4 Useful Things You Could Do Tomorrow
Commanding Influence: Build A Strong Online Presence
Let’s face it, there are a lot of things that each of us could do to increase our productivity and maximize our effectiveness in life, for our spouses, for our employers, and for our websites and blogs. The following are four very practical and useful things that could be done to help us accomplish those goals.
Each of these four tips will help you as you develop your skills as a blogger or webmaster. Think about the impact on your lifestyle and on your schedule that each of these ideas could have on you.
Get Up Earlier
Truth be told, it wouldn’t hurt you to wake up a few minutes earlier. Of course, this might mean going to bed a few minutes earlier but that would probably be good for you as well. Benjamin Franklin was onto something when he said, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise!”
It is pretty much a given that you will be able to focus on something more meaningful during the early morning hours than during the late evening. You can spend the extra time on whatever pursuit that you see fit. You can spend more time studying or maybe get in an extra post written. Perhaps you could spend some extra time talking to your spouse or to someone you love. Whatever you choose, you won’t go wrong waking up an extra fifteen minutes earlier than usual.
Work Out for a Few Minutes
You could even use you extra time in the morning to do a few exercises. I know that sounds horrible, but there isn’t one of us that couldn’t use a few extra jumping jacks, crunches, or a short walk or jog on the treadmill or around the block. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, young or old. Everyone could use a little exercise.
You will feel much better throughout the day. In fact, you will probably feel energized as you set about to accomplish your tasks throughout the day. Also if you are on a diet, this is the best thing to go along with it.
Start Your Day With A Prioritized To-Do List
You will absolutely be surprised at how much more productive you can be when you have your daily goals and objectives visualized in the form of a written list. It will help you not forget what you have to accomplish and it will motivate you as you are able to check each item off of your list.
Organize Your Work Space
Whether you work in a corporate environment or at home schooling a handful of children, you will find things much easier when they are organized. Take some extra time and straighten your desk, clean your class area, organize your laundry room, or clean out your car! I got a few of you on that last one, huh? Working in a clean and organized environment will transform your perspective on your work. You will be surprised how it will help you to get more done.
Tonight while you are setting your alarm, think about which of these ideas you can practice tomorrow. Think about what you want to accomplish and remember that these four steps will help you get them done.
Nicholas Cardot
Nick uses his blog Site Sketch 101 to express his passion for helping bloggers and webmasters connect with real people through brilliant designs, unique content, and genuine creativity. Nicholas Cardot has 199 post(s) at Site Sketch 101
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Bakari said:
Exercise is always high on my to do list and early in the morning is the best time for me.
I agree with you that it helps you throughout the day. Besides the later you wait the more likely it will not happen.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Bakari » That’s exactly right. I’m actually in the U.S. Army so I have to exercise every morning but I feel much more alert throughout the day than I did previously. It really helps your overall motivation levels.
Evan & Nelson » I won’t deny that some people do better work at night than in the morning, but I’ve noticed that those people are the exception and not the rule. Benjamin Franklin was on to something when he opined “Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” I’m up at 5:00 AM or earlier every morning and I get so much more done than I do on the days that I sleep in. Now don’t mistake me. I am not saying that everyone should get up that early. Lord knows that when I don’t have to work I sleep in a little bit because 5:00 AM is REALLY early. But people who sleep until noon every day aren’t going to get as much done as people who just get up and get some stuff done. Also, it’s more about having a regular sleep patten than just getting up. If you sleep the same hours every night you will probably be more alert and focused than if you sleep 8 hours every night but its always at different hours.
Nelson really sums it up well. You really have to explore your own limits and ideals and find what works best for you. With subjects like this it is more about presenting you with a general principle so that you can understand what usually works well. It’s really an art, not a science. Explore. Find out what works.
Evan said:
The “getting up earlier” is the hard one. I find that I always get sucked into tweaking or working on my blog, and the next thing I know it is really late, and I’m dog tired the next morning. I need to find a way to force myself to drop whatever I’m working on, and get to bed at a set time.
sbcjr said:
Excellent advice! It really does take some resolution to set things down and go to bed.
nelson said:
great advice although i should stress a little on the first part – the getting up early .
now i’m not saying it is not good advice .. cause it is . for about 70-80 percent of people out there .
but there are those that actually work better at night . or in the evenings . or etc . etc .
i know this because if i go to bed at 11 pm and i wake up at 7 pm … you might call that a good solid sleep , right ?
wrong for me . i wake up at 7 , am active up untill 8-9 and then … i’m weezy all day long . can’t concentrate , can’t do anything right .
however … if i go to bed at 8-9 am … and sleep throughout the day untill 5-6 pm … then i am active until 5-6 am the next day .
i mean really active . i get things done . i do in one night the work i am able to do in 2-3 days .
i’ve tried for 2-3 years to change this … without any result . i just can’t work during the day .
so eventually … i gave it all up , got into freelancing … and started working night hours . great hours .
it kinde blows your social life up … but hey … i never really needed friend s and family
) …
my point is you should first get a good grip on your good hours , the hours that give you the edge . and to do that you should try working at various hours of the day ( or night ) and see how your productivity develops .
Satkrit said:
I sleep around 11 and wake up around 9 (in summer). That may be a bit too much but I need my beauty sleep
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Satkrit » That’s funny. I need my beauty sleep too but my job makes me get up early. LOL.
Anthony said:
This is spot-on, been thinking about doing all these. Time to start DOING!
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Anthony » Ha ha. Isn’t that the case for all of us. I know there’s a ton of things that I need to stop thinking about and actually start doing. Thanks for stopping by!
Daniel A. said:
I going to try do this on a daily bases. I do not think I will be able to get up early every day for 2 reasons first, its going to be hard becaus ei love to sleep, the second reason is because if I get up earlier and earlier then I will not sleep at all =P
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Daniel A. –> Ha ha. That’s a good one. I have to be at work every day at 5:45AM and I actually set my alarm ten minutes earlier than I need to so that I can have a few minutes to focus on replying to comments. But I suppose that you are right. If I took off ten more minutes every day then I would be waking up before I even go to sleep eventually.
Mukund said:
I completely agree with all the tips that you have provided there! But to be very frank, I never practice any of the above just because I am lazy! Hope I change my attitude after this post!
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Mukund –> Ha ha. Well get to it and watch your site start growing.
Ron Boracay said:
I always included “prayers” every morning.
I am not that religious but saying a little Thanks for a great day ahead is so worth it.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Ron Boracay –> That’s a good task to do every day.
Mukund said:
This task is pretty common in India and other Zones od Asia!! Infact, I pray God before I sleep, simply to thank him for the day! What ever, it is obviously a good task!!
Ron Boracay said:
Asia is known to be a religious continent. I think, that is why we all have the same tradition and faith even though we have gazillion of religions.
Mukund said:
You are absolutely right! We worship different idols but our actions resemble the same!!
akira07 said:
It’s because our God is same
.
About praying, i’m embarassed to tell that i just pray 2 times per day (before and after sleep).
Anyway, i wake up earlier again. Now my local time is 4.31 AM
Mukund said:
Haha!! Yes! May be! I think you will never sleep if you go at this rate!!!
Ron Boracay said:
Yep, its all about the faith on the creator (although we have different names for Him). Well, it’s look like our discussion is getting spiritual ah?
Mukund said:
Exactly! We are getting into a spiritual talk rather than blogging! I hope Nick does not mind other discussions too!!
Pinaybackpacker said:
Yey!!! I did #1 and 2 today!:D
The priority list is on a weekly basis for me. I found out that I get too overwhelmed with having 10 items on my priority list everyday and I feel frustrated if I can’t check off every item on the list so I worked around it.
I think it’s important to let yourself feel good about your accomplishments and one way to do that is not to aim for too many things that you well know you will not be able to achieve given a 24-hour period or 40-hour week, whichever applies.
The work area is a work in progress. Been sorting through a lot of papers and books which I can recycle or give away especially now that Christmas is coming.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Pinaybackpacker –> It’s good that you took the time to figure out what works for you and then made it happen. A weekly priority list is better than a daily priority list if that is what works for you. Thanks for putting these ideas out to us. You’re right that it can be discouraging to make lists and never get them accomplished. It really is important to make attainable goals for your days and weeks.
ZXT said:
3 out of 4 is not bad I guess.
I’m pretty sure I can do all 4 sooner or later. Sometimes I can do 1 2 3 but not 4 and sometimes all except number 1.
Ron Boracay said:
Organizing a workspace is very hard to all of us, specially for bloggers like us.
But I do that once a week, every friday afternoon before enjoying my weekend.
akira07 said:
Thanks for the article.
I’m in way to “be friendly” with To-Do List. I just fear i can’t consistent with it.
Anyway, i’m smiling when read “wake up earlier”. When this post is created, it’s 5.20AM in my local time. I’m wake up because i have some work in internet. I do this since a long time, when i have important job/deadline work, i’m always wake up earlier. But there is funny fact, i’m oftenly miss my plan to wake earlier because i’m shut down my alarm when i’m sleeping…!!! Hahaha
Arisu said:
Now, all those are things I should do. I just get too tired being a grown-up, but I guess a To-Do List can help with that.
Kok Siong Chen said:
Yes! I think to-do-list is an important tool to help us live in well-organized life.
For instance, reading the articles in Sitesketch101.com and leave comments is the top of my prioritized to-do-list today!
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