If you want to get to that next level in your life, you must create a great morning routine. In fact, the most productive people wake up early so that they can have time in their morning to get the productivity flow going. They generally have a morning ritual to prepare for the day. To improve your morning routine here are some productivity hacks to start your morning right:

• Wake Up With Gratitude
• Get Movement in, Such As Yoga, Workout, Walk, or Getting a Shower
• Eat a Healthy Whole Foods Breakfast
• Practice Saying or Writing Down Positive Affirmations
• Write Down Your Short Term and Long Term Goals 
• Read An Inspiring Book/ Or Podcast
• Stay Consistent With Your Morning Routine

Wake Up With Gratitude

The entire outlook of your day and how much you will accomplish all starts when you first open your eyes in the morning. The mindset and discipline you form when waking up can determine how the rest of your day will go. When you wake up with gratitude, it greatly helps start your day out strong and grounded. Instead of picking up your phone first thing in the morning, you can wake up focusing your intentions on gratitude. You can have gratitude by being happy to be alive and ready to experience all that this new day has to come.

When you make the most of everything and take time to appreciate the little things around you, you’ll see that everyday is a great day to experience. Having gratitude is the key to happiness, and when you’re happy, you’re more productive! Improve your gratitude and watch how it can impact your freelance career as well.

Once you are done getting movement or exercise in your day, the most important thing is to eat a healthy breakfast. This is a huge way to get energy and be able to be productive so your body can get all the right nutrients it needs to take on the day. By eating well, you are less likely to get negative side effects such as mood swings, lack of energy, fatigue, etc. Eating a healthy breakfast also helps you have a clear mind and less likely to feel “sluggish” the same way you do when you eat junk food. Your body is like a car, it needs the proper oil and quality fuel to get you to your destination. When the body is well nourished and taken care of, it will take care of you and give you energy you need to tackle your day strongly so you can be at your most productive and best self. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Affirmations

By repeating daily affirmations to yourself either out loud or on paper, it will help enhance your everyday mindset into thinking more positive and productive thoughts. This can help fight off depression, self-negative talk, negative thoughts, and it will give you more motivation and energy towards your day.

20 Affirmations To Start Your Day:



“Today is a great day to have a great day”

“I am in charge of how I feel and I choose to feel happy.”

“I am optimistic because today is a new day.”

“I welcome what is, I welcome what comes.”

“When I speak my needs, I receive them abundantly.”

“I have all that I need to make today a great day.”

“I am a powerful creator. I create the life I want and enjoy it.”

 “Every day I discover interesting and exciting new paths to pursue.”

“I am focused on my goals and feel passionate about my work.”

“I am surrounded by supportive, positive people who believe in me and want to see my succeed”

“I am happy, fully supported, and blessed.”

“I choose to think positively and create a wonderful and successful life for myself.” 

“I will celebrate each goal I accomplish with gratitude and joy.”

“I am extremely passionate about constantly being better and more successful.”

“I am self-reliant, creative and persistent in whatever I do.”

“I am valuable and will make powerful contributions to the world today.”

 “My life is a blast of growing opportunity because I never stop creating”

“I am learning to trust the journey.”

“Mу аbіlіtу tо соnquеr mу сhаllеngеѕ іѕ lіmіtlеѕѕ; mу роtеntіаl tо succeed іѕ іnfіnіtе.”

“Today, I аbаndоn mу оld hаbіtѕ аnd take up nеw, mоrе роѕіtіvе оnеѕ.”

After you finish eating breakfast, you can write down your goals or plan out the rest of your day in your daily calendar. Writing out your goals for the day is very helpful because by the time that other people are just starting to get up from their beds, you’re already prepared and energized to work towards your goals and tasks laid out ahead. There is also an undeniable peacefulness in the morning that occurs after you have written out your goals and reminded yourself what you are working towards.

Meditation

Meditation is helpful to practice in your morning routine because it reduces stress, improves focus, and helps develop your thinking skills leaving you to be more productive, and less feeling clogged in your head. If you don't know where to begin, you are not alone! There are many helpful apps and videos that are available for free which can help guide you into building a meditation practice that works for you.

Read An Inspiring Book Or Listen To A Podcast

Staying Consistent

Anyone can have a few good days. But the real success comes from true consistency. Showing up when no one is watching and putting in the work to accomplish your goals. The truth is, you can achieve great things with a healthy mind, body, and consistent daily routine. Staying consistent will set you up to have the most success in all areas of your life throughout your day. Consistency also applies to your fitness, nutrition, and sleeping habits, which are all massive influences on your daily energy.

Afternoon Productivity Hacks

Here are some productivity hacks to keep your daily routine productive in the afternoon:

• Manage Your Time
• Use Time Blocking
• Stay Away From Distractions
• Take Mini-Breaks
  

Manage Your Time

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

(- Stephen Covey)

It’s important to learn how to manage your time by doing the tasks that are urgent first. Avoid procrastinating these big tasks and focus on getting them done. Do what you can do, and avoid piling un-done tasks on your calandar for tomorrow. This will help you not get in a habitual habit of putting things off until the next day. Learning to manage and prioritize your time will help you avoid procrastinating and become more productive with getting things done, and have more control over your time and schedule.

Use Time Blocking

One of the major productivity hacks is using time blocking. Time blocking is one of the major keys to having a productive day. Not only will it lessen your work schedule, but it will also allow you to finish a particular project in a shorter time resulting in more time for you. When you learn how to time block you are essentially corresponding your time, focus, and attention on your tasks, so that you get the most productivity out of your day.

Stay Away From Distractions

In order to stick to your daily routine you set for yourself, you need to stay focused and avoid unnecessary distractions that will naturally come up throughout your day. Start by creating a dedicated work area for yourself. Start to look at what is eating too much of your productivity time such as your phone for example. Form discipline to keep away from these distractions so you can stay on schedule and accomplish what you set out to do.

Take Mini Breaks

It's never smart to run yourself into the ground with too much work. To create a profitable business in the long run, it requires you to relax and take breaks when needed. Make sure to take regular breaks throughout your day to avoid burn-out and give yourself time to recharge. One way to do this is to time block in a mini-break to reward yourself for completing a large task.

End Of The Day Productivity Hacks

Having an end-of-day routine can help you have an even more successful day tomorrow. Here are a few end of day productivity hacks everyone can do to end their workday strong and set up the next day:

• Set A Cut-Off Time
• Create A To-Do List
• Review Your Day
• Write In Your Journal
• Relax
• End Your Day With Gratitude
• Get A Good Night’s Sleep
  

Set a Cut Off Time With Work Hours 

Setting office hours will help you cut yourself off from having a burn-out and over working yourself. Take time to relax for the night when you need to. If you don’t give yourself time in the end to wind down after a long day of work, you will end up possibly staying up too late which will impact your morning routine. Also, by having a cut off time it helps you respect your working time and know when it’s time to stop. 

Create a To-Do List

Creating a to-do list and planning your next day out before going to bed can help you feel more organized. This to-do list can be a list of the most important things you want to accomplish the next day. This might be the most important part of ending your workday for a more productive day tomorrow. When you know exactly what’s on your schedule for the next day, it means you’ll be well-prepared. Writing out your to-do list the night before also means you won’t waste any time in the morning wondering what you should work on first.

Review Your Day

Another helpful practice to add to your daily routine is to take a few minutes at the end of each day to look at all the tasks you accomplished. Also analyze what did not get done and be sure to move that task to the next available slot. Avoid feeling bad about moving something that didn’t get done to the next day and focus on getting it done instead. By reviewing your day and what got done, it will help you feel more relaxed and organized.

Write in Your Journal

At the end of the day, it’s helpful to have a journal to clear your mind and wrap up your day and whatever you were working on. This is called a brain dump’ because it gets all the things on your mind, onto your journal. This helps you get a good night's sleep knowing you got everything down onto paper and our of your head. Journaling also helps to start the next day off on the right foot because there is nothing worse than trying to pick up where you left off and not being able to remember what you were doing, where you were, what you did, etc. You will be happy that you set time aside for yourself at the end of the day to write down in your journal everything that’s going on in your mind so that in the morning you feel fresh, energized, and focused.

Spend Some Time To Relax

When you spend some time relaxing and taking mental breaks emotionally and physically, it can help you relax from all the hard work you did and calm your mind. Also, it’s important to reward yourself for finishing a big day and help you become more motivated in everything you will do. Whether it is a small or big task, you need to keep track of it and celebrate your milestones. Relaxing is key to avoiding a burn out and will give you time to enjoy the hard work you put in and give you motivation to keep going.

End Your Day With Gratitude

It's important to start and end your day from a place of gratitude. Having gratitude also gives you the ability to help others as well. This energy and state of mind is contagious and it’s important to keep your mindset positive to have the most success. If you are negative and complain about what you don't have, then you'll attract more of what you don't have. Avoid complaining and practice having more gratitude daily because you get what you focus on, and when you are thankful for what you have, then you'll attract more to be thankful for. Beginning and ending each day with gratitude is a great way to keep you grounded and appreciative of all that you have.

Get a Good Night's Sleep

The final way to ensure you follow a proper daily routine is by getting a good night’s sleep. People who get a good night’s sleep are more productive and experience more success than those that constantly drain themselves. A way you can get more sleep is by staying off your phone and keeping it away from the bed, or turning your TV off so you can get some well-deserved rest. When you get enough sleep the night before you won’t find yourself running empty and exhausted the next day.

Sleep is not just healthy for the body, but it is also good for your mind because sleep helps your brain work at its fullest capacity. The hours you spend resting are just as important as the hours you spend working, so they shouldn't be neglected. Did you know that when you are asleep, your brain is recuperating from that day's work and preparing for what is in store for the next day? This is because the brain when sleeping is creating new pathways to store new information that is created only when you sleep. This is why it is crucial to get enough sleep so you can wake up feeling refreshed and ready to have the most prosperous day possible!

In Conclusion:

We are all given the same 24 hrs a day to work with. The difference between those that have the most success in life and those that don't, is how they use that 24 hours. I hope all the tips mentioned above will help improve your daily routine so you can improve the quality of your life. My name is Paul Mendes founder of Profitable Freelancer, I look forward to your success!

- Paul Mendes

 Founder of Profitable Freelancer