If you’re the type to roll out of bed after your fifth snooze-button delay, climb sleepily into the shower and then rush to work like a crazed maniac, you might want to consider making some changes. Successful women know that starting the day right can mean the difference between being a boss and being a disaster. Here, nine things every successful woman does before 9am.
Nab These Successful Girl Secrets—Stat
Successful people don't like to rush or do things last-minute, as this can lead to mistakes and accidents that set back their day. To avoid harried mornings, try waking up earlier each day until you've padded in at least 30 minutes of downtime before the daily sprint begins. Do this by going to bed earlier each night—take it in five to 10-minute increments until you've worked your way up to 30. Then, use your newfound spare time to partake in the activities listed on the following slides—but don't overdo it. The whole point of adding this time to your day is to give yourself space to breathe.
Hitting the snooze button confuses your body's ability to prepare to get you functioning. If you wake your bod up and then immediately let it go back to sleep, especially more than once, what results is something called sleep inertia—that spacey, tired feeling that persists for two to four hours after you finally climb out of bed. (You know, the one you probably try to over-caffeinate away by guzzling coffee.) On top of it all, snoozing also makes it more difficult for you to fall asleep the following night. That extra five, 10, 20 or even 30+ minutes of snooze-button sleep is not worth it in the end, since it only lowers your productivity.
After six to nine hours without water, your body is thirsty. So is your brain, as it requires water in order to function properly. When you get up in the morning, before you do anything else, drink a glass of water. We suggest keeping it beside your bed so you can do so sleepily, instead of bumbling straight for your coffeemaker.
Every one-name mega-mogul from Gisele to Oprah swears by meditation, and for good reason—it's like an anti-aging treatment for the brain. It helps curb mind-wandering, is an effective anti-depressant and anti-anxiety treatment, increases focus and more. When it comes to meditation, anything helps, whether it's only five minutes or as long as an hour. If you're not a seasoned meditator, we highly recommend using an app to get started. Check out our beginner-friendly list, which includes the über-popular Headspace and others. We are also digging newbie Stop Breathe Think, as well.
As with meditation, stretching can help calm the mind. Regular stretches also counteract the negative effects of sitting hunched over your computer/iPhone screen for anywhere from nine to 20 hours each day. Even five minutes of simple stretches can be effective, but contrary to popular practice, it's best to stretch muscles when they're already warm. Jog in place or do a few jumping jacks before stretching for the best and safest results.
There are myriad reasons not to skip breakfast. Eating breakfast has been shown to increase energy levels throughout the day, reduce superfluous snacking and even improve short-term memory.
Not all lists are created equal; there are productive and not-so-productive ways to make a list. Most of us like to brain-dump every little thing we've ever hoped to get done onto the page and then end the day with about 90% of it still left staring at us. Don't do this. Instead, look at your brain-dump as a first draft, and keep editing it down until it's reasonable and practical. Only include the amount of tasks you can actually, realistically complete in a day, and look for ones you can delete altogether. (Note: If they've been on your list for months, they're not happening. DELETE.)
This can include anything from reading a mantra to scrawling an empowering word across your bathroom mirror. If you don't feel like coming up with one on your own, subscribe to Shine texts for a daily dose of self- and mood-improvement.
Make The Bed
Believe it or not, the habit of making your bed on a daily basis has been correlated to greater productivity throughout the day. It's also been connected to a host of other positives—people who make their beds are said to have a greater sense of wellbeing, actually like their jobs, own their homes and get better sleep. We kinda think this is a chicken vs. egg situation, wherein the type of person who employs this responsible habit is also just more responsible in general, leading to a chain reaction of awesomeness in their life, but it's worth picking up regardless.
