by Luke Doyle
Another day in the office? If you’re not careful, one day starts to blend into the next, and you find yourself working on auto-pilot – developing bad habits that are no good for your productivity or your soul!
It’s possible to turn this tendency around, however, with just a few tweaks to your morning routine. These hacks – highlighted in a new infographic from resume.io– are all about taking back control of your body, mind, and your time. And they can all make you feel a lot better about being where you are.
And it starts before you even get to work: the first victim is your coffee! It turns out that drinking coffee before 10 am is not a wise decision. It could be what’s making you feel so stressed. You see, your cortisol levels are highest before this time, and caffeine only heightens them. After a few days of this, it starts to replace your natural hormone. Next, horror of horrors, you start to develop a tolerance for caffeine, so you can’t even get that hit anymore. Instead, leave your morning coffee until mid-morning, or save it to counter the post-lunch slump.
The next idea is to do with that overflowing filing cabinet you call “brain.” You know that starting work with a tidy desk in the morning lifts your mood, so consider doing the same with your mind. Before you get into your tasks, take a notebook and pen and write down your goals, worries, and ideas. Put them into a mind map or schedule if it helps. It’ll certainly make you happier through the day to have a sense of where you’re coming from and where you’re going.
Now let’s talk about the internet. Emails are a pest. You never know how long it will take to work through them, or what time-consuming tasks they hide. So don’t give up your control the instant you arrive at work; do your own stuff for an hour before you worry about all those in-comings. This goes for browsing the web, too. Sure, we all have to do research. But it can quickly become a black hole if you sink into it before you’ve really got a firm grip on the day ahead. A whopping 36% of workers reckon they lose an hour a day of productivity due to web-surfing and the checking of personal emails. This can lead to added stress or even a run-in with the boss.
Finally, think about how you position yourself. If you arrive at work and immediately slump down in your chair in a dark corner, what message are you sending yourself – let alone your colleagues? Don’t delay working ‘with’ your body: make it the first thing you do, so you can work harmoniously all day. Find somewhere to work where you get plenty of natural light, and consider standing or walking around as you get started. Save your office chair for the afternoon when your boss leaves early and you can sneak a nap.
We all feel like zombies when we arrive at work in the morning, but make a point of snapping yourself out of it and you should find your day becomes far more fulfilling.
Do you find yourself doing any of these bad habits on a workday?
