How To Create A Productive Morning Routine

How To Create A Productive Morning Routine

Our 30 day challenge this month is to rise early. But rising before the dawn doesn't net you anything if you don't put that uninterrupted time to use. And even if you aren't doing the challenge, you can still craft a productive morning routine that helps set the tone for the day.

I've worked on and off with early rising and morning routines for years. But as a night owl, it is hard for me to function in the morning. Even as I write this, I am fighting the impulse to go back to bed and get another hour's sleep. But I know that if I do cave, I will miss the satisfaction of getting important things done before I face the rest of my day. So here's how you can craft a meaningful morning routine.
30 Day Challenge: Early Rising

30 Day Challenge: Early Rising

Welcome to the second of the 30 day challenges. By doing 30 day challenges, I explore a topic that I feel will make my life more deliberate and productive. This month I will be looking at rising earlier.

My schedule is such that I feel busy all the time. I don't feel like have uninterrupted time. I get up, go to work, and then when I get home I am bombarded with household tasks, exercising, and various evening commitments, not least of which is time with my family. I felt like I never had time to work on projects that were important to me. Non-fiction reading, fiction writing, blogging and crafting are wedged into the odd fifteen minutes I can find.

I feel that working on an early-rising routine will help me carve out the time I need to make progress on activities I want to have in my life.
Beating “I Don’t Have Time”

Beating “I Don’t Have Time”

Productivity is a mental game as much as it is about doing things. One of the limiting beliefs I hear people tell themselves over and over is, "I don't have time."

I used to be a chronic "I don't have time" person, but I have found that I actually do have time to do more things than I thought possible. Today we'll look at how I use those chunks of time to get more done.
Getting Into the Productivity Mindset

Getting Into the Productivity Mindset

When people think about productivity, it's often about the physical actions. But the mental game of productivity is just as important as the physical actions.

Today we look at how to get into the productivity mindset.
Minimalism Is About Getting Rid of Distraction

Minimalism Is About Getting Rid of Distraction

I recently heard on a podcast that minimalism is a mind game - that it's not about getting rid of stuff as much as it is about getting rid of distractions.

I've never heard it phrased that way before, but it clicked. I've dabbled with simplicity for years. In fact, my long-time readers will remember when this blog was called "simple productivity" - and focused as much on simplifying as it was on productivity. But minimalism? I could never get behind having 100 items in my life or 30 pieces of clothing or a single pen (a single pen? I'd get the shakes from withdrawal!)

And when you look at minimalism as a mind game to eliminate distractions, it becomes clear why no one person's minimalism will be anothers - just like productivity systems.
What To Do When Crisis Hits

What To Do When Crisis Hits

Crisis can happen in the blink of an eye. One minute life is normal, and then everything is different. It could be anything that rocks your stability: death, divorce, accident, layoff, shutdown. But crisis comes to us all, and it's important to know what to do.

My own personal experience with crisis was major - eleven years ago my husband fell twenty feet off of a ladder and spent two days in neuro ICU. But I learned some lessons about what to do before and during a crisis, and how to support others in their own.
Name Your Tasks Properly

Name Your Tasks Properly

Have you ever been going over your task list and come to a screeching halt? Did you stumble over the task because your brain didn't know what to do with it? Properly naming tasks is one way to keep that from happening.

I am not very good at naming tasks. Even after years of doing Getting Things Done and absorbing productivity information, all which emphasize to keep tasks do-able. So here is how - and why - you need to properly name tasks.