Love them or hate them, mornings are an important part of the business day. Some people work naturally at their best and others are practically zombies before 12pm.

While being a freelancer means you’re free to skip the mornings and work later you could be missing out on a crucial part of the day.

Starting the day early means you can jump straight into something fun or productive before you’ve given yourself a chance to get distracted by family, social media, TV or the news.

So if you’d like to make the most of this time, here are a few tips to ensure your day gets off to a good, productive start:

Focus on getting quality sleep

One of the reasons why mornings are so difficult sometimes is because tiredness gets in the way. You might be looking at all those people on Instagram going to the gym at 6am and wonder where they get their energy from.

Well first of all, they’re exercising, which improves the quality of your sleep. They’re also going to bed earlier and making sure they get enough shuteye.

Unfortunately there are aren’t really any tricks to avoid this. You simply need to get enough sleep. It’s not something you should sacrifice for your business.

So experiment with sleep and work out how much you need to function at your best because it’s different for everyone. Then try to create a winding down routine at night, avoiding screens and stress, caffeine or alcohol to ensure your sleep is as undisturbed as possible.

Wake up at the same time every day (including weekends)

You might wince at the thought of having to get up early at the weekends and you are certainly not alone. However, it will help ease fatigue if you train your body to get up at the same time every day.

Sleeping in at the weekends means your body has to adjust first of all to the extra sleep and then again a couple of days later when you wake up earlier again for work. If this is you, no no wonder you’re always tired in the morning.

Take some time to do something you love first

If you wake up and jump straight into doing something you love doing, it will make it easier to wake up earlier with an optimistic and productive frame of mind. It’s also a good space to fit in a hobby that might otherwise get forgotten after a long day of work.

Try morning exercise

Exercise is a great way to wake up and start the day off with more energy. It gives you a rush of endorphins and a feeling of accomplishment before you’ve even sat down to work. At first you might be a bit tired and ache but this will wear off the more you do it.

Decide on a routine

Scheduling morning tasks both business and personal will keep you on track to make the most of your time. Just make sure when you sit down to make a plan that it’s realistic and you’re not trying to cram in too much.

Refresh and plan

When you finally do sit down to work, take a look through what you did yesterday and where you got up to in your work.

Then try to make a plan for the rest of the day that ensures you accomplish a couple of important things over the course of the working day. When you’ve finished make notes for the next day while it’s still fresh in your mind.

Do you have a morning routine to ensure you’re productive and not just clutching the coffee cup? Share your thoughts and tips in the comments!

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About The Author

Kara Copple

An experienced business and finance writer, sometimes moonlighting as a fiction writer and blogger.

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