Mornings are kinda the most important part of the day because they set the whole mood and dynamic for the day ahead. So making sure you organise your time and activities after you wake up is basically the key to having a successful and fulfilling day.

That’s why I’m giving you 5 ideas based on what I usually do my best to do in the morning that have proven to make my days better.

Don’t sleep in

No matter how tempting it’s not gonna get you off to a good start. You’ll end up not much more refreshed but already pressured and in a hurry if not even late…even if you’re really sleepy better put effort and create a habit of jumping out the bed and simply having some spare coffee minutes later.

Take care of skincare

No matter what - we don’t sleep with make up on. That’s about rule one, but there are many more rules when it comes to quality skincare. Anyway it’s most important to not skip it or forget about it even on a hasty morning. It’s one of the things that take consistency and have long term positive effects and who doesn’t want that.

Don’t entirely skip nutrition

So many people skip any nutrients in the morning and I am getting more and more convinced in time that it’s not a good idea. Sooner or later it influences your overall meal plan and energy levels. So no matter if you opt for breakfast or just a cappuccino, my advice is to make sure you get yourself a little something. It’ll start off your body for the day.

Get inspired

Starting the day in a good mood is crucial for how it’s gonna go. So no matter if you choose to listen to music, flip through a favourite book or just get creative with accessorising - make sure you let your mind go into a beautiful direction.

Dress it up

Although I don’t really agree that you can never be overdressed and my motto is kinda more about wearing the right thing for the right occasion, treating yourself to a good outfit is a great day starter. No matter what style or aesthetic, putting together an outfit that makes you both feel and look good will sure add up to a successful morning. They’ll make you enjoy the day more and make you feel more confident.

How to manage your to-do list and be more productive?

It’s March already and it seems like it’s officially time to be feeling accomplished in 2021. And after a tough 2020 and so many things we just couldn’t do, no we have a great opportunity to put some work into finalizing all pending projects and then celebrating all these achievements. I currently have both work and personal to-do lists for the month consisting of about a 100 pretty complex tasks each (everything from purchsing furniture, great amount of additional tasks at work, preparing big scale print orders for my illustration brand etc.) and it’s been so busy ever since the start of the year.

So I found myself using all ideas, resources, advice and books I could in order to do it all succesfully, stay calm and have great results I’ll be proud of. I conducted a couple of experiements with my schedule and habits to discover what works best, I tested some popular tricks and techniques to tell you if they really are useful and I have gathered all facts here to share with you and to help you with your tasks and productivity.

1. limit distractions

It sounds simple but it’s actually not because you might easily get caught up in a complex task with many subtasks and find yourself not knowing where to start or you could jut start procrastinating distracted by emails, social media, a convo with a friend etc. Just DON’T! - don’t let it happen because it would ruin your schedule and today’s the best opportunity to give up on those bad habits. If it’s really hard for you to focus maybe try using the Microsoft Focus plan or the Pomodoro app based on the popular productivity technique or even a handwritten journal where you can enjoy crossing out items off your to-do list. It’s impotant to focus on one task at a time until you finish it or at least make some significant progress on it.

Curiousity can also be a distraction - for example I often find myself interested into new topics or names dropped - of a brand, person, movie etc. I am just very curious and really pile up lots of research ideas in my mind. And I’ve recently found out that researching new things really pumps me up so I decided to make small reseach my go-to first task that would work like a good dopamine booster and motivate me to deal with the other tasks throughout the day. In fact it’s all about finding the best producitvity tricks that work for yourself. Ever wondered what sriracha is or what movies’s got the most Oscars awards ever, now’s your time to research. Take 5 minutes for this then start your focused work time.

2. give yourself rewards

We don’t talk enough about quality breaks and why they are crucial. A 10 minute break can help you accomplish two hours worth of work in about only one hour. Trust me and give it a try to find proof yourself.

We have all read about it and been told mulitple times by friends and family that we should make sure to limit screen time, take breaks, go get some fresh air etc.…but we still seem to forget it sometimes. Please do not forget. They key to productivity is a balanced day, not being too busy and there’s plenty of research on the topic in so many scientific articles.

Make sure to take some spare minutes for a coffee, snack, dancing along to a fave tune, playing an instrument or doing some pushups - whatever you want. It will help you feel better and recharge you for a new set of tasks.

3. write it down

Declutter and get rid of all old to-do lists, notes or any desk mess. Spend a quality half an hour (only half an hour! you shouldn’t turn this into a chance to procrastinate) prioritizing your tasks and make sure you’re left with only one to-do list - it’s a lot easier to progress this way. Writing tasks on sticky notes every day or piling up various to-do lists will not help you in any way. For example I once found myself with so many tasks that my to-do list was literally giant, foldable and consisting of 3 pieces of paper. But it’s okay, we start with task one and go on until everything is done. :)

4. have a dream map

That’s a very useful long-term approach. I recently created my dream map and I should confess that it is a real game changer. It helps you stay focused in the long term and remind yourself what your big goals are so that you stay motivated to do your day-to-day tasks that will bring you closer to success in those areas. The whole process of rethinking your goals, making desicions and re-affirming your belief that all is possible can really help you and give you some positive energy to invest in even the dullest of tasks.

My dream map is from Dari from Dflowlab и Pop art portrety and I’ve shared my whole experience creating it in this article together with some more pictures.

5. just do it

Nike said it well - now just do it.

Start with the smallest and simplest tasks, break down the bigger ones in small ones and just go. You know your priorities, most important and favourite tasks - yes! you do! And if you’re trying to tell me you don’t, you’re just trying to procrastinate again. Just think of a random task you’ve been putting off and really hate - now go do it, just like that, eat the frog first. Then comes the next one, it’s that simple. Usually the hardest thing is to start, that’s the trick - there’s no trick. :)

Thank you for reading, hope my advise will be useful and you’ll really level up your productivity game.

- Nicole