Looking for morning productivity tips? If one of your goals is to become more productive as a blogger, you’ll need to set your alarm earlier. There are several things to do before 9 am for a productive morning, to achieve your business or blogging goals on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
Many studies have found that most people are the most productive between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
At this point in the day, you should be focusing on the most important tasks. Not the small ones that you can do when you’re a bit tired and mentally fatigued.
A consistent, productive morning routine for bloggers can greatly accelerate blog growth.
Although I’m a night owl, I’ve found that I do my best work in the morning. But starting the day off by doing a few small tasks can put me on a path towards greater productivity throughout the day. Now you’re probably wondering “What should I do before 9 am?”
I’ll share some of my secrets and tips and how to get past the small stuff in the morning to get started on the big stuff right at 9 AM.
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Getting Past The “I’m Not A Morning Person” Excuse
You may say though: “I’m not a morning person!”
However, you can condition yourself to work and achieve things in the morning.
You may also say; “I’m busy getting my kids ready for the day!”
Okay. That’s a valid excuse. However, you can set your wake-up time to 30 minutes to an hour earlier before they get up, to get a few key things done.
I’m often up at 5 a.m. My son is usually up at 6:30 a.m. That extra 90 minutes gives me some time to myself.
I’m sharing with you a recommended morning routine.
You don’t have to copy it! You can make your custom list of productive activities that will work for you.
I’m just giving you a suggested routine as a foundation for one that’s perfect for you.
Things To Do Before 9 AM For A Productive Morning
Let’s delve into this productive morning routine for bloggers and solopreneurs.
First things first: wake up no later than 6 AM.
If you can wake up before 6 AM, do it, as it will give you a bit more time to get through some of these activities.
- Do a stretch, take care of yourself and your body first. (5 minutes)
- If spiritual, say a prayer, and meditate for a few minutes. If not, consider a journal for positive thinking. (5 minutes)
- Have a cup of coffee or tea or a smoothie. Keep to a daily routine of morning breakfast. (10-20 minutes)
- Write out your wish list for one or two goals you want to accomplish that day. (5 minutes – while enjoying your coffee or breakfast).
- Take a shower and get dressed. If you have kids, start getting them up and ready for school or homeschooling. (20 – 40 minutes)
- Write your complete “To Do List” with small activities, to big priorities. Add what content you want to create. What you want to promote. Who do you need to connect with that day. (5 to 10 minutes)
- Do a quick read-through of the latest news for your niche, as well as blogging news, and the latest on social media media and marketing. Bookmark any headlines that intrigue you for later reading (for example, during lunchtime or during a break. (5 minutes)
- Respond to two to three key emails. (20 minutes)
Total time spent: 1 hour & 15 minutes +
So, if you’re finishing all of this up before 9 AM, then you can easily get your day started at 6:30 AM and slay it – with some extra time to spare. Right?
At some point, where it works in your schedule, get the kids breakfast and get them to school. That’s all dependent on your own schedules.
Once you’re done with the top emails, get started with your work!
| READ MORE: 5 Productivity Tips For Growing An Online Business
Morning Productivity Tips: Juggling Family With Morning Routines
Is it possible to do things before 9 a.m. for a product morning if you have a family?
If you have kids, I expect you will be doing all of this in between dealing with kids’ demands, issues and questions. But it’s all doable!
I find the best thing to do is to write out the routine with extra padded time for each activity. So if you usually can hammer out two emails in 15 minutes, give yourself half an hour instead.
You may need to shorten how much time you spend on things or skip them:
- Say a quick prayer while you stretch, or if you’re not spiritual, skip the journal.
- Write out your to-do list while eating breakfast
- Skim through the marketing/blogging/social media news headlines during breakfast
| READ MORE: How To Balance Being A Mom With Blogging – Productivity Tips
But What If You’re Blogging As An Evening Side Hustle?
If blogging is a side hustle that’s extra to a day job, you can modify these morning productivity tips.
I don’t blog full-time, so I’ve adjusted my list of things to do before 9 AM to work with my typical days.
What works for me is to cut out the daily to-do list to create a weekly to-do list. I also respond to emails in the evenings after my son has gone to sleep.
It might be that you may have to write your to-do list every night before going to bed. That way, you’re prepared for the next day.
Sh*t Happens, But Get Back On Track Fast
Some days won’t go well for you. You won’t keep to your new morning productivity schedule because the alarm didn’t go off.
Or your kids are acting up.
It’s OK to have off days.
The key is to get back on track quickly. Setting up good habits for yourself takes time. “Falling off the wagon” is easy.
What’s harder is to re-commit yourself to start up your good productivity habits again.
You may need to change my recommended list of morning productivity tips to suit your needs, and that’s fine too!
Ultimately, what I’m trying to share with you is an approach to structuring your morning. A way to get organized and do the small stuff that will help you achieve your daily goals.
I hope this works for you!
| RELATED: 10 Smart Ways To Get Back Into A Productive Routine
Morning Productivity Tip For Pinterest Users
One of the best tips for things to do before 9 AM for a product morning is to squeeze in activities that you probably are going to do later.
If you’re using Pinterest to promote your blog, you may want to slip 10 minutes into your morning routine to create a couple of pins.
You can create a few pins quickly if you use Pinterest templates.
I’ve got a batch of 10 free Pinterest templates for Canva that you can create on your phone or tablet without having to boot up your computer. They’re easily customizable to your image, font and brand palette needs.
This is one of the reasons why I love Canva – you can use the app to create Pinterest pins at any time of the morning, on the fly!
If you make one of your blog goals this year to be more productive, get started creating a routine to get yourself organized before 9 a.m.!
| READ MORE: The Best Productivity Tips For Working From Home For Bloggers & Solopreneurs
Be Productive In The Morning For Blogging And Business Success
If you’re still not convinced to be a morning productive person, try it for a week. See how much you accomplish.
Starting up your own blog or small business can be costly. Some bloggers and solopreneurs use early mornings to make some extra money to fund their own businesses.
I’ve shared several smart ways to make at least an extra $100 a month with easy, legitimate online activities.
If you’re doing well financially, spend the time to get yourself organized and get down to work faster!
QUESTION: What are things to do before 9 AM that you already do to keep yourself organized throughout the day?
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Love that you mention it’s okay to have off days in your routines! And I totally see that my productive time is mid morning, so I like the idea of getting the smaller stuff out of the way so you can start working on the bigger items at 9 already feeling accomplished! 🙂 My morning (and evening) routines have really done me well, and set me up for a productive day and restful sleep! I swear by the value of a routine!
YES! We start off with routines as little kids, and those that keep them do flourish. The taking a break is good. Changing up the routine occasionally is good. Keeps the monotony at bay.
One of the best things I started doing in the morning is to get my coffee, then go into the living room and just watch a TV show. This way, I can enjoy my cup of coffee before doing anything else. With the Holidays, I got used to waking up later, so I’ve been having trouble doing this for the past couple of weeks, but I just need to start doing it again 🙂 I was so much more productive for the rest of the day, even though I would wake up earlier.
I also make my bed. Somehow, it helps my mental health!
I too fell “off the wagon” with the later wake-ups. I like the idea of watching a TV show and just taking it slow, when it’s a “do nothing” day, that ends up being somewhat productive! Great tip about making the bed.
Thanks for sharing. Great tips and a lovely blog post. I really need to get my acts together and start doing more things in the morning. It’s very hard because of the lockdown here in the UK to focus on my goals for the year.
Howdy neighbour, waving from Hamilton mountain!
It’s taken me about a year to refine my morning routine and hope it’s ok to share?
Wake up at 5am – listen to affirmations and motivational music for one hour. This sets the tone for the day.
6am – hubby is already getting ready to take Mia out for her 2 hour walk along the Mountain Brow (I treasure the quiet and personal time). Get the coffee ready, Mia’s breakfast, medication and supplements organized. Anything else like prepping food that has to marinade etc. Eat my protein bar and a double caffeine-free spice dragon chai tea in milk (for my calcium and vitamin d – thanks winter)
7am – Work through a course I’m taking – work on this for 60 minutes.
8am – Joe and Mia are usually home around 8, so feed Mia and do the breakfast thing, watch the local news.
8:30 – Do my hair and makeup for filming training videos
8:45 – review my to-do list for the day (prepared the night before)
9am – rule the day!
Key things I changed:
– I don’t touch my phone until after 9am
– I don’t check email until after lunch and even then, only check it 2 times in the afternoon and never after 4:30
– I don’t listen to the radio anymore, only tracks from Brain.FM if I’m having trouble focusing.
– Removed all social media apps off my phone and turned every notification off, except for my hubby, kids and the grandkids.
– 9am-noon is for creative work only
– 1pm to 4:30pm – calls and admin – I setup Book Like a Boss to only take bookings for calls between 1-4
– caffeine-free teas throughout the day ’cause I hate the taste of water (go figure)
Setting these boundaries I thought would be really hard, but nope, it worked out really well. I feel better because I’m less stressed which means I sleep better.
Well hello back neighbour! It sounds like you really have a GREAT system. I love your tips! This works for you, and I really think everybody has a system that works for them. It’s the question of how to get started, and getting into the routine.
This what was the kick in the but I needed. Hopefully, I will feel the same in the am.
Welcome to the club – I’m responding to this at 6:47 am! 😀
This is fantastic. I’ve been researching, preparing, and organizing my thoughts for some time now – hoping to be able to begin my blog this year. I’ve really been lost on where to begin, and this has really helped me gain some direction and how to start being productive first thing in the morning… I am NOT a morning person at all, but I think that with a routine similar to these that I can become more of a morning person – or at least fake it until I am! Thanks!
It will happen in no time – just need a bit of willpower to get up and going!
Love these! And I totally agree. Morning is where it’s at.
Welcome to the 6AM club
I absolutely love this! Last year I was getting up an hour earlier to get business tasks done, but then I stopped partway through the year. I need to start doing this again so thanks for the reminder. I plan to start every morning with a glass of water, cup of tea, and a protein shake! Hoping to work a bit on a blog post every morning so I don’t have to do it all at once.
Yes!!! Get back to it. You’ll be in a routine again in no time.
These are great building blocks to an awesome morning routine! Instead of coffee, I make sure I have 2 big glasses of water upon waking to get things going!
I like a glass of water in the morning too. Kind of like getting the body all ready for a busy and productive day.
Thanks for sharing these tips! They really are great for helping to beat that feeling of overwhelming tasks.
You’re welcome!!