Laura Vanderkam researched and writes about the morning rituals of successful executives and entrepreneurs and how they invest in their top-priority activities for the day. In 12 Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast, Jenna Goudreau writes that, “Vanderkam cites Florida State University psychology professor Roy Baumeister’s famous finding that willpower is like a muscle that becomes fatigued from overuse. Diets, he says, come undone in the evening, just as poor self-control and lapses in decision-making often come later in the day. On the other hand, early mornings offer a fresh supply of willpower, and people tend to be more optimistic and ready to tackle challenging tasks.”
In his article about what successful people do in the first hour of their workday, Kevin Purdy says, “Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too.” He offers concrete examples and links to ways that successful people start their days. Among his examples: A Quora forum on personal productivity posed the question how the most successful people spend the first hour of their day looked for and got feedback on examples of how CEOs and entrepreneurs spend their first waking hour and how it contributes to their success.
In this short video clip, Gina Trapani says do your worst task first thing in the morning – clarifying that by “worst” she means “most important” and the one that you are most likely to procrastinate on.
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