What successful people do in their first hour of their work day?

Posted on by Live & Learn

sunrise #1

  1. Don’t Check Your Email For the First Hour.  Seriously.  Stop That.
  2. Gain Awareness, Be Grateful
  3. Do the Big, Shoulder-Sagging Stuff First
  4. Choose Your Frog (Tackle the terrible, weighty thing)
  5. Customer Service (Internal or External)
  6. Ask Yourself If You’re Doing What You Want to Do*

*When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

~ Steve Jobs @ a Stanford commencement speech

See full article @ Fast Company

 

 

27 thoughts on “What successful people do in their first hour of their work day?”

  1. Well this speaks to me and arguably all of us who ‘speak’ with each other regularly in the wee hours of the morning…And I’m definitely someone who does all necessary heavy lifting in the morning – the afternoons don’t hold much second wind. But in fairness to those who are late starters, I think their more effective in the inverse…Their most effective hours are in the afternoon, where they start kickin’ it and I begin to wonder where the nearest Starbucks is. So, I’m totally in agreement with this as long as there’s a caveat for those people who have biorhythms that are totally different…

          1. True – we’re writing to each other on David’s blog..and he’s the King of Inspiration (though he would so deny this it’s not even funny).

      2. There are so many points of reply here, where does one start. Leave it to Mimi to cover all sides of the argument and appeal to everyone’s kind heart. And Bless Anake – the timing of his posts seems to cover every hour of the day. And I find myself staring away in space looking and looking and looking at your posts. Hypnotist – that you are.

  2. And another voice heard for “The Breakfast Club.” :-). I, too, am rockin’ it in the a.m. And by 8:30 at night I’m seriously starting to suck wind. In terms of the list, I like it, though I fear dictum #1 would be wicked tough to follow. Wishing everyone a wonderful day filled with stuff they enjoy!

  3. Hey Dave,

    Again with an amazing post. Well even though I fear the person inside me but I am going to do it from tomorrow morning anyhow =)

    1. Rebekah, you don’t stand alone. I violate #1 like an addict. I don’t do #2 enough. The others – I generally attack with a vengeance. So, I have work to do!

  7. I never go into email until I’ve read all the great sites and searches that I track in Google Reader; people like you, Melody Beattie — good soul food! I learned a long time ago that ‘the first hour is the rudder of the day’ and I try to live by that…

    1. Thank you for the kind words Todd. But, I would say that you completely skirted the spirit of #1 – there is a fine line between email and surfing my friend. And you have completed blurred it. 🙂

  8. Hi David, Just pulled that article to send to my coaching clients – I do a five day a week 5 am call with a group of people for accountability – the call only lasts 15 minutes so we can use our first hours well – great post! Thank you!

  12. I am guilty…probably doesn’t help having iPad & iPhone next to bed or in it!! It must be that I can’t wait to see your next daily post. That makes me feel better! Actually very good article that I will use. Everyone says they are busy but busy doing what?

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