How To: Start Your Work Day Right

Feeling like you never have enough energy at work? These 5 tips will tell you how to start your work day right! 

1. Greet your Coworkers: Set, or help contribute, to a friendly and pleasant tone at your workplace by greeting your coworkers and asking them how they are! Conversing with your coworkers for a few minutes each morning can surprisingly make a huge difference on how well you perform throughout the rest of the day. Speeding into work every morning and making a beeline to your desk could easily make you appear unapproachable to your colleagues and/or team.
2. Avoid Going Straight for the Coffee: If you’re someone who drinks coffee, you probably grab a cup right when you get to the office. Yet, research suggests that the best time to drink your first cup of coffee is actually after 9:30a.m. This is because the stress hormone cortisol, which regulates energy, generally peaks between 8:00 and 9:00a.m. Therefore, drinking coffee anywhere between that first hour will automatically cause your body to produce less cortisol and to more heavily rely on caffeine in  the future.
3. Learn to Strategically Check your Email Inbox Each Morning: This means scanning your inbox and prioritizing each message, along with your other priorities for the day. Strategically checking your inbox each morning is important to keep in mind so you don’t get caught up in a number of random tasks and a slew of new information. Thoughtlessly checking your email throughout the day can become one of those tasks that make it feel like you are accomplishing things, when in reality it is only taking time away from your most important priorities
4. Avoid Multitasking: Many people make the mistake of choosing to multitask in the morning due to their high energy-levels. Yet, a number of research studies suggest that this can take away from the most important task at hand. With this, it’s better to do one thing at a time. This will ultimately allow you to be more focused and increasingly efficient.
5. Follow a Routine: Research suggests that our cognitive resources are limited, and are highest in the morning. Therefore, if you have any control over your routine work schedule, prioritize tasks that require significant amounts of concentration and focus for the morning. Furthermore, when we stick to a routine it ultimately becomes habitual which allows our brains to run on automatic for a while.

Check out the following resources:

• 6 Tips to be Healthier at Work
• 6 Simple Ways to Enjoy Your Work, Daily