The first hours of your day hold disproportionate power over the rest. It’s not that mornings are magical; it’s that they are YOURS. Mornings precede the urgency of others, calendar hijacks, and other people’s priorities flooding into your inbox.

Most leaders I work with start their mornings strong. They have clarity at dawn. But by mid-afternoon, they find themselves in reactive mode, bouncing between what’s loud instead of what’s important.

The truth of this pattern is that while we architect our mornings, we survive our afternoons.
(Are you nodding your head? Is this you? This was me the other day, hence this post today.)

5 Tips to Win Your Morning
(These work if you choose them; I didn’t and paid the price.)

  1. Name your posture: How do you want to lead today? Steady? Curious? Direct? This is an intentional, situational, strategic decision on your part. Your energy sets the temperature for everyone around you. What is needed today, and how will I sustain that?
  2. Protect one priority: What activity, meeting, or decision moves the needle today? Defend that priority from the tyranny of the urgent.
  3. Stack an early win: Momentum is a compounding asset. Generate it before your first meeting. Win one thing before you get “working”.
  4. Front-load friction: The hardest work deserves your freshest thinking. Tackle it first. I’m a big fan of Brian Tracy’s classic book Eat That Frog; it’s a classic for a reason.
  5. Delay the digital deluge: Your phone is everyone else’s agenda. Give yourself an hour before you open that intruder. (I’m particularly guilty of not doing this, but new year, new me, right? I’ve been pretty good so far…)

It’s important to manage our energy throughout the day. Energy management matters more than time management. When our energy reserves run low, our focus frays and our discipline weakens. That’s when we default to survival mode (and deliciously unhealthy snacks).

4 Tips to Replenish Your Afternoon

  1. Stop mid-stride and ask: What’s the one thing worth doing well before this day ends?
  2. Reset physically: Movement restores mental clarity, as does fresh oxygen. Stand up. Go for a ten-minute stroll. Walk to get your mail (from an actual mailbox). Take your lunch outside. The body and brain are not separate systems; reset one, and you reset the other.
  3. Fuel deliberately: Dehydration masquerades as fatigue. So does hunger. Coffee is the nectar of the Gods (in my opinion), but I know….water is our life source. Hydrate your brain accordingly.
  4. Encourage someone: It takes less than sixty seconds to send a two-line message or text. Even a quick call is invigorating and refueling for both people.

 
Win the morning by trying a few of these strategies; start with one!
Treat the afternoon as replenishment, not just a continual expenditure.

Which tips are you willing to try? Send me a two-line message and let me know!