As you sit down to begin work for the day, what are you doing first? Wait, actually what did you do when you first woke up? I have a sneaking suspicion that you might be picking up your smart phone to either check email or browse your social apps of choice. Yes?? When you start working, are you again starting with email and the small tasks that are nagging at you to be checked off a list?

Let me say that you are not alone in the struggle. Here is an excerpt taken from the wonderful book, Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind (The 99U Book Series 2013 by Jocelyn K. Glei, 99U):

"....So long as he arrived at work already feeling tired, he instinctively put his energy into executing simple tasks. Doing so allowed him to feel productive without having to expend too much energy. It was the equivalent, he came to realize, of a sugar high" (p.53).

We all do it time after time (some more than others). It's so rewarding to check things off a list and feel like you are getting ahead, but when it comes time for the big important tasks, we fall short and it's easy to procrastinate.

What should you be doing first?

Well, everyone has to find their own flow, but I find that it's easiest to focus on my writing early in the morning or late at night when everyone is still asleep. However, later at night means I'm probably working up some stress hormones because I've already put in a full day.

As Benjamin Franklin is quoted to have said: "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

So I've begun getting to sleep and waking up early to write. Actually it's 6:11am as I write this now. I even finished early enough to take in the sunrise! Great way to start the day.

Quick Tip:

Try and find time in your week that is dedicated to solely generating ideas for the content you want to write about. This way you are ready to get to writing rather than get to contemplating topics.

Cheers to creating great content with clarity.

-Arica