An unexpected billionaire morning routine that will get you ahead of the competition
Since I started getting into self-improvement I have tried many different morning routines. From meditation to journalling to cold showers, I have tried to cultivate all kinds of morning habits to feel better and to be more successful.
On social media we often see videos from ‘influencers’ that tell us to wake up at 5 am and go to the gym at 6 am, do some stretching and take a cold shower, then do some reading, and only then start working. Some of these videos may be ironic but I think that for many of us, this routine is a bit unrealistic.
However, I recently came across a YouTube video with a completely different take. In this video, the creator said that billionaires don’t have time to do all this nonsense in the morning. They wake up and start working. Simple as that.
As a university student, I usually don’t like to wake up before 9 am. My current morning routine which involves a cold shower and a long breakfast often takes about 1.5 hours before I get to work and sometimes I procrastinate because I don’t feel like working and I will only start at noon.
Thus, I got curious and wanted to try this new habit out for myself. This morning, I gave this ‘billionaire habit’ a shot for the first time. I woke up at 9 am, went to the bathroom, drank a glass of water, and before I knew it I sat behind my desk and started doing some important tasks that I set out the night before. And the result? I haven’t been this productive in a while! I almost finished my entire to-do list in the first 1.5 hours of the day. Feels good.
Tips to make this habit work
Here are some tips before you try to implement this into your life.
- Prepare the night before. Write down what you want to achieve in these first 1.5–2 hours after waking up. Set up everything in a way so that the barrier to starting your task is as low as possible. This is the best time to work on the most important/hardest task of the day. So, think about what task can get you ahead. Eat the frog.
- Set your alarm clock at a reasonable time for you so that you get enough sleep.
- Turn your phone off. I recommend turning your phone off the night before, or if you need it as your alarm, put your phone on airplane mode to get rid of any distractions in the morning. Hold yourself accountable to only check your phone after your work session.
- Set a timer during your work session. Allow yourself to stop working when the timer is over and not distract yourself with other things during your working session.
- Avoid dopamine spikes before and after your work session. Dopamine is the hormone that is responsible for motivation. It might sound contradictory to not reward yourself for a great work session but if you don’t reward yourself too much after your work session and do not let yourself be involved in high dopamine activities (like checking social media) before your work session, you will get dopamine from the work itself. Ultimately, this will make you more motivated and focused during your work.
I would love to hear if this productivity habit works for you and whether you learned something from this article. You can follow me for more straight-to-the-point self-improvement content that helps ambitious people like you to live more successful and fulfilling lives.
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