Simplify Your Morning Routine to Get More Out of Your Day

(Family Features) Some people wake up each morning refreshed, bright-eyed and ready to take on the day. Others slap the snooze button repeatedly and drag themselves begrudgingly from a cocoon of blankets. Whether you embrace the morning or muddle through, there’s little doubt that those early moments set the stage for the day ahead.

Give yourself the opportunity to focus on what matters most each day with these tips to simplify your mornings.

Prepare the night before. Many of your morning tasks will flow more smoothly if you take time to plan the night before. Consider what you’ll wear and ensure your outfit is clean and ready for the next day. If you brought work home, collect everything back into your bag or briefcase so nothing gets left behind in the morning rush.

Stick to a routine. Especially when you’re groggy, it can be easy to miss important steps. There’s no right or wrong way to go about your routine, but make it consistent. If you follow the same general pattern every day, habits will form so you can cross each task off your list in order.

Fuel up naturally. Busy mornings make it tempting to skip a morning meal, but a nutritious breakfast can help you reach optimal physical and mental function. When pouring your morning cup of coffee, consider non-dairy creamers. Simple, easy-to-pronounce ingredients like almond milk, coconut cream and real vanilla go into natural bliss Half and Half, providing an innovative, plant-based twist on the classic coffee creamer. Additionally, Oat Milk creamer is another non-dairy option that can replenish your body for the day ahead. Each flavor is crafted to offer simplicity and bliss in your morning routine.

Build in time for exercise. Get moving with some light exercise to get your blood pumping and metabolism revved up. Exercise need not be strenuous or lengthy. Even a half hour of yoga or brisk walking can jumpstart your system. Remember part of exercising is the nourishment that takes place before and after to refuel.

Unplug at breakfast. Once you find the discipline to regularly enjoy your breakfast at home, take the enjoyment one-step further by declaring the breakfast table an unplugged zone. Consider stirring an option like natural bliss Toasted Coconut creamer into your coffee, which offers a flavor that can transport you to an island oasis. Use the time to enjoy a moment for yourself or mentally prepare for the day ahead without the interruption of electronic pings.

Make your commute count. A lengthy commute can make a long day seem even longer, but those moments don’t have to be wasted. Use this time to find your workplace state of mind or review tasks and meetings to prioritize your plan of attack once you reach your desk. You might even use this time to give a presentation one last practice run.

Transform your mornings and find the full creamer portfolio at Coffeemate.com.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images

Get Focused

Plan to make productivity a priority

 (Family Features) Although there are many reasons to feel stressed in the workplace, productivity is often at the root. After all, productive employees are often perceived as the most valuable employees and when productivity fails, it tends to put everyone on edge.

Concerns about productivity are broadly founded. They may be related to your self-assessment of your own performance, or it could be that a manager is demanding more. Or maybe you’re collaborating with a team of peers and are struggling to find your footing, and collectively productivity is down.

Productivity is not only good for business; it’s good for worker morale, too. A productive work day can produce a sense of accomplishment and pride, and may result in a less stressful work environment. You can take a proactive role in improving your own productivity with these ideas.

1. Face a challenge head on. Procrastination can be the ultimate roadblock to productivity. For many, that means saving the least desired task on your to-do lists for the end of the day. However, by the end of the day, it’s too easy to delay the task until tomorrow. Instead, start the day with your least desired task. This is when you’ll have the most energy and you’ll kick off your day feeling accomplished, ready to tackle whatever comes next.

2. Be intentional with your time. It may seem counterintuitive, but taking breaks can help you have a more productive day. When you feel your energy start to wane, give yourself a timeout. Take a 15-minute walk, run the stairs or spend some time drawing in your notebook. Over the course of a week, pay attention to your schedule and start to plan your meetings and tasks around breaks so you’re working during periods of the day when you’re the most energized.

3. Capture ideas when they come. Let’s face it: not every great idea arrives at the ideal moment. While it’s possible to key your ideas immediately into your smartphone, that can come with multiple obnoxious distractions. However, trying to recreate that flash of inspiration at a more opportune time more often than not falls short with missing details.

An option like the Bamboo Slate smartpad allows you to write naturally with pen on any paper without the social media notifications and email alerts. With the push of a button, you can then convert your handwritten notes into “living” digital files. With Wacom Inkspace, you can organize, edit and share your notes and sketches on your enabled smartphone, tablet or other devices. In case you’re not near your mobile device when inspiration strikes, you can store up to 100 pages on your smartpad and sync later. Learn more at bamboo.wacom.com.

4. Identify areas for collaboration. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. The key is knowing yourself well enough to know when you need to ask for help to be more productive. Wasting time on tasks you don’t excel in can slow everyone down. Rather, find others whom you can collaborate with and learn from to help you improve your productivity over time.

5. Stay organized. When you’re working under continuous deadlines, things can really start to pile up – literally. Digging through a mess to find the report containing the data you need or the invoice to cross reference is a waste of precious time. Allow the clutter to build during the work day if you must, but make it a goal to never leave the office without bringing some order to the day’s chaos. Coming in each morning to a desk that is de-cluttered and ready for the day ahead can be a big productivity booster.

Learn to Make Lists with Purpose

List-making has long been revered as the classic time management tool, and technology makes it easier than ever to blend this analog task with your digital world by using smart notebooks like the Bamboo Slate to create an online to-do list.

Consider these three list styles to determine the approach that best fits your work style to put you on your way to more productive days:

Categorized lists. Most people start with a daily to-do list, focusing just on the most urgent tasks for the day. Once you’ve mastered that approach, try looking ahead to the future to help you meet your goals. For this technique, you might consider an annual list or even a life list to help put the big picture in perspective and make it more manageable to accomplish your desires. Others go so far as to categorize their time to focus their attention on different types of tasks on different days.

To-do vs. done lists. Another option is to use lists to catalog both the items you need to do and those you’ve already completed. A “done list” can be a motivating factor in pushing forward with your to-do list by letting you see your accomplishments in writing.