8 morning mistakes that ruin your whole day

If we almost arrived late and, finally, when we finally arrived at the workplace, immediately hung haphazardly in a crowded mailbox, it will be difficult to focus on something useful. What should not be done so that the working day does not go down the drain?

1. COMING TO WORK A LITTLE LATER THE START OF THE WORKING DAY

You can ruin your work day before it even starts. According to research, management prefers larks to owls and actually has a knack for noticing those who show up to the office later than others. Note that he is not late, but simply arrives a little later than the others.

Unmistakably identifying such people, managers tend to give them lower marks than they deserve, simply because they come into their field of vision at the wrong time.

And those who come to work earlier, on the contrary, are automatically recognized as the most conscientious employees and are more valued, regardless of the results of their work. Even if the reason for «consciousness» lies in the peculiarities of the schedule of the morning train.

And yes, it’s unfair, but that’s the reality, so try to get to the office a little earlier than common sense dictates.

2. Keep silent

Rushing to work while ignoring those present is a bad strategy that will not give you any bonuses. It is much more productive to spend precious time to greet colleagues. In addition to following the rules of etiquette, this will help you get on the same wavelength with them, especially if you arrived at the office later than others.

It is completely unacceptable to skip a greeting if you are a leader. Muttering “hello everyone” under your breath is also not the best option, even if you are a complete sociopath.

Your employees are your team, and you should at least pretend that you care, otherwise you risk losing their loyalty and even respect, which cannot be replaced by any competence and any skills in managing complex systems.

3. Drink coffee before 9:30

Morning coffee is a sacred thing, and there is nothing reprehensible in this office habit if your working day starts at 10 am. Recent studies on the effects of coffee on the human body indicate that the best time to drink coffee is after 9:30. But not before.

This is due to the level of cortisol — the «stress hormone» that regulates, among other things, our energy level. For most people, cortisol levels in the blood peak between 8 and 9 am.

This means that at this time our body does not need additional caffeine doping. Moreover, the abuse of coffee during this period contributes to the development of caffeine addiction.

So if you start work at 9 am or earlier, move your first coffee break to a later time when your body really needs to refuel.

4. Reply to every message

Before you had time to sit in a chair and turn on your computer, how do you obsessively rush to sort out everything that fell into your inbox during the night? But in vain.

It will be much better if you spend the first 10 minutes of your working day quickly «scanning» and evaluating incoming correspondence for its importance.

This approach will help you prioritize and understand if there is anything urgent in the mail. In addition, you will make a plan for how and when to answer the rest of your emails.

5. Grab to work without a clear plan of action

Are you not planning your daily work meticulously because you feel like there is nothing to plan, or because you are confident in your sense of timing?

Most likely, you are wasting time, jumping from one thing to another and, as a result, not having time to solve the most priority tasks.

Before you get to work, make sure you have a clear understanding of what needs to be done first.

There is nothing wrong with making a list of your highest priority tasks and making a sound estimate of the time you will spend on each one. Also, don’t forget to look at the calendar.

Otherwise, you risk being caught off guard by a message about a long-scheduled meeting that you forgot to prepare for because you fought heroically with the quarterly report.

6. Multitasking

Terrible news for anyone who believes they can multitask: only 2% of the world’s population can multitask without compromising their sanity or the quality of their work.

The desire to start doing as many things as possible, while there is strength, arises quite often. Suppress this desire and in the first minutes of your working day, after you have made a clear plan of action for today, start doing one thing.

7. Negative thoughts

Maybe you’ve been stepped on on the subway, or you’re out of your mind after being stuck in traffic for two hours on your way to work, or you’ve had a fight with your parents, or you’re terrified of layoffs—put that out of your head for a while.

Don’t let negative experiences ruin your career as well. Specialists find it much more productive to put their negative thoughts and grievances in a separate “box” and return to them, if necessary, later.

8. Breaking the routine

Human resources are limited, so they need to be spent sparingly. If you spend the entire beginning of the day trying to decide what to do first, whether to go through the mail, or drink coffee, or maybe start right away with the quarterly report, by the time you finally do it, you are already exhausted.

Routine is perceived by us rather in a negative context, as something boring and monotonous. This is partly true. But following a daily routine helps our brains use “automatic mode” where there is no need to make difficult decisions, and save energy that will be useful where these decisions are needed.

So create a schedule for yourself that avoids the mistakes listed here, and stick to it, saving you energy and boosting your productivity.