Not everyone is a morning person.
Some people love to wake up to the sun shining in their faces, while others want to sleep until the sunsets.
Regardless, most people need to get up in the morning.
Entrepreneurs need to make the most out of their time. Successful entrepreneurs come up with schedules, routines and rituals that help them be the best.
Not all morning routines are going to be the same. You should learn from the morning routines that will help you become more productive and efficient.
If you follow a morning routine that makes you feel bad and is not a good for your personality, avoid it and find something else.
Here are some morning rituals that will help you become successful as an entrepreneur:
#1. Get enough sleep
Sleep is crucial for your success as an entrepreneur.
Some people only need four hours of sleep to feel like a million bucks. While others need to get their beauty sleep to be a functioning member of society.
Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, makes sure to get loads of beauty sleep and starts her morning with a 30-minute meditation session.
Most people need to sleep for seven to eight hours every day at night. Getting any less sleep is not going to be beneficial for you, as our bodies tend to rest most when we’re in a state of deep sleep. And coincidentally, you can only start to get into this deep sleep state after 4 to 5 hours of sleeping.
Also, taking a small nap during the day can go wonders for your energy levels. Squeezing a short 15-minute nap during the work day might not be feasible for every entrepreneur, but for those who have the choice, they should experiment with it and observe the results.
If you wake up in the morning feeling tired and lazy, you’re not going to get much work done. Entrepreneurs need to be efficient with the way they spend their time.
By getting enough sleep at night, you’re going to be well rested and prepared for the challenges that wait for you throughout the day.
#2. Get out of bed
For most people, waking up is not enough. They need to physically get up from their beds to start their day.
A good habit to have for when you get out of bed is to make your bed. You might have watched the famous video where US Navy Admiral William McRaven stresses the importance of making your bed. If you haven’t be sure to watch the video to get some motivation
A minority of people feels comfortable to start their day by checking their social media and emails, in bed and on their smart phones. Getting out of bed isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it is something that must be done.
Get out of bed in a good mood and you’ll see the difference in how you spend your day.
Do what makes you feel great and you’ll be more productive as an entrepreneur.
#3. Social media and emails
Has social media become an integral part of our lives? For most of us the obvious answer is yes.
If you’re not active on social media for even a single day, it feels like you’ve missed out on something huge.
Entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuck check their social media profiles as soon as they wake up, even in the bathroom.
While other successful people don’t like seeing the online world until later in the day.
Entrepreneurs need to check their mail as well. You never know what happened while you were sleeping. Sending out work emails is also a crucial part of an entrepreneur’s day.
Tim Armstrong, CEO and Chairman of AOL, wakes up at five in the morning. He tries to wait until 7am before sending out any emails.
On the other hand, Tory Burch, CEO of Tory Burch LLC and fashion designer, wakes up at 5:45am and immediately checks her work emails.
If social media is a vital component of your overall business strategy, it would make sense to pay due diligence. Make checking your social media a part of your morning routine if it helps you stay on top.
Let’s face it, for most of us, not being social on social media platforms will be a big disadvantage. So, the best thing that you can do is to update yourself as soon as you get up in the morning.
This might work for some people and for some people it might not be as beneficial as they would like it to be. Find a schedule that works for you. If you enjoy social media, it wouldn’t be too much to give a quick 5 minutes on Twitter replying to comments and commenting on relevant posts.
#4. Exercise
Exercise is a crucial part of our lives that some of us ignore due to our busy schedule.
Many entrepreneurs have a habit of getting up early in the morning and going for a run.
Exercising has obvious health benefits. An increase in stamina and endurance will help in your struggles as an entrepreneur.
As an entrepreneur, you will need to be in a state of constant growth and learning. Achieving that state becomes a whole lot easier when you have a greater focus. And working out is a great way to build your focus.
When you’re exercising, you are constantly pushing your body to reach a goal that you have set for yourself. Being that focused on the regular will help you concentrate and become better at decision making and resource allocation. Skills that are essential for an entrepreneur’s success.
By exercising early in the morning, you feel that you’ve done something productive. Even if the rest of the day doesn’t go as smoothly as planned, at least you would have done something productive in the day.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, often goes on a six-mile run after his early morning meditation session.
You don’t necessarily need to exercise that rigorously. Do what you’re comfortable with and gradually increase your exercise if you feel like it’s helping you with your productivity.
#5. Have a healthy breakfast
Your body needs fuel to function throughout the day. By having a healthy breakfast, you’re getting the nutrients you need to stay active during the day.
Simon Cowell, beloved X Factor judge and creator, has breakfast of oatmeal, tea, three smoothies, papaya juice with lime and hot water with lemon juice.
A healthy breakfast will help you boost your metabolism. By having a proper breakfast in the morning, you’re not going to have as many snack cravings.
Skipping breakfast is something that you should never do. By skipping breakfast, you’re putting yourself at risk for a variety of health issues including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc.
And you shouldn’t stop at breakfast. Make sure to keep fueling your body with healthy foods that will keep you powered for the rest of your day. Take care of your boy and you will have the strength to endure the tough day ahead of you.
#6. Meditation
Meditating in the morning will help you gather your thoughts and focus on the things that matter to you the most.
Meditating is also the best time to talk to yourself. It might sound a little out there, but hear me out. Sometimes you’re the only person that knows exactly what’s going on in your life and business. If you look deep inside for answers, you’ll be surprised to often find them.
To be a successful entrepreneur, you will have to develop tunnel vision for some problems. While tunnel vision is not the best choice for most problems, it is highly suitable for problems that require extreme focus.
Meditation will help you increase your ability to focus. Where will focus help you? It can help you in all aspects of being an entrepreneur. From decision making to evaluating risks, being more observant in meetings to understanding your team and target audience, focus can do a lot.
Arianna Huffington feels so strongly about meditation that she offers weekly classes on meditation to her employees. Oprah Winfrey is also a fan of meditation.
Try out meditating for a few minutes when you get up. You’ll be able to plan your day as well as remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Conclusion
There are as many morning rituals as there are people. Not all successful people share the same morning routine. It would be wise to check out several morning routines to gain insights and inspiration.
The best way to go about finding a morning routine that best fits your personality and needs is to experiment. Adopting someone else’s routine entirely will not produce the results that you want to see.
Investing time early on in developing a morning routine early on will help increase your positivity and chances of success as an entrepreneur.
Find a morning routine that suits your personality and the type of person you see yourself to be.
About the Author!
Hamzah Adil is a digital marketing executive. He’s currently working for a startup that has developed a new live chat app called SwiftChat.
Entrepreneurs that have their mornings planned out in the most productive way possible, have a much higher chance of becoming successful.