HOW MUCH DOES THE FIRST HOUR OF EVERY DAY MATTER? AS IT TURNS OUT, A LOT. IT CAN BE THE HOUR YOU SEE EVERYTHING CLEARLY, GET ONE REAL THING DONE, AND FOCUS ON THE HUMAN SIDE OF WORK RATHER THAN YOUR TASK LIST.
Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too.
The first hour of the workday goes a bit differently for Craig Newmark of Craigslist, David Karp of Tumblr, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, career writer (and Fast Company blogger) Brian Tracy, and others, and they’ll tell you it makes a big difference. Here are the first items on their daily to-do list.
DON’T CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR THE FIRST HOUR. SERIOUSLY. STOP THAT.
Tumblr founder David Karp will “try hard” not to check his email until 9:30 or 10 a.m., according to an Inc. profile of him. “Reading e-mails at home never feels good or productive,” Karp said. “If something urgently needs my attention, someone will call or text me.”
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