4 days into formerly working from home I have experienced the vast difference between having a morning routine and not!
I am a big fan of seeing the science behind something but I also need to experience it.
The study quoted below shows the importance of starting a day well so you can put your best foot forward for your clients. This is why helping and asking whether your team have a morning routine is important not just to their wellbeing but also your business.
When I have a good morning routine I seem to experience a catalyst throughout the day. I hasten to add that I need to keep on that horse as the routine builds and not get off.
Starting your routine is of course hard, creating any habit is difficult. A few books with more insight on this include Triggers, Feel Better in 5 and Good Mornings.
For me accountability is key. Last night I made sure I made myself accountable to my partner and colleague about getting up for a run first thing this morning.
It turns out that your concentration levels at work may be up by 21%, too, if you exercise in the morning, your productivity can skyrocket by 41 percent and your risk of burnout goes right down according to Jo Coulson et al.
To help with this the team at Passle are always happy to nurture some exercise. Please feel free to join our online fitness club here to see how we are all getting on!
Other, admittedly, strange routines I have created are focusing on emptying a dishwasher or washing machine when I wake up to just get on the 'productivity conveyor-belt'. This 'building' phase is really important for me and this slowly increases as my working day commences (breakfast, contacting close ones, review emails/content online and focus my plan for the day).
As a business, we also have morning check-in meetings with the team. To help focus we use the 'scrum' structure. Tom explains this here. From here I am ready!
Clearly it is obvious from this that I have a job that operates in the daytime. This obviously means that I need a good night's sleep. If you are motivated by science our melatonin (a hormone that regulates sleep) peaks at 11 pm and therefore this is a critical time to be asleep (H J Lynch et al). Getting to sleep can be the problem, we quite literally suffer from sleep procrastination, or at least I can! My solution has been focusing tomorrow's goal, purpose and getting back on the productivity conveyor-belt!
Your morning routine determines whether you can win the day. In 2016, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Ohio State University studied call center staff working for an insurance company.[1] They specifically looked at the mood of the call center staff throughout their working day. The three-week study discovered something interesting. Namely, staff who started the day in a bad mood, usually ended the day in a bad mood too. This was despite them receiving calls from positive customers throughout the day. Staff who started their day calm or happy – finished their working day in the same upbeat emotional state. Furthermore, the study found that staff with low moods had low productivity. Staff with elevated moods demonstrated high productivity. As you can see from the above revelations, it’s vital that you start your day well.
unknownx500
