How do you start your day?

How do you (generally) begin your day at work?
	Review the calendar
	Process the E-mail inbox
	Listen to my voice mail
	Write a prioritized to-do list
	Other (?) - add a comment below
Jason Womack

Comments

[Dave Baillie]

Jason - I think the I "cheat." First thing I do is check my calendar -that's the "right answer, right? ;-) BUT, I do it BEFORE I get to the office... during my 15min morning repose at a favorite coffee shop... this way I know what's gonna be hitting me for the day (especially on Monday's.) It also let's me remind myself of non-work actions to check off. THEN, when I get to the office I quickly scan for new "HOT" input (v-mail, e-mail from boss, new calendar appmnts) to see if I need to change the "hard landscape" of my calendar (or dump, uh, I mean delegate more...)

Occassionally I will make a daily "to do." This means that I desperately need a mega weekly review.. such a list only contains "what will die" if I don't do it today.

Nice poll.

[Barry]

Jason,

In regards to your poll regarding first action steps of the day. I went with "C" , listen to voice mail with Writing a prioritized list a close second. I believe your wisdom would suggest that the proper response would be "A" Review your calendar.

I look forward to hearing you masterful response.

Thank you,
B In Boulder

[Frank Brownie]

Work???? I left that behind five years ago. But I do check my calendar to make sure I don't miss my next cruise or trip. Just back from a great 12 night transatlantic with stops in Cork, Dublin, Falmouth, Le Havre and Southampton and four great days in London.

[Don Knight]

Jason,
I start everyday with "Gratitude". I take a few minutes to thank God/Universe for all that I have. This helps me set the tone for the day. When I start getting over welmed with the tasks of the day I go back to gratitude. This seems to get me back to mindfulness and staying present.

Don Knight

[Brad Wright]

Prayer and reading scripture.

[Mary Anne]

It's sort of like checking the calendar but not quite: I start by looking over the day's client records, reviewing the last appointment and thinking of questions.

[Jeroen Sangers]

I always start with a cup of coffee. After that I open Palm Desktop to see what the day is going to look like. On a busy day I immediately get to work to get some things done before the chaos breaks out. On quiet days I first read some news to wake up slowly.

[Marie-Lynne Gleeson]

I start my day with a big hello to my partner and my dog. I then feed her. Then I sit and visualize my day as a very productive and happy day. I believe taking a moment and appreciating what I have is really important. It gets me on my way.

[gale]

I don't go to work till 2nd shift. I sit down and read to newspaper. Always start with the comics then to the meat of the news. My wife brings me my coffee. Breakfast, then to my office to go over my sites.

[Lisa Duncan]

A wonderful concept from the book Law of Attraction called segment intending would be a great way to start the work day. I must admit my standard way to start the day is to check email.

[Joel]

My day begins with feeding the pugs.

After I get to work, I start by checking email and calendar. Starting today I am going to insert a prayer for wisdom and patience into the work schedule before I check email;>

[Anne]

After I put my coat/purse in cubicle, I head straight for the coffee maker.

[Ilise Benun]

I feed the cats and walk my puppy first thing.

[Michelle Rogers]

I start the day by unlocking and preparing all the classrooms and posting the days schedule; then of course I make coffee.

[Nick Smith]

Take a little quiet time to get clear about what is most important to me.

I find that being clear about the one thing that is most important to me puts everything else into perspective and makes everything else synchronistically useful.

[Jerrod Hunt]

Every morning, I love to start my day with music, mostly Christian Radio... Then, I like to have personal discussions with my team to start the day. After that, I prepare for the day's meetings and tasks that I plan on tackling!

[Jason]

Wow,

The numbers are increasing! I want to personally thank EVERYone for leaving comments. You know, I see another one of my series of "5 Day Experiments" coming along!

I appreciate all of you taking the few moments to vote. My goal was to get over 500 total votes, so if you wouldn't mind, could you forward the URL on over to a colleague? We should be able to find these numbers in a week or so!

http://jasonwomack.typepad.com/working_outwhile_youre_ou/2007/04/how_do_you_star.html

[rob]

Each night I define 3 "Most Important Things" I want to accomplish the next day. I spend my first 'work' hour working on these. I may not finish any / all of these in this time frame - but I will have have made focused inroads into them before the distractions of emails / meetings etc begin

[the communicatrix]

Meditating AND sending greeting cards to your loved ones?!?

Never have I felt like such a loser for checking my email.

[Alan B. Cohen]

Setup my laptop. I don't have a machine at the client site. Then get a caffine.

[steven mann]

After a fabulous cup of coffee, I'll sit with my team and we talk to each other about anythig and everything.

[Sandra Schrift]

I begin my day with a 20-30 minute morning meditation. (after I drink a full glass of water)

[Bob Gunn]

I start my day by meditating for 20 to 50 minutes

[Mike Gulitz]

I meditate and then I send a greeting card (thank you, birthday, anniversary, thinking of you to 5 family members, friends, and/or customers. This sets the tone for the rest of my day and executes my philosophy that "givers gain."

[Nick Wagner]

If I didn't get through all my e-mail by the end of the previous day, I start with that. If I did process all my e-mail the day before, I start by moving my next actions from my task list to my calendar. I use Outlook, and it is easy to drag and drop the tasks onto the calendar and rearrange the order according the best time of day for me to do them.