Before you dive into your daily office gossip, your regular coffee break at around 9:30, and before you click on your favorite Buzzfeed quiz there are a couple of things to do first. It’s a common misconception you need to follow routine to be successful. For most people a routine will dull their work and will push them towards a burnout much quicker. Instead, I prefer getting through the stress points first, and easing into the rest of my workload later.





There are a few things you need to keep in mind when starting off your day, and they don’t start at work. Some of them start in your home, on your commute, or as you’re walking into work. Everyone is different so you can tailor this list to best fit your needs and quirks.



1. Eat breakfast. Here goes…this is the most important meal of the day! How many times have you heard this? A healthy breakfast can lead to more focused thinking; just what you need to stay focused while you work. We can’t always ignore the distraction of the “ping!” from our social notifications, but a healthy meal or snack in the mornings can keep us from bottoming out before lunchtime.



2. Say out loud one activity you’re looking forward to at work that day. To me this is the most important. On some days I’m excited about the iced coffee I’ll be grabbing on my way in, and the phone call I have with a prospective writer in the afternoon. It gives me momentum to get my day started, and I have something to look forward to.



3. Greet the first person you see with a hearty “hello” upon entering your office. We are entirely too anti-social in the mornings; well a majority of us are. It’s not a joke to say that most people need their coffee to function and be decent. Sip your coffee before you get to work, and you can even check some of your social channels if you’re in need of a pick me up. Being exclusive about who you say hi to is alienating and that bad mood can spread like a wildfire. Pay it forward with a simple friendly greeting each day.



4. Before you open your email complete that one trivial leftover task from the night before. If you’re constantly connected through a company work phone then turn it off when you first sit down at your desk. We all have crazy mornings and being off of email for 10 minutes won’t hurt anyone, but it will help you to stay focused on eating that frog first thing in the morning.



5. Move onto that activity you’re enthusiastic about for the day. We’ve all heard about the sandwich approach in management, and I think it’s relevance carries into task and project management. For every tedious or frustrating activity you perform you should alternate with an enjoyable one. Some people enjoy copy writing as a form of stress relief, and others enjoy responding to clients. This might even be a good opportunity to pitch that idea you’ve been working on for a month, just make sure you’re prepared.



You don’t need a secret formula to be a success all day long. Some of us deflate after a bad meeting, and others just perpetuate a bad mood by piling the work on just to get it done. If you’re serious about making a real effort then give some thought to this list.