For a long time, I started my day early in the morning by picking up my phone while laying in bed. One of the first things I’d do was check email. I wanted to quickly see how my day looked. I have a print shop and urgent print requests happen daily. I’m sure it’s similar in other industries. There are always urgent requests, fires to put out, etc. While checking email when you wake up may seem helpful, or even seem like a good way to plan out your day, I feel it is overall counterproductive.
Hold that thought a moment. Now the other thing we often do early in the morning, is look at our to do lists. There are often one or two items that we know are important (not necessarily urgent), but that we keep putting off to the next day. I’ve found a good habit is to try to take care of those items first thing in the morning, before checking email. Tim Ferriss refers to email as “everyone else’s agenda for your time?” Beginning your day with your own agenda, will help you manage your time better.
PS – This blog post probably wouldn’t have happened this morning, if I didn’t follow my own advice 🙂