“It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom” ~ Aristotle

Get up early: getting up early is crucial but remember that getting up early starts with the night before. It means going to bed early enough to get sufficient rest. It also means getting up immediately without distractions (yes, I’m talking about our urge to immediately pick up our phones and check our social media.) It means checking the weather forecast the night before to know what to expect. It means making sure our clothes and shoes are clean or ironed and ready…

“If there are nine rabbits on the ground, if you want to catch one, just focus on one.” ~ Jack Ma

Multi-tasking, it has officially gone out of style. Studies have shown that multi-tasking reduces productivity by as much as 40% and what’s worse, multi-tasking may actually be damaging to our brains. So put your phone in the drawer, turn off the background music  and try working on something for about 20 minutes before stopping, then slowly increase the time to get to your ideal burst of focused work.

“Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.” ~ Douglas R. Hofstadter

Yes, everything does tend to take longer than we want or expect so do not overload your to-do list just to be disappointed by all the items you were not able to cross off the list in one day.

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” ~ Stephen Covey

This is an important one! Start with the most important (not urgent) items first when you have the most energy and patience in the first part of your day.

 “You may delay, but time will not.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Here is a rule of thumb for tasks ranging from answering emails to taking out the trash – if it takes 5 minutes or less, do it immediately!

“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” ~ Voltaire

Although subjective, it is always to keep the bigger picture of any project in mind and find the balance between perfecting and getting things done.

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” ~ Alexander Graham Bell

We live in an age where concentrating one just one thing is almost impossible, and we must consciously choose to push distractions away as we work. There are many tools and techniques to help. Start by removing your phone from sight as you work and check at a decided time (let’s say in 30 minutes or at lunch.) Turn off notifications from social media so you can be in control, not the other way around.

“Life is too complicated not to be orderly.” ~ Martha Stewart

Everyone has their own mess threshold so know yours and don’t let your things work against you. De-clutter if needed. Organize your calendar. Have a weekday “uniform” if it helps.