If you joined the challenge we issued yesterday, today’s post is about defining what you’ll do in the morning. Remember, in our challenge, morning is when we do what absolutely must get done that day.

There are several reasons why mornings can be very productive. Our energy levels are high, our minds have been swept clean by a (hopefully) good night’s sleep, and of course, mornings are a natural beginning. With the exception of certain types of jobs that require you to be most productive at other times of the day (like busy nights at a restaurant), mornings lend themselves to higher productivity.

It’s not by chance that you find this sentence in the Bible quite often: “Early in the morning…” — followed by some major action.

So, your first order of the day is to think about and decide what absolutely must get done that day — and write it down. Emphasis on “absolutely must”. That means everything that cannot be carried over to the next day without some major consequences. Examples:

• If you don’t buy groceries today, you’ll have no dinner tonight
• If you don’t move on that project today, you’ll miss its deadline next Friday
• If you don’t pay that bill today, you’ll pay a late fee
• If you don’t read your study books today, you’ll find yourself cramming for the exam the night before
• If you don’t finish that report today, your boss will eat you for dinner tonight. Not a nice sight…

Resist adding things that don’t really have to get done that day. Remember, there’s always the afternoon to do those. You probably don’t have to check your Facebook or even the news first thing in the morning (they’ll most likely be the same by lunch time). So resist those time-wasters.

Once you’re clear on the “absolutely musts”, forget everything else, focus on them, and get going.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about afternoons. (Jump to next message here)