First Hour of Work Doesn't Have to Be Hard. Follow These 6 Steps

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Getting out of bed to a day full of tasks, urgent emails to reply to, meeting to join, and unexpected problems to solve is very stressful, especially when working from home and missing work-life balance.

There's a quote saying, "Successful people can weed out the noise in their first hour and focus on what matters." These golden words should apply to everyone to help in getting ready for a good day. Creating the first-hour schedule will change your mindset and attitude. You'll feel more relaxed, more in control, and more comfortable in achieving your tasks. You'll spend happier workdays now and coming!

How can you manage the first hour of your day to spend a more manageable and productive day?

The first Hour of Work Doesn't Have to Be Hard. Follow These 6 Steps

9:00-9:05

Train your mind: Relax for 5 minutes. Don't head from your bed to your desk. Start earlier. Spend some time in defining what the fundamental goal is that you want to accomplish today. Thinking of this target will help you stay focused and make your day more enjoyable. Do this while making your morning coffee, surfing your social media accounts, or any other activity you enjoy.

9:05-9:15

To-Do List Time. It's essential to know what's coming during your day. Wrong prioritizing for tasks, or missing appointments or deadlines, will lead to needless tension and anxiety. Whether in a notebook, schedule, or organizational app, a shortlist helps to give you an outline of your day, and you can start to organize and schedule. Go through your list and arrange everything by assigning each object a score of 1-10. (1 for less important and ten for urgent tasks). This means that you'll know what to do first and that your tasks will not be skipped or delayed.

9:15-9:30

Decide The Main Task. After prioritizing your to-do list, look at which tasks take a long time and require concentrated effort, e.g., 2 hours could be needed for planning, reviewing, or analysis. Determine the significant job you're going to work during that day, and arrange everything else for it. It's vital to consider these significant tasks early to approach them while having enough energy and reduce stress levels.

9:30-9:45

List your meetings and Get Ready. Create a list of your daily meetings and think about what you should prepare to be ready for the meetings, how long will it be, will you have any urgent tasks after it? All of these aspects help you schedule not only for a meeting but also for the time you may require before or after a meeting to ensure that you are organized and ready.

9:45-9:50

Check your emails. Just have a quick look at your emails. Begin your day proactively, not reactively. If you start responding to emails in the first hour of your day, You'll feel exhausted and stressed as new assignments and inquiries will arise. Scan through emails to search for any modifications to the meetings or the project or activities you've already prepared, as changes can affect how you've arranged your tasks. Check also if any emergencies would need a rapid response from you. Try to prioritize your emails by classifying them according to priority.

9:50-10:00

Writing or reading minutes. In the last 10 minutes, start writing a text or a paper since you're more concentrated and excited in the morning and less depressed because you have arranged your time. Or if you have an important document, you need to read for a planning conference, read it, and make notes.

A few more additional tips to remember while handling your first-hour job stress:

Be realistic while setting your to-do list: It's better to list 5 tasks and achieve them than listing 20 tasks and achieve only half of them. This will motivate you to accomplish more tasks.

Schedule meetings after the first hour: The first hour of the day is where you have the greatest concentration on concentrated work. If you should start your day with a meeting, make sure it's a meeting that needs a high degree of attention. Save more comfortable meetings for the afternoon since the morning can be reserved for tasks where you have the power and enthusiasm to work on them.

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