The Power Hour
While traveling for business earlier this year I made a decision to stop wasting my drive time by belting the hits from the 80s to today and instead listen to podcasts, TED talks, and books on tape. You may be thinking, how much time does this chick spend in the car? Well, the answer is anywhere from 8 to 20 hours a month, actually. That’s a lot of singing.
One of the first books I listened to was “What the most successful people do in the morning.” It’s a pretty short book-a mini-book really, and it chronicles research about the start of the day for a variety of folks-business owners with kids, work at home moms (such as the writer), CEOs, and more.
I was intrigued to learn that most of these folks start their day an entire hour before the earliest riser in their home rises. Most of their routines involve a workout, coffee/tea making, reading, and a non-outlook (or whatever calendar fuels your world) prompted review of your priorities for the day. In other words, the book suggests that whatever two or three priorities that come to mind without you needing to look at your calendar/Erin Condren/gmail are truly priorities that are top of mind.
The morning routine in my house couldn’t have been more opposite. In my house, my husband normally wakes up about 20 minutes before we need to wake our daughter up and I’m the last to wake because I need only 17 minutes to get ready from hopping in the shower to getting out the door. I wake up 20 minutes before I need to hop in the shower and spend those three minutes reviewing my calendar, to inform my wardrobe, and my email, to ensure I didn’t miss any crisis.
It was interesting to think of what success could look like with an entire hour of morning prep instead of three minutes.
I consider myself pretty successful. I’m on the edge of thirty and I run a statewide marketing team of five, maintain a clean and somewhat stylish home, and have a happy, living, breathing, healthy family. But, maybe with this power hour I could be that much more successful in any one of my worlds–the manager, the mother, the employee, or the lady of the house.
So, I tested the theory, and what do you know–I’ve been promoted. Just kidding. I haven’t been promoted, but I have felt as though I have a better handle on my day when I wake up earlier, get some me time (aka reviewing news, gossip, and social media sites) in, and glance at my calendar, emails, and scope my daily priorities. I haven’t got a work out in, but I’m going to starting this week. There is really no excuse.
Do any of you mamas observe a silent power hour? How has it helped your productivity and success?
