. It also keeps you up to date on what has been happening while you were asleep.
Plan your day
Spend a few minutes coming up with five tasks that you must complete today.
If you have the time free, then come up with a detailed plan, but just keep an eye on the time. You don’t want your breakfast to turn into lunch.
Create a comment answering window
If you have a successful blog, then you are going to get comments 24/7. These could take you forever to answer, but regularly replying to your comments is a very good way to keep the conversations alive on your blog.
So you need to section off a part of your morning to answer comments. Dedicate ten minutes to non-stop comment answering. You won’t get them all, but you will get enough so that you keep the online conversation moving (poke the fire a little).
You can do more commenting and give fuller answers to people’s comments later in the day, if and when you have the time.
Check for updates
We all hate updating Java, iTunes, WordPress plugins, and so on, but it must be done. So do it in the morning.
Pick something to update (you are often prompted by your computer) and set it in motion while you cook and eat your breakfast. By the time you have finished eating your breakfast it should be done.
If you keep your software updated, it’s less likely to be hacked, to run slowly, or to crash. This way, you are using your “down time” (while you’re eating) in a very efficient way.
What’s your morning routine?
How do you use the time before breakfast to set yourself up fro a full day (or less if you’re juggling other commitments) of blogging? Share your secrets with us in the comments.
This guest post is by Julie Carr of Plagtracker.com. Julie J Carr is a freelance writer. She writes for new free-to -use plagiarism checker – Plagtracker. She is keen on new technologies, adores flavoured coffee and books, and likes to visit places where she can enjoy the latter two at the same time. You can mail her at [email protected]
Nice post. I check my emails daily before doing break fast and i think that Emails are one of the basic assets of your online earning. How ever break fast is important as well to live ;)
Thank you
Thanks Julie, this was a a breath of fresh “morning” air. I am always up before the sun rises, coffee in hand and checking opt ins, rankings and comments. By the time I am done with that it is time to add video to new content, then work on some other projects for clients and then back to my own marketing in the afternoons….busy, busy, busy.
This is a wondering post full of ideas. One thing that I always try to do is on my to do lists I usually put the hardest things first to get them knocked out early in the day. I find that this helps build momentum throughout my day. This is a great reminder especially early in the year to really plan out your routines and days.
Thanks for sharing!
Eric
It doesn’t hurt to throw a load of laundry in the machine first thing in the morning either!
Where’s a “like” button when you really need it!
I try not to do anything after about 20:00 at night because it stops me from sleeping properly. If I start thinking about business related stuff after this time, it’s going through my head all night.
I normally start my day with breakfast and then work around my breaks. So I’ll have breakfast and do some emails, facebook, etc. Then have my morning break at about 10:30. Then I do another solid hour of work. i.e Write a new page or article. Then have lunch and do whatever I want in the afternoon. Maybe some learning, general surfing or go out somewhere.
Excellent post.
Currently I am facing some issues with the productivity. This tip would surely help me.
Thanks.
Good post! This can also be put in time management aspect. Before I start my day, I always plan it by listing all the important things. It does not matter to me if you will focus on the hardest or easiest tasks, just try to finish them at the end of the day! I’ll keep this post in my notes. Thanks!
Good post! I make a general to-do list every week and then the must dos list of the next day I create before going to bed. I work on my blog plus, a regular job about 35 hours a week so a lot of my ideas come when I’m at my regular job. There are always tons of sticky notes in my purse because I come up with all kinds of ideas during the day. Sometimes, like last night, I wake up in the middle of the night and can not sleep but feel like blogging a good post. Kind of odd how that happens. Thanks for all your tips!
Great post! I agree: the early bird catcheth the worm. Especially like your idea of “poking the fire” a little to keep the conversation going with comment interaction–so many bloggers don’t even bother the respond to comments. And, your thought about watching the clock, so that “breakfast doesn’t turn into lunch” is spot on. I find a little timer helps me with this…so easy to get hyper-focused on one task which can derail the whole day’s productivity flow. Cheers, Steve in Seattle
I get up about an hour and a half before my husband, just to have some nice undisturbed time to work on The Boat Galley. I try to tackle the tasks where I don’t want to be interrupted during that time and leave less intense things for later. That morning time is great for techie stuff (figuring out why a plugin is doing strange things, straighten out CSS, update pluging and WP core, etc.). Others may have different things that they want “quiet time” for.
You’ve successfully outlined a problem that every blogger have to face in their life time. Great post, gives me a boost and makes me enthusiastic for sure. Thanks.
I have a baby, so blogging happens during the peace of naptime. But I do something similar: I make a list in the morning of things to do by importance, then do those things one by one during naptime. It makes me a lot more productive.
Hi Julie, Today I had one of my more productive mornings, mainly because I was up all night.(long story) I finished writing 2 blog pages and made a short video all before 7am I had my breakfast around 10am and then flopped into my bed totally knackered at 11am
I don’t really have a set schedule for doing these tasks. But one of my goals for 2013 is to be more productive with my time, so it would make sense for me to set a morning routine.
I do agree with the “Get things done early” point of view….
Though, even if you are an early bird who is up well before sunrise, you may have trouble getting the discipline to get some tasks out of the way….
For myself, being up quite early, I do go through a bunch of tasks before having breakfast ( though with the added fuel of a Coffee of course)!
Another thing is that, some people may not feel productive early in the morning, though, they may get more done during the day, or even late at night…..
One thought, if you do decide to use those early starts to get certain tasks out of the way, it does requires sticking to it…..as being too idle wastes time and you end up over tired from the earlier than usual start…..(which equals lost sleep hours with no gain)…..
It can be difficult to maintain your blogging focus so having a dedicated time where you write, comment, develop ideas, etc. will help keep the site active. Thanks for the share, Julie.
my morning routine includes a list of stuff i have to do check my email and making a list of post ideas
I always check my emails in the morning, and reply to any that don’t involve research (I get a lot of web development questions). I also check my twitter mentions and blog comments. Basically I try to reach out in the mornings for engagement later.
Other than that, I usually find I can get the most work done, whether client based or on personal projects, fresh in the morning. Once 12-1pm comes around, I get restless and feel the urge to procrastinate.
I run a blog about productivity so this is really interesting! I always try and get my most important tasks out of the way earlier in the day.
I actually plan my week, picking main tasks that need to be done, and then each night just before I go to sleep I plan out the next day. It enables me to jump straight into it in the morning without having to worry too much about things I have to do. Another thing I do is spend 15 minutes checking social networks, etc, so that I won’t get distracted from my work later on.
Thanks for the post.
Thank you for sharing these tips! I’m getting ready to launch my freelance design business this month, and have been looking for some guidance on how to manage my time better. One of the things that I really want to get into the habit of doing, is to exercise before breakfast. I tend to get so focused on my projects that I can spend full days seated in front of the laptop. Taking regular breaks has been one of my biggest challenges so far.
Yes, I always make lists in an old fashioned red and black hardback book the night before. First thing is my journal where I whine and moan and get all that out the way; it shows up where I am unbalanced in my creative/professional life. I wrote about productivity this morning and therefore shall implement an emergency measure. That’s where I break my day into half hour slots and write in things that need to be done, set my alarm and stick to the timings, therefore wasting time on social media is confined to disciplined slots for example. My brain seems to understand this timing system and I am far more productive. That’s why this comment is going to stop right here lol. Thanks for a helpful post
Great post! There are quite a few things that I don’t do in the morning, like check the new updates for WP. xD I really need to get into the habit of checking them all the time.
There is one thing that I do before breakfast, and that’s spending at least 15 minutes commenting on other people’s blogs. I sometimes find that if I don’t do it in straight away I will get carried away throughout the day and not remember to do it again.
I can really relate to this post – Thank Julie
The mornings are definitely my most productive time of the day. I try to get up an hour or two earlier than my kids to get my most important tasks done. Their father also works nights and don’t get home till 9.00am. So early mornings are “me” time, and the only time of the day I get to myself.
Comment on blogs are the feedback of your woks and blogs. You should bestow proper response the all comments and mails. This will grow retuning traffic with new. Thanks for reminder..
Well, checking my email before eating is my day to day routine. Since breakfast is not always served immediately.
Excellent Post!! I’m a beginning blogger so I actually took notes!!
Thanks!!
I run before breakfast. After all, that’s my brand, so you could argue that such an activity does more than anything else I could do to bring productivity to my blogging.
I love this post so much, it makes perfect sense. I am most motivated first thing in the morning but at this time I have to get kids to school and usually about about noon my youngest is with me which means while I want to have this wonderful morning routine with my blog; it appears it will have to wait until next school year when all three kids are in school full time. For now, my morning routine consists of grabbing coffee, getting the two older kids to school and watching cartoons on TV sitting next to my lil one while on the laptop trying to just leave and answer comments, Then I go back to “mom duties”. I do agree that mornings are the best time, before breakfast, to get things done because you have a fresh mind and that is when you can be most productive!
Great post Julie,
Full of wisdom… but before breakies, that’ll be a challenge☺
I will certainly try to put the above suggestions to good use for 2013.
Thanks again
Vic
Hi Julie,
This is great advice, but I just have one problem – or rather, two four-legged ones – I always walk my dogs before breakfast!
You’re so right, though, about making best use of that time of day when we’re fresh, also planning our time effectively. I must admit I’m currently struggling to fit everything in and trying to be more disciplined about my time management.
I have got into the habit of making out a do list at night for the following day – but I often find I fail to get through everything, partly due to lack of time (I currently work full time, so fitting this in around my day job is a challenge) but also because so much stuff online takes a lot longer than I’d anticipated. As you say, it’s surprising just how long responding to comments and commenting on other people’s blogs can take.
Love your ‘ideas journal’ suggestion, and I’m going to start that right away – I definitely need to get more organised in the way I collect material and ideas.
Thanks very much for these genuinely useful tips – appreciated,
Sue
Great list, Julie
I take the train to work each morning; it’s a 50 minute ride that allows me to get a lot done before breakfast. I check/respond/organize email. I share the blog posts of my tribemates (Triberr). I read/share 3-5 blog posts. And I share my own blog post for the day.
This makes a 50 minute ride feel like 20 minutes.
I would like to make an important adjustment in lifestyle and eat breakfast first then do other things after that because health is the most important to me. If you read my first post at the health blog http://treatng.blogspot.com, you will understand why. Thanks.
I write my posts at night and I make them all pretty in the morning before breakfast. I’m pretty much brain-dead first thing in the morning and I find I can make myself do almost anything. I use that special time for things I don’t like.
Motivating post…..thank you! I am a big list person. I do better with a tad of structure. One thing I always add to my daily list is an S.O.S.. For me that means something of substance, or value if you will. Meditate, or tea and a magazine,chat with a friend, music up load and dance, anything that recharges me mentally and physically to keep on going in a positive way.
Kind of the premise of my blog, so it makes sense to me.
So glad to find this site and the inspiration it provides..thanks again!
I currently do this over my morning tacos. Thanks for sharing.
I also keep a small notebook or the phone by my nightstand. All too often I will make up with an idea. Jotting it down immediately helps me get back to sleep quicker and preserves the idea.
Making a to-do lists is a very good idea as by doing this we have an rough idea that what we have to do in next upcoming 24 hours and what we have to achieve in them.