{"id":5242,"date":"2011-01-16T22:35:42","date_gmt":"2011-01-17T06:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=5242"},"modified":"2013-08-29T12:06:07","modified_gmt":"2013-08-29T20:06:07","slug":"the-most-critical-hour-of-your-day-how-to-set-yourself-up-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-most-critical-hour-of-your-day-how-to-set-yourself-up-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Critical Hour of Your Day: How to Set Yourself Up for Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Every hour lasts sixty minutes. But not all hours are really equal.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, those sixty minutes will pass almost unnoticed while you’re racing through work, “in flow”.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, those sixty minutes will drift away while you surf the internet, flick from channel to channel on the TV, and struggle to get started.<\/p>\n

The really critical hour, though, is the first one of your day.<\/p>\n

Why Hour One Matters So Much<\/h2>\n

Bad days tend to start off poorly. Perhaps you oversleep, or skip breakfast, or decide not to work out (again). Or you’re doing fine until you reach the office\u00a0 – and then you spend the first hour of your workday catching up with emails or sorting out lots of little administrative tasks.<\/p>\n

Hour One matters because it sets the tone for what’s to come.<\/strong> If you start off well, it’s relatively easy to keep going: you feel motivated by what you’ve achieved, so you carry on doing great work.<\/p>\n

Conversely, if you spend the first hour of your day bogged down in trivia or rushing to catch up, you may well find that you get more and more behind. The day rushes on \u2013 or drags \u2013 and, at the end of it, you don’t feel much sense of satisfaction.<\/p>\n

Getting the first hour right will set you up for success \u2013 and keep you on track towards your goals. Here’s how to make your first hour a great one:<\/p>\n

The First Hour: Life<\/h2>\n

Your day starts when you wake up. The first hour is a good time to make sure you’ve got the energy to cope with the rest of the day. That might mean:<\/p>\n