Debbie Mayo-Smith: How to increase your sense of accomplishment

When it's 7:00 AM, do you have a good feeling of accomplishment? By then I've written an article or two, reviewed and sorted my to-do list, as well as finished the first two or three items on it. Deleted the unnecessary emails. Admittedly though very productive, I still haven't 'arisen' but rather sat up and grabbed my laptop.

What are we talking about here?

It's having an early morning routine. Note the word routine.

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Time magazine had a snippet about a book "What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast," by Laura Vanderkam. She extensively studied the schedules of various high achievers. The one thing that they had in common; they got up early, and almost all of them also had a morning routine.

Not all of them worked. Many begin the day with physical, intellectual and spiritual pursuits.

Starting the day with a productive or fulfilling activity can increase your energy level and alertness for the rest of the day, she noted.

Richard Branson is also an advocate of embracing the morning.

"I have always been an early riser. Like keeping a positive outlook, or keeping fit, waking up early is a habit, which you must work on to maintain. Over my 50 years in business I have learned that if I rise early I can achieve so much more in a day, and therefore in life."

My advice?

You know there are only 24 hours to work with each day. Using your early morning moments to fit in - unstressed - activities you'd like to accomplish makes for a truly wonderful feeling of satisfaction.

The easiest way to begin, is to end your day with a to-do list. Add activities do you need to do to accomplish your goals. The exercise you'd like to do. The special family time you'd like. Then you're ready to begin early the next morning - all you need to do is add that dash of willpower (in the beginning) when that alarm rings!