plan of an essay activities in the morning

I’m a Professional Writer, and Here’s Exactly How To Develop a Daily Writing Ritual That Improves Your Well-Being

While I write professionally for various clients and publications, my personal writing is a way of discovering myself and making sense of the world. It anchors me when I feel adrift and helps me process challenging life experiences. Mostly, it provides me with a deep sense of self and well-being.

My daily writing practice anchors me when I feel adrift and helps me process challenging life experiences.

Certainly, it isn’t always easy or fun in the moment. I stumble a lot; some days, ideas don’t reveal themselves quickly, or I can’t make sense of my thoughts in a way that feels cohesive. But it’s the process of sitting down and showing up to write every single day that continues to energize me and fuel my creativity.

• Dan MacCombie, LAC

The concept of ritualizing a writing practice is an essential part of The Writing Ritual , a four-week creative writing program I run to help adults—whether they consider themselves writers or not—tap into their creativity through the written word. Unlike with my client work, there are no word counts or briefs; participants are simply encouraged to explore their ideas and imaginations in a safe space through prompts and dialogue. And it works: I have shared The Writing Ritual with hundreds of people around the world and have heard from many that writing has been transformational to their well-being and ability to reflect and articulate their thoughts and emotions.

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The benefits of embracing a daily writing routine

When I talk about my 15-minute writing ritual, a lot of people instantly tense up at the idea; most are only accustomed to writing emails, texts, or DMs, and any other writing feels, at best, foreign and at worst, entirely daunting. I get it—confronting a blank page isn’t easy (even for me, a professional writer). Our inner voice tells us we have nothing to write about or that our grammar isn’t quite right, and those fears alone can stop us from writing altogether. But writing for no other reason than just to write can open the door for introspection.

“As a society, we don’t really [focus on] connecting to our inner lives, where our hopes and dreams come from,” says therapist Dan MacCombie, LAC . “Writing connects us to what’s inside of us in a really powerful way...helping us process our feelings of vulnerability.”

A vast body of scientific research has also revealed several reasons to befriend the blank page. The more obvious benefits of writing include a boost in memory and cognition , but scientific studies have also found that expressive writing can strengthen the immune system in people with life-threatening illnesses, and writing down your worries or even writing a to-do list before bed can lead to better sleep .

Writing also serves as a powerful outlet for emotional processing and can be used as a complement to talk therapy or coaching. Indeed, research suggests that while bottling up thoughts and emotions can lead to physiological distress , confronting previous traumas through writing can improve your physical health and the functioning of your nervous system. That’s likely because writing helps organize an event in our mind, freeing up space from the constant buzz of thoughts and granting us the ability to see our own experiences from a healthy distance.

“For people who struggle to connect with their emotions, writing can help them focus on what they feel, moving from the nebulous to the specific.” —Dan MacCombie, LAC, therapist

“For people who struggle to connect with their emotions, writing can help them focus on what they feel—toward whom and what—moving from the nebulous to the specific,” says MacCombie. “Sometimes, I’ll suggest to my clients that they fill a page with what they’re happy about, sad about, angry about. The act of letting stuff come up from the subconscious can be helpful to facilitate emotional processing that might be hard to see otherwise.”

Beyond these benefits, a daily writing practice can help reveal who we are, and remind us of our lived experiences and growth. MacCombie also encourages people to write as a way of meaningfully preserving their memories: “We live in a world that’s filled with images, but words have an ability to evoke senses, emotions, and feelings,” he says. “Writing something down allows us to remember it better and have a record [to reference later].”

3 different types of writing for processing emotions and boosting creativity

1. expressive writing.

Expressive writing involves writing freely about a challenge, trauma, or stressful life experience and focusing on your feelings instead of the details of particular events. It’s a common form of writing used in therapeutic settings and has been shown to improve people's coping strategies and help them develop solutions to problems .

“Expressive writing helps give people more agency over their bodies and stories,” says MacCombie. “Putting a negative experience down on the page helps them see it in a new light.”

2. Morning pages

While "morning pages" is not a type of writing, per se, it refers to writing first thing in the morning (hence the name) before other thoughts or responsibilities can bubble up in your head. It comes from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, and typically involves three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing immediately upon waking up. You can write whatever comes out of you—whether it's a list, an affirmation , or a dream you had the night before .

3. Creative writing

Creative writing is not bound by any specific form—poems, short stories, non-fiction, and fiction can all fall into this bucket. Writing creatively allows us to tap into the reservoirs of our imagination and transcribe our observations or thoughts in a free-flowing way.

As a simple way to practice creative writing, find an old photo, and look at it intently. Write about what you see, what you remember happening when it was taken or when you took it, and what you can remember or imagine exists just beyond the frame.

How to get started with a daily writing routine

The author Joyce Carol Oates says that “everybody has a story.” I like to lean into this mantra in The Writing Ritual and beyond because it’s a perfect reminder that the mind is a surprising place. Once you sit down to write, you could very well be surprised by the different thoughts and feelings that bubble to the surface.

When you’re first getting started with a daily writing routine, begin small. A few sentences or a single paragraph will do, as long as you commit to showing up for yourself every day. Below are a few other tips that can help support your new ritual.

1. Use prompts

If you’re not sure what to write about, use creative prompts to jog your memory or help you tap into your imagination. This can be as simple as choosing a single word to write about, such as “pleasure,” “happiness,” “grief,” “summer,” or “vacation.” What memories or emotions does the word bring up for you?

2. Write by hand

With so many interactions in our daily life occurring on a technological device, there’s something nostalgic and deeply worthwhile about making the choice to write by hand. Different from writing an Instagram caption or email, for which we can endlessly mull over the perfect phrase, writing by hand is all about letting your thoughts flow authentically without the interference of a backspace button. The study cited above on writing's power to boost memory also found this specific benefit to be unique to hand- writing.

Even so, writing somewhere is always better than abandoning the practice entirely—so, if you prefer to write on your phone or computer, you can still do so; just try to resist the urge to self-edit.

3. Write for 10 to 15 minutes per day

Establish a particular time for your new writing practice (set aside 10 or 15 minutes a day), just like you would for any other well-being practice, like taking a daily afternoon walk or doing a nightly meditation. Creating a routine habit out of writing is a simple way to generate forward momentum and stay motivated to continue writing.

During the time you choose for writing, set a timer and silence any social-media or work notifications so you can be fully present with the page, with as few distractions as possible. Even if, on certain days, you don’t feel like writing when the time for your practice rolls around, you still might be surprised by the thoughts and emotions that wind up on the page if you just get started.

Regardless of what gets put to paper, chances are, you'll leave the practice feeling more in tune with yourself and more empowered for whatever comes next in your day. “The simple act of prioritizing creative expression can really give people a sense of hope and self-efficacy,” says MacCombie.

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7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan

Have you ever started writing an essay then realized you have run out of ideas to talk about?

This can make you feel deflated and you start to hate your essay!

The best way to avoid this mid-essay disaster is to plan ahead: you need to write an Essay Plan!

Essay planning is one of the most important skills I teach my students. When I have one-to-one tutorials with my students, I always send them off with an essay plan and clear goals about what to write.

Essay Planning isn’t as dull as you think. In fact, it really does only take a short amount of time and can make you feel oh so relieved that you know what you’re doing!

Here’s my 7-Step method that I encourage you to use for your next essay:

The 7-Step Guide on How to write an Essay Plan

• Figure out your Essay Topic (5 minutes)
• Gather your Sources and take Quick Notes (20 minutes)
• Brainstorm using a Mind-Map (10 minutes)
• Arrange your Topics (2 minutes)
• Write your topic Sentences (5 minutes)
• Write a No-Pressure Draft in 3 Hours (3 hours)
• Edit your Draft Once every Few Days until Submission (30 minutes)

I’ve been using this 7-Step essay planning strategy since I was in my undergraduate degree. Now, I’ve completed a PhD and written over 20 academic journal articles and dozens of blog posts using this method – and it still works!

Let’s go through my 7 steps for how to write an essay plan.

Prefer to Watch than Read? Here’s our video on writing an Essay Plan.

how to write an essay plan

1. figure out your essay topic. here’s how..

Where did your teacher provide you with your assessment details?

Find it. This is where you begin.

Now, far, far, far too many students end up writing essays that aren’t relevant to the essay question given to you by your teacher. So print out your essay question and any other advice or guidelines provided by your teacher.

Here’s some things that your assessment details page might include:

• The essay question;
• The marking criteria;
• Suggested sources to read;
• Some background information on the topic

The essay question is really important. Once you’ve printed it I want you to do one thing:

Highlight the key phrases in the essay question.

Here’s some essay questions and the key phrases you’d want to highlight:

This strategy helps you to hone in on exactly what you want to talk about. These are the key phrases you’re going to use frequently in your writing and use when you look for sources to cite in your essay!

The other top thing to look at is the marking criteria. Some teachers don’t provide this, but if they do then make sure you pay attention to the marking criteria !

Here’s an example of a marking criteria sheet:

Sample Essay Topic: Is Climate Change the Greatest Moral Challenge of our Generation?

Now, if you have a marking criteria you really need to pay attention to this. You have to make sure you’ve ticked off all the key criteria that you will be marked on. For the example above, your essay is going to have to make sure it:

• Takes a position about whether climate change is a serious challenge for human kind;
• Discusses multiple different people’s views on the topic;
• Explores examples and case studies (‘practical situations’);
• Uses referencing to back up your points.

The reason you need to be really careful to pay attention to this marking criteria is because it is your cheat sheet: it tells you what to talk about!

Step 1 only takes you five minutes and helps you to clearly clarify what you’re going to be talking about! Now your mind is tuned in and you can start doing some preliminary research.

2. Gather your Sources and take Quick Notes. Here’s how.

Now that you know what your focus is, you can start finding some information to discuss. You don’t want to just write things from the top of your head. If you want top marks, you want some deep, detailed and specific pieces of information.

Fortunately, your teacher has probably made this easy for you.

The top source for finding information will be the resources your teacher provided. These resources were hand picked by your teacher because they believed these were the best sources available our there on the topic. Here are the most common resources teachers provide:

• Lecture Slides;
• Assigned Readings.

The lecture slides are one of the best resources for you to access. Lecture slides are usually provided online for you. Download them, save them on your computer, and dig them up when it’s time to write the essay plan.

Find the lecture slides most relevant to your topic. To take the example of our climate change essay, maybe climate change is only discussed in three of the weeks in your course. Those are the three weeks’ lecture slides you want to hone-in on.

Flick through those lecture slides and take quick notes on a piece of paper – what are the most important topics and statistics that are relevant to your essay question?

Now, move on to the assigned readings . Your teacher will have selected some readings for you to do for homework through the semester. They may be eBooks, Textbooks or Journal Articles.

These assigned readings were assigned for a reason: because they have very important information to read ! Scan through them and see if there’s any more points you can add to your list of statistics and key ideas to discuss.

Next, try to find a few more sources using Google Scholar. This is a great resource for finding more academic articles that you can read to find even more details and ideas to add to your essay.

Here’s my notes that I researched for the essay question “Is Climate Change the Greatest Moral Challenge of our Generation?” As you can see, it doesn’t have to be beautiful #Studygram notes! It’s just rough notes to get all the important information down:

Once you’ve read the assigned lecture slides and readings, you should have a good preliminary list of ideas, topics, statistics and even quotes that you can use in step 3.

3. Brainstorm using a Mind-Map. Here’s how.

Do your initial notes look a little disorganized?

That’s okay. The point of Step 2 was to gather information. Now it’s time to start sorting these ideas in your mind.

The best way to organize thoughts is to create a Mind-Map. Here’s how Mind-Maps often look:

For your essay plan Mind-Map, write the essay question in the middle of the page and draw a circle around it.

Then, select the biggest and most important key ideas that you think are worth discussing in the essay. To decide on these, you might want to look back at the notes you took in Step 2.

Each key idea will take up around about 200 – 350 words (1 to 2 sentences).

Here’s a rough guide for how many key ideas you’ll want depending on your essay length:

• 1000-word essay: 3 to 4 key ideas
• 1500-word essay: 5 to 7 key ideas
• 2000-word essay: 6 to 8 key ideas
• 3000-word essay: 9 to 12 key ideas

Once you’ve selected your key ideas you can list them in a circle around the essay question, just like this:

Last, we need to add detail and depth to each key idea. So, draw more lines out from each key ideas and list:

• Two sources that you will cite for each key idea;
• A statistic or example that you will provide for each key idea;
• Any additional interesting facts for each key idea

Here’s how it might look once you’re done:

4. Arrange your Topics. Here’s how.

You’re well and truly on your way to getting your essay down on paper now.

There’s one last thing to do before you start getting words down on the manuscript that you will submit. You need to arrange your topics to decide which to write first, second, third, fourth, and last!

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Start and end with your strongest points;
• Ensure the points logically flow.

To ensure your points logically flow, think about how you’re going to transition from one idea to the next . Does one key point need to be made first so that the other ones make sense?

Do two key points seem to fit next to one another? If so, make sure you list them side-by-side.

Have a play around with the order you want to discuss the ideas until you’re comfortable. Then, list them in order. Here’s my order for my Climate Change essay:

Each of these key ideas is going to turn into a paragraph or two (probably two) in the essay.

5. Write your topic Sentences in just 5 minutes. Here’s how.

All good essays have clear paragraphs that start with a topic sentence . To turn these brainstormed key points into an essay, you need to get that list you wrote in Step 5 and turn each point into a topic sentence for a paragraph.

It’s important that the first sentence of each paragraph clearly states the paragraph’s topic. Your marker is going to want to know exactly what your paragraph is about immediately. You don’t want your marker to wait until the 3 rd , 4 th or 5 th line of a paragraph before they figure out what you’re talking about in the paragraph.

So, you need to state what your key idea is in the first sentence of the paragraph.

Let’s have a go at turning each of our key ideas into a topic sentence:

6. Write a No-Pressure Essay Draft in just 3 Hours. Here’s how.

Okay, now the rubber hits the road. Let’s get writing!

When you write your first draft, don’t put pressure on yourself. Remind yourself that this is the first of several attempts at creating a great essay, so it doesn’t need to be perfect right away. The important thing is that you get words down on paper.

To write the draft, have a go at adding to each of your topic sentences to turn them into full paragraphs. Follow the information you wrote down in your notes and Mind-Map to get some great details down on paper.

Forget about the introduction and conclusion for now. You can write them last.

Let’s have a go at one together. I’m going to choose the paragraph on my key idea “Is climate change caused by humans?”

I’ve already got my first sentence and my brainstormed ideas. Let’s build on them to write a draft paragraph:

• “Most scientists believe climate change is caused by humans. In fact, according to the IPCC, over 98% of climate change scientists accept the scientific data that climate change is caused by humans (IPCC, 2018). This figure is very high, signalling overwhelming expert consensus. This consensus holds that the emission of carbon from burning of fossil fuels in the 20 th Century is trapping heat into the atmosphere. However, a minority of dissenting scientists continue to claim that this carbon build-up is mostly the fault of natural forces such as volcanoes which emit enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere (Bier, 2013).”

Your turn – have a go at your own draft paragraphs based on your Mind-Map for your essay topic! If you hit a rut or have some trouble, don’t forget to check out our article on how to write perfect paragraphs .

Once you’ve written all your paragraphs, make sure you write an introduction and conclusion .

Gone over the word count? Check out our article on how to reduce your word count.

7. Edit your Draft Once every Few Days until Submission. Check out this simple approach:

Okay, hopefully after your three hour essay drafting session you’ve got all your words down on paper. Congratulations!

However, we’re not done yet.

The best students finish their drafts early on so they have a good three or four weeks to come back and re-read their draft and edit it every few days.

When coming back to edit your draft , here’s a few things to look out for:

• Make sure all the paragraph and sentence structure makes sense. Feel free to change words around until things sound right. You might find that the first time you edit something it sounds great, but next time you realize it’s not as good as you thought. That’s why we do multiple rounds of edits over the course of a few weeks;
• Check for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors;
• Print out your draft and read it on paper. You notice more mistakes when you read a printed-out version;
• Work on adding any more details and academic sources from online sources like Google Scholar to increase your chance of getting a top grade. Here’s our ultimate guide on finding scholarly sources online – it might be helpful for this step!

Before you go – Here’s the Actionable Essay Plan Tips Summed up for you

Phew! That essay was tough. But with this essay plan, you can get through any essay and do a stellar job! Essay planning is a great way to ensure your essays make sense, have a clear and compelling argument, and don’t go off-topic.

I never write an essay without one.

To sum up, here are the 7 steps to essay planning one more time:

The 7-Step Guide for How to Write an Essay Plan

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

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Nice fun and concise approach to essays, thank you

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How to plan an essay: Essay Planning

• What's in this guide
• Essay Planning
• Additional resources

How to plan an essay

Essay planning is an important step in academic essay writing.

Proper planning helps you write your essay faster, and focus more on the exact question.  As you draft and write your essay, record any changes on the plan as well as in the essay itself, so they develop side by side.

One way to start planning an essay is with a ‘box plan’.

First, decide how many stages you want in your argument – how many important points do you want to make? Then, divide a box into an introduction + one paragraph for each stage + a conclusion.

Next, figure out how many words per paragraph you'll need.

Usually, the introduction and conclusion are each about 10% of the word count. This leaves about 80% of the word count for the body - for your real argument. Find how many words that is, and divide it by the number of body paragraphs you want. That tells you about how many words each paragraph can have.

Remember, each body paragraph discusses one main point, so make sure each paragraph's long enough to discuss the point properly (flexible, but usually at least 150 words).

For example, say the assignment is

Fill in the table as follows:

Next, record each paragraph's main argument, as either a heading or  topic sentence (a sentence to start that paragraph, to immediately make its point clear).

Finally, use dot points to list useful information or ideas from your research notes for each paragraph. Remember to include references so you can connect each point to your reading.

The other useful document for essay planning is the marking rubric .

This indicates what the lecturer is looking for, and helps you make sure all the necessary elements are there.

Pathways and Academic Learning Support

• << Previous: What's in this guide
• Next: Additional resources >>
• Last Updated: Feb 15, 2024 1:23 PM
• URL: https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/essay_planning

17 Things to Do in The Morning for A Productive Day

Each day is a challenge. It’s an opportunity for you to do something new and different, to take on a project that will help your career or your family life, or just make the world a better place.

And every morning brings with it the chance for renewal. But not all mornings are created equal: some feel like they’ll never end!

So what if there were one simple thing, one way to start the day off right? What if you could wake up early tomorrow and have more time in the evening? Hint: it might be as simple as going to sleep earlier tonight!

Here are some things to try in the morning that will help make this day be more productive and amazing.

Table of Contents

1. Wake Up Early, Consistently

Waking up early, if you have enough sleep, has many benefits, like improving your mental health , skin , and your overall health .

It boosts your levels of serotonin which will help make you happier and feel more refreshed.

It also helps you build better habits since you have more time for self-care in the morning.

I know it can be hard to get up–that’s why I make sure to get enough sleep each night so I don’t feel tired in the morning. It’s a great way to manage stress because you’re gathering the time you need to think and reflect on the day ahead before it starts.

It can also help to declutter your mind in the morning and clear away some worry because you’ll have more time to sort out what’s going on in your head before anything else comes at you.

2. Drink Water

Even though drinking water the first time in the morning will not increase its health benefits , it’s still a good habit to make sure you get enough water to keep your body hydrated.

To me, drinking water in the morning always feels refreshing. I always start by drinking water–sometimes with a lemon–before drinking coffee. It’s a great way to start feeling your best so you can be productive all day long!

3. Take a Sunbath

Sunbathing is one of the best ways to start your day feeling energized and healthy, and it can be done easily in the morning, especially when the weather is good.

Sunbathing in the morning will wake up your body, increase your vitamin D levels, and in return, you’ll have a stronger immune system! Plus, you get this awesome tan to show off to your friends!

When it’s winter, some areas like Texas, California, or Florida might still be warm enough to get sunbathe. But if it’s too cold, you may want to use the sunroom to avoid sunburn because snow is the ultimate reflector.

4. Exercise and stretch your body

It’s important to start your morning with exercise because it will help you feel better and more energetic throughout the day. It will also help you sleep better at night.

My favorite way to do this is with a morning sunbath. I love doing this because it wakes up my body and provides an opportunity to get some fresh air and sunshine first thing in the morning, which can be particularly beneficial if you’ve been working late or dealing with stress lately.

The best part about exercising is that you won’t feel guilty about not having time for yourself later on in the day because it’s already done before anything else happens.

The most important benefit of exercise is that it helps reduce stress levels and improve your mood by providing the ultimate sense of accomplishment.

5. Meditate or Pray

Meditation is one of the top self-care activities and it can be done in the morning before anything else happens. It’s a great way to start your day if you are someone who constantly has worries that keep you awake at night.

I personally find that meditation resets my thoughts and helps me to become more grounded so I can face the day ahead with positivity and clarity. Meditation also promotes relaxation, physical health, and mental well-being because it helps clear away stress and anxiety.

6. Make Your Bed

It sounds pointless, but making your bed every morning will help you wake up happier and more energized. Making your bed will also eliminate any anxiety, stress, or guilt you might have about having time to rest later in the day.

The best part about making your bed is that it will make you feel more accomplished and organized so you can start off your day feeling better for yourself.

7. Get Some Breakfast

It’s really important to have breakfast in the morning because it provides you with a much-needed energy boost that will last throughout the day. When I don’t eat breakfast, I usually feel tired or lethargic.

The key is to make sure your first meal is high-quality and loaded with fiber and protein so you’ll get the most out of your energy boost and stay energized for hours.

8. Make a Tea or Coffee

I love drinking coffee or tea in the morning because it gives me a boost of energy that I need to face my day.

Coffee or tea is often the second thing I drink in the morning because it’s what gets me out of bed and starts my day off on the right foot.

Plus, it gives me a great sense of satisfaction when I say “Hey! I had my first cup this morning!”

9. Plan Your Day

It’s really important to make a plan for the day beforehand because this way you know what needs to be done and when so you start off feeling more relaxed for the rest of it.

It also helps to clear your head so you can focus on just one thing rather than multiple things at once.

It will give you a much-needed energy boost and make you feel more satisfied once it’s done because of all the difficult tasks that you accomplished.

One way I plan my day is by making a list of tasks I need to complete in a physical notebook. This helps me get things done and stay on top of deadlines, which makes my day run a lot smoother.

It also eliminates any worry that might set in later as you realize that you didn’t plan anything.

10. Make A Gratitude List

Take a few minutes to go over the things that you are grateful for. It helps you focus on all of the things that have gone right in life, rather than focusing on the things that went wrong or weren’t completed.

I always feel so much better after taking this time to write down something that I am grateful for because it makes me feel good about myself. Lists of happiness in my life help me stay motivated and positive about each day.

11. Water Your Plants

Watering your plants in the morning not only keeps them looking healthy and lush but also helps you to start off your day with a positive mindset.

I like to water my plants while waiting for my tea or coffee to be warm enough to drink. It may sound simple, but for me, it’s a constant reminder that I have beautiful plants and flowers that need care and attention.

Watering plants also makes me feel satisfied because no matter how tough things might get during the day, I always have them at home that is waiting for me and need my love and care.

12. Play with Your Pet

Playing with your pet in the morning can help you to calm and relax, which is why this is always on my list of things to do for a productive day.

Playing with my pet is not only enjoyable, but it also gives me a sense of fulfillment when I see their happiness. And when they’re happy, I’m happy.

13. Read Good News

To start my day off on a positive note, I prefer to focus on good news rather than bad news when reading the news.

Obviously, there is no denying a negative fact as it exists in reality, but I do think the more exposure to misery and anxiety we get from all sources every day isn’t exactly healthy for us.

Most of the time the good news is about someone who has overcome adversity to accomplish something great or someone who is working hard for a worthy cause.

These stories not only make me feel happy and energized, but they remind me that there are people out there who are trying to do good in this world.

If you need a list of good news, here are some of my favorites:

• Not All News Is Bad
• Good News Network
• Positive News
• Uplifting News Subreddit

14. Write A Journal

A lot of people say their morning routine makes them feel relaxed and rejuvenated because it connects them with what is important in life. This same sense of calm and peace can also come from writing in your morning journal.

Unlike other forms of writing, such as writing an article, the purpose of journaling is not to make you think, but rather it’s a way to allow your thoughts and emotions to pour out onto the paper.

15. Listen to Your Morning Playlist

Music is a wonderful tool that can help us manage our moods or even keep us focused when we need to be productive.

Music has the power to make it easier to go through hard times or send us into an elevated mood.

Listening to morning playlist in the morning can help you start off your day on a high note. It is also a great way to help you get pumped up and ready for the day.

16. Read a Book

Reading in the morning is a great way to start your day off right. It gives you something to look forward to and this can help you manage your stress levels.

Most people who read will say that they start reading in the morning, not only because it’s easier to find time during the morning and evening, but also because finishing a book first thing in the morning is rewarding and satisfying, which can prove to be therapeutic.

Listing out some ideas for books that may interest you could also help motivate you to get started on reading. If you haven’t started reading, then it’s time for you to start one!

17. Don’t Forget to Smile!

This is one that I think everyone can agree with since smiling helps boost your mood and energy levels. Even if you are not in the greatest of moods, I am sure you can agree that smiling helps improve your day.

One of the best parts about waking up is having a reason to smile and be happy; when this happens, it will just make your day better.

Smiling also makes others around us happier which can be infectious to those in our circles.

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Essay writing

• Introduction

Answering the question

Generating ideas, planning your essay, different planning methods.

• Writing your essay
• Developing your essay writing

Useful links for writing essays

• Study Advice Helping students to achieve study success with guides, video tutorials, seminars and one-to-one advice sessions.
• Academic writing LibGuide Expert guidance on punctuation, grammar, writing style and proof-reading.
• Guide to citing references Includes guidance on why, when and how to use references correctly in your academic writing.
• Reading and notemaking LibGuide Expert guidance on managing your reading and making effective notes.
• Academic Phrasebank Use this site for examples of linking phrases and ways to refer to sources.
• Ten stages of assignment success (Prezi) Based upon Burns and Sinfield, Essential Study Skills.
• Critical Thinking A short video on Critical Thinking that the BBC have prepared in partnership with The Open University

The first thing to do when preparing to write an essay is to make a plan. You could just rush in and write everything that comes into your head, but that would make it difficult for your marker to read and would reduce the effectiveness of your ideas. These will make much stronger arguments if you group them together than they would do on their own.

The guidance on this page will show you how to plan and structure your essay to produce a strong and focused response to the question.

A very common complaint from lecturers and examiners is that students write a lot of information but they just don't answer the question. Don't rush straight into researching – give yourself time to think carefully about the question and understand what it is asking.

Underlining key words – This is a good start point for making sure you understand all the terms (some might need defining); identifying the crucial information in the question; and clarifying what the question is asking you to do (compare & contrast, analyse, discuss). But make sure you then consider the question as a whole again, not just as a series of unconnected words.

Re-read the question – Read the question through a few times. Explain it to yourself, so you are sure you know what it is asking you to do.

Try breaking the question down into sub-questions – What is the question asking? Why is this important? How am I going to answer it? What do I need to find out first, second, third in order to answer the question? This is a good way of working out what important points or issues make up the overall question – it can help focus your reading and start giving your essay a structure. However, try not to have too many sub-questions as this can lead to following up minor issues, as opposed to the most important points.

• Answering the question and planning (video) Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic.
• Answering the question and planning (transcript) Read along while watching the video tutorial.

The kinds of things to note briefly are:

• What you already know about the topic – from lectures, seminars, general knowledge.
• Things you don't know about the topic, but need to find out in order to answer the question.
• Initial responses or answers to the question – what you think your conclusion might possibly be.

This helps you start formulating your argument and direction for answering the question. It also helps you focus your reading, as you can pinpoint what you need to find out and go straight to the parts of books, chapters, articles that will be most relevant.

After reading - After your reading, it is often good to summarise all your findings on a page. Again, a spider diagram can help with this.

Bringing together the key points from your reading helps clarify what you have found out, and helps you find a pathway through all the ideas and issues you have encountered. If you include brief details of authors and page nos. for key information, it can act as a quick at-a-glance guide for finding the evidence you need to support your points later.

It also helps you see how your initial response to the question might have changed or become more sophisticated in light of the reading you've done. It leads into planning your essay structure.

• It enables you to work out a logical structure and an end point for your argument before you start writing.
• It means you don't have to do this type of complex thinking at the same time as trying to find the right words to express your ideas.
• It helps you to commit yourself to sticking to the point!

You need to work out what to include, and what can be left out. It is impossible to cover everything in an essay, and your markers will be looking for evidence of your ability to choose material and put it in order. Brainstorm all your ideas, then arrange them in three or four groups. Not everything will fit so be prepared to discard some points (you can mention them briefly in your introduction).

Outline what you are going to include in each section:

• Introduction : Address the question, show why it's interesting and how you will answer it.
• Main body : Build your argument. Put your groups of ideas in a sequence to make a persuasive argument. One main point in each paragraph.
• Conclusion : Summarise your arguments and evidence, and show how they answer the original question.

Writing a summary - Some people plan best once they have written something, as this helps clarify their thinking. If you prefer to write first, try summarising the central idea of your essay in a few sentences. This gives you a clear direction for working out how you are going to break it down into points supported by evidence. You can then use one of the methods below to write a more detailed plan.

• Structuring your essay (video) Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic.
• Structuring your essay (transcript) Read along while watching the video tutorial.

Bullet points / linear plans - This type of plan lists the main points using bullet points or numbers. It can be a brief outline of the main point per paragraph, or a more detailed plan with sub-points and a note of the evidence to support each point (e.g. source and page no.).

No plan is perfect, so be prepared for your ideas to change as you write your essay. However, once you have an initial plan it is much easier to adapt it and see where new things fit if your thinking does change.

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• Writing Tips

How to Write a Perfect Essay Plan

4-minute read

• 9th December 2019

Every good essay starts with a good essay plan. And planning your essay is important, as it will help you express each point you need to make clearly and in a logical order. But what goes into a good essay plan? And how can you write one? Join us for a quick look at how this works.

1. Read the Question Closely

The first step in any essay plan is to look at the question you’ve been set. It should provide some clue as to the kind of essay required, such as whether it is an open or closed question . These differ as follows:

• An open question permits various answers. For instance, if you were set an English literature essay, you might be asked What are the main social themes in the writing of Charles Dickens? This would allow you to discuss a range of concepts in response. Writing you essay plan would then involve narrowing down your subject matter so you can focus on one issue.
• A closed question focuses on a specific issue, often asking you to agree or disagree with something. For instance, a closed question could be Is technology a destructive force in the writing of Charles Dickens? In this case, the question dictates the form of the essay, as you would need to look at arguments for and against the claim and, finally, come to a conclusion.

Keep in mind that both question types require an in-depth answer! Some closed questions could technically be answered by writing ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on a piece of paper, but this won’t get you great marks. Instead, think of the question as a prompt for you to show off what you know on the topic.

And if you’re not sure about anything, such as how a question is worded, you will want to check this with whomever set the assignment.

2. Brainstorm Ideas and Organise Your Research

After studying the essay question, the next step is to brainstorm ideas for answering it. And the starting point for this is to organise your research.

In other words, it’s time to get out those lecture notes! In fact, you should make a mind map of everything you know on the essay topic.

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Look for anything that is relevant to the essay question. You can then narrow down the possible answers to the topics that interest you most. This should also help you identify any gaps in your knowledge, so you can make notes on what else you may need to research for your essay.

3. Draft an Essay Outline

The last step in writing an essay plan is to outline your essay. This means breaking it down section by section, paragraph by paragraph, so you know exactly what you need to write to answer the essay question.

The exact content will depend on the topic and word count . But, as a rule, most essays will have a basic structure along the following lines:

• Introduction – A paragraph or two that sets out your main argument.
• Main Body – This is the main chunk of your essay. To plan this, break down your argument into paragraphs or sections, sticking to one main idea per paragraph. Once you’ve done this, note down how each point supports your argument, plus any quotes or examples you will use.
• Conclusion – A brief summary of your arguments and evidence.
• References – A list of sources you plan to use in your essay.

This will then guide the writing process, making sure you always stay on topic.

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• Knowledge Base
• How to structure an essay: Templates and tips

How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates

Published on September 18, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction , a body , and a conclusion . But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body.

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Table of contents

The basics of essay structure, chronological structure, compare-and-contrast structure, problems-methods-solutions structure, signposting to clarify your structure, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay structure.

There are two main things to keep in mind when working on your essay structure: making sure to include the right information in each part, and deciding how you’ll organize the information within the body.

Parts of an essay

The three parts that make up all essays are described in the table below.

Order of information

You’ll also have to consider how to present information within the body. There are a few general principles that can guide you here.

The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex . The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones.

For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it.

The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay . General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body.

The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis . Ask yourself whether each piece of information advances your argument or provides necessary background. And make sure that the text clearly expresses each piece of information’s relevance.

The sections below present several organizational templates for essays: the chronological approach, the compare-and-contrast approach, and the problems-methods-solutions approach.

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The chronological approach (sometimes called the cause-and-effect approach) is probably the simplest way to structure an essay. It just means discussing events in the order in which they occurred, discussing how they are related (i.e. the cause and effect involved) as you go.

A chronological approach can be useful when your essay is about a series of events. Don’t rule out other approaches, though—even when the chronological approach is the obvious one, you might be able to bring out more with a different structure.

Explore the tabs below to see a general template and a specific example outline from an essay on the invention of the printing press.

• Thesis statement
• Discussion of event/period
• Consequences
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement
• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages
• Background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press
• Thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation
• High levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe
• Literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites
• Consequence: this discouraged political and religious change
• Invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg
• Implications of the new technology for book production
• Consequence: Rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible
• Trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention
• Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation
• Consequence: The large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics
• Summarize the history described
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period

Essays with two or more main subjects are often structured around comparing and contrasting . For example, a literary analysis essay might compare two different texts, and an argumentative essay might compare the strengths of different arguments.

There are two main ways of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay: the alternating method, and the block method.

Alternating

In the alternating method, each paragraph compares your subjects in terms of a specific point of comparison. These points of comparison are therefore what defines each paragraph.

The tabs below show a general template for this structure, and a specific example for an essay comparing and contrasting distance learning with traditional classroom learning.

• Synthesis of arguments
• Topical relevance of distance learning in lockdown
• Increasing prevalence of distance learning over the last decade
• Thesis statement: While distance learning has certain advantages, it introduces multiple new accessibility issues that must be addressed for it to be as effective as classroom learning
• Classroom learning: Ease of identifying difficulties and privately discussing them
• Distance learning: Difficulty of noticing and unobtrusively helping
• Classroom learning: Difficulties accessing the classroom (disability, distance travelled from home)
• Distance learning: Difficulties with online work (lack of tech literacy, unreliable connection, distractions)
• Classroom learning: Tends to encourage personal engagement among students and with teacher, more relaxed social environment
• Distance learning: Greater ability to reach out to teacher privately
• Sum up, emphasize that distance learning introduces more difficulties than it solves
• Stress the importance of addressing issues with distance learning as it becomes increasingly common
• Distance learning may prove to be the future, but it still has a long way to go

In the block method, each subject is covered all in one go, potentially across multiple paragraphs. For example, you might write two paragraphs about your first subject and then two about your second subject, making comparisons back to the first.

The tabs again show a general template, followed by another essay on distance learning, this time with the body structured in blocks.

• Point 1 (compare)
• Point 2 (compare)
• Point 3 (compare)
• Point 4 (compare)
• Advantages: Flexibility, accessibility
• Disadvantages: Discomfort, challenges for those with poor internet or tech literacy
• Advantages: Potential for teacher to discuss issues with a student in a separate private call
• Disadvantages: Difficulty of identifying struggling students and aiding them unobtrusively, lack of personal interaction among students
• Advantages: More accessible to those with low tech literacy, equality of all sharing one learning environment
• Disadvantages: Students must live close enough to attend, commutes may vary, classrooms not always accessible for disabled students
• Advantages: Ease of picking up on signs a student is struggling, more personal interaction among students
• Disadvantages: May be harder for students to approach teacher privately in person to raise issues

An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach.

This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution. If the problem is theoretical, the solution might be the analysis you present in the essay itself; otherwise, you might just present a proposed solution.

The tabs below show a template for this structure and an example outline for an essay about the problem of fake news.

• Introduce the problem
• Provide background
• Describe your approach to solving it
• Define the problem precisely
• Describe why it’s important
• Indicate previous approaches to the problem
• Present your new approach, and why it’s better
• Apply the new method or theory to the problem
• Indicate the solution you arrive at by doing so
• Assess (potential or actual) effectiveness of solution
• Describe the implications
• Problem: The growth of “fake news” online
• Prevalence of polarized/conspiracy-focused news sources online
• Thesis statement: Rather than attempting to stamp out online fake news through social media moderation, an effective approach to combating it must work with educational institutions to improve media literacy
• Definition: Deliberate disinformation designed to spread virally online
• Popularization of the term, growth of the phenomenon
• Previous approaches: Labeling and moderation on social media platforms
• Critique: This approach feeds conspiracies; the real solution is to improve media literacy so users can better identify fake news
• Greater emphasis should be placed on media literacy education in schools
• This allows people to assess news sources independently, rather than just being told which ones to trust
• This is a long-term solution but could be highly effective
• It would require significant organization and investment, but would equip people to judge news sources more effectively
• Rather than trying to contain the spread of fake news, we must teach the next generation not to fall for it

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Signposting means guiding the reader through your essay with language that describes or hints at the structure of what follows.  It can help you clarify your structure for yourself as well as helping your reader follow your ideas.

The essay overview

In longer essays whose body is split into multiple named sections, the introduction often ends with an overview of the rest of the essay. This gives a brief description of the main idea or argument of each section.

The overview allows the reader to immediately understand what will be covered in the essay and in what order. Though it describes what  comes later in the text, it is generally written in the present tense . The following example is from a literary analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

Transitions

Transition words and phrases are used throughout all good essays to link together different ideas. They help guide the reader through your text, and an essay that uses them effectively will be much easier to follow.

Various different relationships can be expressed by transition words, as shown in this example.

Because Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany. Although it was an outcome the Allies had hoped to avoid, they were prepared to back up their ultimatum in order to combat the existential threat posed by the Third Reich.

Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous one.

… Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others.

However , considering the issue of personal interaction among students presents a different picture.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

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The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

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Extracurriculars.

How To Write the Meaningful Activity Essay for Princeton

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Elias Miller in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

Structuring the essay, showing personal growth, what to avoid.

Are you interested in Princeton University ? The college requires a few supplemental essays, and while the prompts may seem simple, you could find yourself stumped when it comes time to write. You also have very limited space you can use to express yourself. This article will help you figure out how to plan an essay about a meaningful experience and offer some tips about the writing process. 

This prompt asks you to elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. With a word limit of 150, you may not have enough space to say all that you want to, so you should try to find a targeted story or angle.

When you’re planning this essay , you should keep the shortness of the piece in mind. Only 150 words probably isn’t enough to describe an experience or pastime to the fullest extent. You need to formulate a precise approach that lets you convey as much emotion as possible, along with your personal voice and a few specific details that let the piece come to life. 

Although you don’t have many words available to you, you still need to write multiple paragraphs. One long paragraph makes your essay look shorter and cramped, and the reader won’t want to engage with it as much as they would multiple paragraphs. Three or even two paragraphs let the reader see a fleshed-out narrative much more clearly. Admissions officers often don’t view single paragraphs as very appealing, so don’t write only one. 

If you’re struggling to come up with an idea, keep the word “meaningful” in mind. Figuring out what’s meaningful to you will let you respond to this prompt thoughtfully and in a way that will resonate with your admissions officers.

Once you have an idea in mind, you should get right into it. You can include enough details about the setting to provide your reader with context, so don’t waste the word count. You have to pack in as much action as possible into a short space, so avoid unnecessary background information or explanations. You should be trying to tell a story. Jump right into where the story begins.

While you don’t want to make the entire essay about how you’ve grown and changed, writing about how this experience has shaped you makes for a more compelling narrative.

You want to make the person reading your essay root for you. You should consider starting with a moment of failure or doubt. Because pretty much everyone has messed up at some point or another, this kind of scene provides a good, relatable emotional hook for the reader. Think about sports movies: the protagonist often begins by falling on their face or struggling in some way, only to overcome the odds in the end. Working past these devastating moments makes for a more compelling narrative than writing about something that’s always come easily to you.

This can also help to highlight why the activity is meaningful to you—you’ve had to work past difficulties. It gives an admissions committee better insight into your experiences and how you’ve grown.

You don’t even need to pick an activity where you’ve accomplished a lot. While you would ideally have success in something meaningful to you, and that you’re very passionate about, you sometimes have the most profound experiences in something that you’re not naturally good at. It’s totally fine if you’re not super impressive in the activity you selected. What matters is capturing exactly why it has meant a lot to you.

Don’t Restate Your Resume

While it might be tempting to use this essay as an opportunity to share your many accomplishments, you should avoid writing a list of experiences or extracurricular activities. This doesn’t single out anything particularly meaningful. It also can read like a resume. Admissions officers already see your Common App resume , so you don’t want to write about a lot of different activities. 

If you’ve won some awards and want to write about how that came to be, you should work to avoid sounding braggy. Maybe you led a benefit dance or held a major position in the National Honor Society. Maybe you made varsity and led your team to a championship victory. All of that is excellent, and it’s fine to write about it. But you don’t want to focus on how impressive other people might find it. Ask yourself: What did you gain from that experience? How did you work to make it happen?

Focus on the Journey

You have to show why all the work you did paid off, and you have to put emotion behind your writing. Try to focus on your feelings, and how you grew from it all. Rather than writing about the moment of success, emphasize the long nights and the early mornings. Draw on specific scenes and emotions to ground your essay in something real.

College essays, including this one, show an admissions committee who you are—what you stand for, how you’ve grown, and how you express yourself. This essay should help to remind you of what work you find meaningful. Just go from there, and the rest will follow.

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• Best morning routine: 21 steps for a mo ...

Best morning routine: 21 steps for a more productive day

The best morning routine promotes both wellness and productivity for your whole day. From drinking water to avoiding the snooze button, check out 21 steps that can take your morning routine from bland to successful.

You wake up early to the smell of coffee. With extra time on your hands, you decide to fit in a quick morning workout at home before making breakfast and starting your workday. 

The perfect morning routine will promote wellness and set you up to be successful for the rest of the day. From avoiding social media to drinking water and listening to a podcast, there are various steps you can take to create a morning routine that works for you. 

1. Get a good night’s sleep

With 35.2% of all adults in the U.S . reporting seven or fewer hours of sleep per night, getting a good night’s rest is crucial for productivity. For many of us, getting a full eight hours of sleep each night requires a bit of planning. 

There are a few tips when it comes to getting quality rest. These include:

Wind down at the end of the day: Avoid strenuous activities like exercising and heavy lifting toward the end of the day. Instead, take a warm bath to decompress or read a book to induce sleepiness.

Turn off the TV at a set time: Set a time to turn off the TV and other electronics. Instead, get comfortable on the couch or in bed with a warm cup of decaf tea.

Set your alarm clock appropriately: Set your alarm for eight hours or more after bedtime to ensure you’re well rested.

Each of these techniques can help you get a full eight hours of sleep every night and wake up refreshed the next day.

2. Avoid the snooze button

Hitting the snooze button can be detrimental to your morning routine. While you may intend to only get five more minutes of sleep, hitting snooze can quickly become a half hour.

Avoid snoozing your alarm by creating a routine of waking up the first time your alarm goes off. Ways to encourage this habit include:

Counting to five: When getting out of bed seems impossible, an easy trick is to count to five. After five, force yourself to get out of bed and begin your day.

Keeping slippers near your bed: Slippers can make getting out of bed slightly easier on cold mornings. Keep them bedside so you always have them close.

Presetting your coffee machine: If you’re a coffee drinker, just the aroma can be enough to motivate you to get up. Preset your machine so the coffee is waiting for you when you wake up. 

Snoozing your alarm clock is a habit many of us have, but creating a healthier routine is the best way to break it. The more time you have in the morning, the more time you have to create a productive routine. 

3. Give yourself enough time to get to work

Whether you work from home or commute to the office, giving yourself enough time to mentally and physically show up for work is essential—especially if you don’t consider yourself a morning person.

To do this, be intentional about when you wake up. In addition to making sure you get eight hours of sleep, set your alarm so you have enough time to complete your morning routine and develop productive new habits.

Whatever time you choose to wake up at, remember to set aside enough time for personal activities so you don’t overwork yourself. 

4. Drink a full glass of water

Hydration is key to your health and well being. Drinking water is a crucial component of a great morning routine because when you feel good, you’re more focused and, as a result, more productive. 

Create a routine of staying hydrated in the morning by drinking a full glass of water when you first wake up. It’s a good idea to do this before your morning cup of coffee or tea to avoid forgetting. This also combats any dehydration that occurs from caffeinated drinks.

5. Enjoy a cup of coffee or tea

While staying hydrated is a key part of a healthy routine, you also want to enjoy your routine. This will make waking up easier and increase the likelihood of your routine sticking.

Appreciating an aromatic cup of coffee or tea can make starting your day more enjoyable. Combine your morning beverage with an opportunity to spend time with your housemates, family, or pets. 

Likewise, you can take this time to breathe deeply and give yourself a few minutes of mindfulness before you begin the rest of your morning routine.

6. Prepare a healthy breakfast

To fuel your inspiration and start your day off right, prepare a healthy breakfast with ingredients that make you feel good. 

Eating healthy can be easier than you think. A simple bowl of oatmeal or a quick smoothie can support your health without requiring a lot of prep time. 

Given that tasks like preparing food during the middle of the day can disrupt productivity, it’s a good idea to meal prep if you have the time. Take a few extra minutes in the morning to gather ingredients for lunch so they’re ready to go when midday rolls around.

7. Take advantage of self care

Self care is a routine you create to support your happiness and well being. This includes anything from a grooming routine, like a shower and a skincare regimen, to reading a book to relax. 

What you define as self care will be unique to you, though you can generally look for things that make your body and mind feel good. Here are some ideas to create a self-care routine of your own:

Take a hot shower or bath to relax.

Apply a face mask to take care of your skin.

Read a book you enjoy to get your brain ready to work.

Take advantage of self care to support a healthy work-life balance and reduce the risk of burnout.

8. Fit in a quick workout

Data suggests that active people are more relaxed and in better spirits than inactive people. Preventing depression is just one of the many benefits of working out—other bonuses include promoting better sleep and increased energy . 

Avoid mental fatigue by working out in the morning. Activities you can try to get your heart rate up include:

Jogging around your neighborhood before work.

Riding a stationary bike while watching the morning news.

Doing yoga to strengthen your core and reduce stress.

Whether you work out every day or a couple of times a week, adding exercise to your routine can help set you up for success. 

9. Say positive affirmations

Affirmations help combat limiting beliefs about yourself and support a confident mindset. When said in the morning, positive affirmations can motivate you to do your best and believe in yourself throughout the day. 

Examples of common affirmations that you can try include:

I am excited for the day.

I am grateful for my job. 

I will have a successful week.

Say these positive affirmations to yourself out loud or write them in a journal each morning to cultivate a more positive outlook. 

10. Meditate by taking deep breaths

Meditation can support relaxation and can go hand in hand with positive affirmations. For those who would prefer a relaxing routine, take time to sit with your thoughts and breathe deeply. 

Create an efficient routine by pairing your affirmations with a deep breathing exercise such as roll breathing . Say your affirmations in your head while you’re in a state of calmness or out loud while breathing for stress management.

11. Prioritize important tasks

Transition your mind from personal time to professional by dedicating time each morning to reviewing and prioritizing your tasks for the day. You can do this with a to-do list or personal planner. 

Write down your most important deliverables and goals for the day or record them in a digital project management tool . By ranking each task by importance and listing them in sequential order, you can set up a more manageable schedule.

Thinking about these tasks can help calmly transition your mind from a relaxing routine to a productive workday.

10 additional ideas for a productive morning

Along with the 11 ideas we’ve covered for creating a morning routine that promotes productivity, there are a few additional approaches you can take to boost efficiency. These include activities such as listening to motivational music and talking to loved ones. 

Here are 10 additional ideas to incorporate into your daily morning routine. 

12. Listen to motivational music: Music can promote happiness and relaxation. Listen to your favorite artist to put a smile on your face in the morning and get your body and mind working after a long night’s sleep. Try listening to a specific band that brings you joy or a playlist that promotes relaxation for a calm mindset. 

13. Call a loved one: Whether you live alone or not, speak to loved ones in the morning to help put you in a good mood first thing. Talk to those you care about to encourage a positive mindset, such as a friend or family member. 

14. Subscribe to a podcast: Inspiration comes in many forms, one of them being those you look up to. Whether it’s someone in your field of work or someone you aspire to be like in your personal life, podcasts can be a great way to find inspiration in the morning. Find a podcast that encourages you to push yourself in some way. Listen to it each morning to remind yourself of the direction you’re headed.

15. Perform an act of kindness: There’s no better feeling than the one you get from helping someone in need. It could be as small as picking up an item someone dropped or as big as volunteering in your community. A little bit of kindness can go a long way and inspire others to do the same. Get involved by joining a local volunteer group or finding opportunities in your everyday life.

16. Spend time on a hobby: Prioritize your personal life to cultivate a healthy work-life balance. To do this, spend a little bit of time each morning on a hobby to make you feel fulfilled both personally and professionally.

17. Think creatively: There are seemingly endless possibilities for a blank canvas and your mind is no exception. When you first wake up, you’re not yet bothered by the pressures of the day. This is a perfect time to take advantage of a fresh mind and do some creative thinking. This could be for work, a personal hobby, or your side hustle. 

18. Read an industry blog post: Stay up to date on industry trends to set yourself apart professionally and inspire your work. Take a few minutes each morning to catch up on news from a credible source to build your industry insight.

19. Do a crossword puzzle: For those that need a few extra moments in the morning to feel awake and aware, try a crossword puzzle. This will slowly get your mind up to speed for a productive day. 

20. Take a moment to stretch: You may be shocked to learn how a simple stretch can promote efficiency and get your body ready for the day. Opt for a few arm and leg stretches right when you wake up or do a morning yoga session. This will warm your muscles, preparing them for an exercise session or a day of work.

21. Perform a retrospective: Each day comes with new obstacles and lessons—whether you’re aware of them as they happen or not. Take a few moments each morning to look back on yesterday’s achievements. Consider what went well and what could have been better. Use these findings to continue improving daily. 

These additional ideas can take your morning routine from good to great. From stretching to following industry trends, the right steps will increase your productivity and work-life balance. 

A productive morning starts with a healthy routine

Morning habits can be the difference between a good morning and a great morning. Your productivity begins when you wake up, which makes learning healthy habits essential to a successful workday.

From eating a healthy breakfast to working out or reading, the activities you prioritize have the potential to transform your mindset. Choose a routine that promotes happiness, sets you up to complete important tasks, encourages flow state , and supports your work-life balance. 

To take your productivity one step further, try software that allows you to track, manage, and organize your workload. 

Related resources

What is a workcation? (And when should you take one?)

6 ways to develop adaptability in the workplace and embrace change

Return to office: 7 ways to help your team do great work

5 steps to creating a stakeholder engagement plan

• Collaboration
• Productivity
• Remote Work
• Time Management

The Complete Guide to Planning Your Day

The 10-minute productivity practice for achieving more in work and life

Most of us understand the value of planning and preparation. A sports match without a game plan means fumbling on the field. A big event without all the details in place leads to chaos.

Despite this knowledge, we often fail to prioritize planning where it matters most: our daily lives. Getting started in the morning without a clear plan sets us up to fail.

We set goals on the order of seasons and years, but it’s what we do each day — the habits we adopt, the tasks we complete, and the things we prioritize — that compound over time into success or failure. A few aimless days each month can help us reset and find balance. But when our days without intention exceed our days with purpose, we end up missing our goals and wondering where all the time went.

The best defense against hectic yet unproductive days is a good offense in the form of a daily planning ritual. This article will walk you through how to plan your days for calmer, more focused productivity that brings you closer to your goals. While planning your day should only take 10-15 minutes, the underlying strategies to meaningfully craft a day with intention are worth exploring in full.

Make regular planning a habit

James Clear, the best-selling author of Atomic Habits , thinks motivation is overrated : “Stop waiting for motivation or inspiration to strike you and set a schedule for your habits”. Motivation flows from action, not the other way around.

That’s why having a daily planning ritual is so important. Some mornings we feel motivated to seize the day and create a to-do list that reflects our big ambitions. But those days are the exception. We need to get things done even when we wake up tired and disengaged, wanting to return to bed or longing for Friday at 5 PM. Those are the days it’s most important to approach the day with a plan.

Start by setting an alarm for your daily planning session at the same time every day — either during a work shutdown ritual or first thing in the morning. To make building the habit easier, bundle your new daily planning session with an existing habit like drinking your morning coffee or listening to music.

Bundle a daily planning session with an existing habit.

Use a to-do list app like Todoist to set a recurring task to plan your day, or simply set an alarm on your phone.

Use a to-do list app like Todoist to set a recurring task to plan your day.

Habits are easier to build when we see the results of our dedication right away. Luckily, planning your day is a habit that pays off immediately. You’ll feel more organized, focused, and motivated with a plan for the hours ahead. Over time, planning your day will become second-nature.

Having trouble turning daily planning into a reflexive habit? Don’t break the chain ! Keep your daily planning habit going on the weekends, even if you’re aiming for a laid back day. Add errands, a movie, or dinner dates to your daily to-do list on a Saturday or Sunday to make real space on your schedule for relaxation, leisure, and side projects.

Build your to-do list around your goals

Making a habit of your daily planning is one thing. Ensuring that your plan is actually inching you towards your bigger goals is another. Use your daily planning session to make sure your daily tasks are aligned with your long-term objectives. Here are a few steps to get you there:

Step one: Break down your big goals

Break down your goals into daily tasks. For example, you can’t add “Get in shape” to your daily to-do list, but you can add tasks like “spend 30 minutes on my Peloton” or “go for a nightly stroll”. Review your personal and professional goals when you sit down to plan your day, and add tasks that get you closer to both.

Break down long-term goals into daily tasks.

If you’re struggling to create realistic daily to-do lists that reflect all of your goals, you may have too many. Overextending yourself isn’t only tiring, it also means you’re unlikely to make meaningful progress in all these areas. Complete a commitment inventory to hone in on a smaller number of goals that are most important to you. As a general rule, avoid having more than 5 big goals at once, and consider a mix of short-term and long-term goals.

Step two: Look at your week as a whole

Planning your day starts with considering your week as a whole. You likely have multiple goals, an array of potential tasks to accomplish them, and only so many hours in the day. That’s okay. While some goals benefit from daily action, working towards others a few times a week can create momentum. Maybe you exercise Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On some days, you may want to task batch and focus only on to-dos related to one specific professional goal. Alternatively, you might stack your personal goal tasks on the weekend. Take the time on Sunday evening or Monday morning to zoom out and lightly sketch your week so you know which goals you’ll focus on and on which days. Save the details for your daily planning sessions.

Plan your day by considering your week as a whole and task batching .

Step three: Add your have-to-do tasks last

This is the step that most people start with when they plan their day. They begin with their set appointments, mandatory meetings, urgent deadlines, and then try to fit goal-oriented tasks around them. Instead, consider keeping this step for the end. This way, you’re forced to fit your have-to-do tasks around your goal tasks rather than the other way around.

In an ideal world, we would focus only on daily tasks that move us toward our long-term goals. In reality, we have commitments and obligations that we have to fulfill — some of which have little impact on our personal or professional growth. Cull these commitments and obligations as much as possible: reevaluate recurring meetings, consider delegating responsibilities, and get comfortable with saying “no”. However, it’s okay to have things on your to-do list that simply need to get done. Just make sure they aren’t taking over too much of your time and energy.

Learn more about aligning your day with your long-term priorities in our guide to creating a Commitment Inventory . This method forces you to take a realistic look at your responsibilities, continuously trim your list of priorities, and assign time to your tasks that matter most.

Have one daily priority

Many of us start our mornings with dozens of things we need to get done only to realize at the end of the day we haven’t crossed any of them off our lists. Sure, we got stuff done, but none of the things we planned. The counter-intuitive solution for getting more done? Pick just one big task per day.

You may be thinking: “How can I achieve all my goals if I only focus on one task per day?”. In Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day , Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky discuss the sneaky phenomenon of busyness without productivity. In between meetings and ad-hoc requests, it can feel like we’re on a treadmill we can’t get off.

Many of us start our mornings with dozens of things we need to get done, only to realize at the end of the day we haven’t crossed any of them off.

As a balm against hectic days that pass without progress, they introduce the concept of the “Highlight”: “The first step...is deciding what you want to make time for. Every day, you’ll choose a single activity to prioritize and protect in your calendar.” If you’re struggling to select what your Highlight or top priority for the day might be, Knapp and Zeratsky suggest this simple heuristic:

If we’re being honest, ending the day with at least one big task out of the way is a marked improvement over what many of us are doing now. On a longer time-scale, finishing 5-7 big things per week is significant. Does that mean you’ll only complete one task per day? Generally, no. However, selecting and completing a single significant to-do fills us with a sense of accomplishment that creates momentum to tackle other tasks too.

Use a task manager like Todoist to mark the Highlight for your day as high priority and move it to the top of your list.

Use a task manager like Todoist to help you focus on a daily priority.

Alternatively, if you’re opting for pen and paper productivity , simply star, highlight or underline the most important task on your to-do list in your notebook or daily planner.

If you’re opting for pen and paper productivity, star the most important task on your to-do list.

Regardless of the tools you use, make extreme prioritization a key part of how you plan your day.

Plan your day with a productivity method

A productivity method is both an effective way to get things done and a strategy for planning your day .

Below, we share a few popular productivity methods you can choose from to tackle your tasks and how to use them for daily planning. Find a productivity method that works for you –– even if that means remixing an existing one or creating a new one from scratch. Here are some popular methods for daily planning to get started with:

Eat the Frog

The Eat the Frog productivity method asks you to identify one important task for the day and do it first. This is a great method for putting your highlight into action early. Sometimes it’s the task we most want to avoid (hence, eating the frog). This could be the task that feels too big to tackle or the one that makes us uncomfortable. Attack it straight away before you have a chance to procrastinate.

During your daily planning session, put your “frog” task at the top of your to-do list and assign a time. Then, place your other tasks below.

A to-do list organized around the Eat the Frog productivity method

Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is best for people who enjoy working in short focused sprints with frequent breaks. This method was developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, then a struggling student, who committed to just 10 minutes of focused study using a tomato (pomodoro in Italian) shaped kitchen timer. This method includes the following steps:

• Get a timer.
• Set your timer for 25 minutes, and focus on a single task until the timer rings.
• When your session ends, mark off one pomodoro and record what you completed.
• Enjoy a five-minute break.
• After four intervals, or “pomodori,” take a longer, 20- to 30-minute break.

To plan your day with the Pomodoro technique, estimate how many pomodoros (25-minute work sessions) you’ll need to complete each task on your list. Note that number in front of each task with a tomato emoji or simply the number itself in brackets. This method forces you to consider how long your work will take and plan accordingly. You can opt to use pomodoros for your entire day or simply use the method for your top task.

A to-do list organized around the Pomodoro productivity method

Time Blocking

With the Time Blocking productivity method, split up your day into distinct blocks of time. This could be as specific as 9:30AM-11:30AM or simply “Morning” depending on how long a task might take. Then, work without distraction and dedicate each block of time to completing only a specific task or set of tasks.

Like the Pomodoro technique, this method will help you estimate and understand how long your to-dos take. Make sure to include blocks for things like lunch, breaks, and commutes for the most accuracy. Often a task will take more or less time than you anticipate. That’s okay. Make quick modifications to your list as you move through the day. With time, you’ll get a better understanding of how long tasks take. In the meantime, a good rule of thumb is to double the amount of time you think something will take.

A to-do list organized around the time blocking productivity method

Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix productivity method forces you to consider the urgency and importance of each task, instead of only doing what’s most urgent — whether it’s crucial or not. This method breaks down tasks into four quadrants and prescribes how we should deal with tasks that fall into each one:

• “Urgent and Important” tasks should be completed immediately
• “Not Urgent and Important” tasks should be scheduled on your to-do list or calendar
• “Urgent and Unimportant” tasks should be delegated to someone else
• “Not Urgent and Unimportant tasks” should be deleted

The Eisenhower Matrix breaks down tasks into four quadrants and prescribes to help us prioritize.

To start, craft your regular to-do list, including all your tasks for the day. Next, sort them into the four categories of “Urgent and Important”, “Non-Urgent and Important”, “Urgent and Unimportant”, and “Not Urgent and Unimportant”. Once you have these categories, act on your to-do list accordingly: do, schedule, delegate , and delete tasks from your to-do list as you plan out your day.

In time, this process will become second nature and you’ll naturally draft a single to-do list with only “Urgent and Important” and “Non-Urgent and Important” tasks on your list.

A to-do list organized around the Eisenhower Matrix productivity method.

Find the productivity method that works best for you by taking our Productivity Methods Quiz to better understand your unique style of working.

Choose your planning tool

You’ve decided on an approach to your daily planning—now it’s time to pick your tools. From productivity software to paper and pen, here are some of the most popular options:

A to-do list app

A digital task manager is a great choice for those who are tech-savvy and conditioned to reach for their phone or tablet instead of a notebook. To-do lists apps have the benefit of keeping everything in one place and accessible from anywhere. You can seamlessly move tasks from day to day as your plans change, organize relevant documents and links alongside your tasks, and have an automatic, searchable record of everything you’ve done.

A to-do list app like Todoist has the benefit of keeping everything in one place and accessible from anywhere.

We recommend Todoist , our cross-platform personal to-do list app that’s available across most devices. The app includes many features like reminders, labels, filters, comments, and file uploads that make planning your day easier.

A digital list

If you’re not keen on a full-fledged task manager but still want a digital solution, consider less-specialized tools that you probably already use in your day-to-day at work and home.

• A notes app or word processing app . Use a simple notes app like Bear (iOS and MacOS only), Apple Notes , or Google Keep to keep a running list of your tasks for the day. Simply check off items using checkboxes or strikethrough formatting. For a more robust “notes” app, consider Google Docs or Microsoft Word for more flexibility and customization options.

If you’re not keen on a full-fledged task manager but still want a digital solution, consider less-specialized tools.

• Google Sheets or Excel . Plan your day in a spreadsheet. This can help you add more context and notes to specific cells. Methods like time-blocking are also conducive to working in a digital grid.

A digital calendar

Many people opt for a daily planning tool they’re already using –– the calendar. Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Fantastical , and Woven are all popular calendar apps that you can use to plan your day and add your tasks alongside appointments, meetings, and events. This is also a great tool to use with a productivity method like time blocking. Additionally, digital calendars have the benefit of being available on the go, generally on both web and mobile.

A digital calendar is a great tool to use with a productivity method like time blocking.

💡 Product Tip Use Google Calendar with Todoist and experience 2-way sync between your scheduled Todoist tasks and your Google Calendar. Any changes you make in Google Calendar, like editing an event name or changing the date, will instantly be reflected back in Todoist, and vice versa. You can also use Fantastical with Todoist. With this integration, you’ll be able to see all your tasks from Todoist directly in Fantastical, and any changes you make to Todoist tasks in Fantastical will sync back to Todoist and vice versa.

A paper planner

For the tactile among us, paper and pen is the go-to for planning your day . This can take any number of forms including notebooks, agendas, or specialized planners. We’d only caution against post-it notes or loose paper. While simple and scrappy, ad-hoc scraps of paper prevent you from looking back at old tasks and reflecting on the effectiveness of your daily planning. [See the “Reflect Regularly” section]

• Notebook — A simple lined or unlined notebook will do the trick for a simple pen and paper planning system. Use a new page for each day and mark the date at the top. Try gridded notebooks that can help with creating divisions if needed.
• Daily Agendas or Planner s — Agendas or planers are notebooks with space to plan each day of the year from January 1 to December 31. This provides dedicated space for daily planning and the ability to go back to previous and upcoming entries with greater ease.
• Specialized Planners — We’re seeing the rise of specialized planers or paper and pen planning systems like the Passion Planner or Bullet Journal . These systems are often complex, but can be powerful systems for dedicated practitioners.

A paper planner can take any number of forms including notebooks, agendas, or specialized planners.

A digital and paper hybrid

When it comes to daily planning, you don’t need to choose pen and paper or digital tools –– you can use both or any combination of the methods mentioned. Here are a few different ways you can put a hybrid system to good use:

• Personal and professional split . Use a digital system for your professional tasks and a planner for your personal tasks. This can be a helpful method if you dedicate working hours to striving for professional goals and dedicate your evenings to personal tasks and self-growth. In the same vein, you might use a task manager during the week and a journal on the weekends.
• Paper first, digital second . You might enjoy the tactical aspect of planning your day on paper but appreciate the searchability and permanence of digital tools. Plan your day using a schedule or daily planner but make time at the end of each day to transfer your to-dos and progress to a digital task manager for easy reference. This is also a great method if you opt for paper notes to avoid distraction. For instance, you might bring a notebook into a meeting and leave with action items and requests you’ve scrawled in your notebook. You can then transfer these items to your digital to-do list, adding due dates and priority levels so they don’t fall through the cracks.
• Pen-and-paper thinking, digital execution . Some find that they’re more creative and think better when they have a blank page and a pen in hand. Get out your plans for the day on paper with any added notes and thoughts you might have. Then, move them to your digital to-do list to make your tasks more actionable.

How to stick with your daily plan & course-correct when needed

Even with a solid plan and the best of intentions, it’s difficult to complete all our to-dos for the day. We inevitably find ourselves off-task, lured by distractions like Twitter memes and online shopping. Ad-hoc tasks, assigned by our managers or delegated from teammates, can arise that break our focus and force us to concentrate on unplanned items.

Unfortunately, these interruptions can snowball into unproductive days and ineffective weeks. We decide that daily planning doesn’t work, and there’s no point in approaching our days with intention. That couldn’t be further from the truth!

Yes, our days will never go exactly as planned, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth planning. Here are a few strategies, some straight from productivity experts, for sticking with your daily plan and course correcting when things go awry.

Eliminate distractions

Stay focused by eliminating common distractions that pull you away from your objectives for the day –– especially if the bulk of your work is done with a computer. If possible, work with most of your desktop programs closed, with minimal tabs open, your phone on silent, and your notifications off.

If the call of social media scrolling is too strong, use a site blocker like Self Control or Freedom to make distracting websites inaccessible for hours at a time.

Track your time

Just like tracking your budget can naturally help you spend less, tracking your time can help you use it more effectively. Use an automatic tracking app like Rescue Time that collects information about usage on your desktop and mobile devices and sorts your time online into “productive”, “neutral”, and “distracting”. You can set daily productivity goals and check-in throughout the day to see whether or not you’re nearing your goal or falling short of the target.

Use an automatic time tracking app like Rescue Time to help you track and budget your time more effectively.

Try hourly check-ins

Apply mindfulness to productivity by regularly checking in with yourself to notice if you’re moving through your day with focus.

Peter Bergman , an executive coach and the best-selling author of 18 Minutes, suggests setting a regular timer to refocus ourselves:

Readjust your plan

Sometimes unexpected tasks arise that we can’t ignore. That’s fine. The problem arises when we try to take on this unanticipated work without going back to revise our initial plans. Instead, make unplanned to-dos part of a new plan. When you have to shift to an off-book task, take a few minutes to readjust your plan for the day: reschedule to-dos to later in the day or move them to tomorrow. Then, work off of your new plan.

Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University and the best-selling author of Deep Work , shares his approach to readjusting his daily plan using the time blocking method with pen and paper:

When unexpected tasks that you can't ignore arise, readjust your plan.

Get to “To Do List Zero”

Most days you won’t finish everything on your list. However, get to “To-do List Zero” anyways. Amir Salihefendić, the Founder and CEO of Doist, shares his personal productivity method, Systemist , including “To-do List Zero”, a concept inspired by Inbox Zero:

By ending the evening with a clean slate, we can avoid getting buried in overdue tasks and tackle tomorrow with renewed energy.

Reflect regularly

You’ve made planning your day a habit, translated your long-term goals into actionable tasks, chosen a productivity method, and selected your tool of choice. You’re set for more productive days that build to more meaningful weeks, months, and years.

However, don’t let your process run on autopilot. Take some time to regularly consider whether your approach to daily planning is helping you accomplish more. Make time every so often, perhaps during a weekly review , to consider whether your planning process is working or could be tweaked or even overhauled to be more effective.

Consider these questions:

• Are my days calm and intentional or stressful and haphazard?
• Did I complete all my daily planning sessions or skip some?
• Do I feel accomplished at the end of most days?
• Are my high priority days being addressed?
• Am I on track to meet my long-term goals?
• This day was especially productive — why?
• I accomplished nothing impactful on this day — why?

In being honest about how our days went and how we’re faring on our big goals, we can fine-tune our daily planning for better results. Hectic days might mean we need to prioritize more effectively or find a way to delegate work. Missing daily planning sessions might mean they’re too long and could benefit from a more streamlined approach. If we’re not moving towards our goals, it may mean we have too many or we’re not adding them to our days with enough frequency or intention. We might simply like pen and paper while we’ve forced ourselves to try a shiny new app. Whatever the issue, work to resolve it by modifying your daily planning process.

It’s not uncommon to need to experiment and try a few iterations of daily planning before we land on the method that actually lead to getting more done.

When planning your day, aim for consistency and flexibility over perfection. While we’ve provided tips and tactics for planning your day effectively, there’s no silver bullet solution. Instead, we feel the most ready to attack our day when we show up consistently. Productive days have a way of turning into productive weeks, months, and years. When we chip away at our tasks with intention and focus day by day, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish.

Fadeke Adegbuyi

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60 Monday Journal Prompts to Start Your Week With Intention

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Last Updated on October 19, 2023

Table of Contents

Give these Monday journal prompts a try to feel motivated, ready, and intentional about your new week!

I think we can all agree that Mondays are one big oof! They’re probably not your favorite day of the week, and you’re not alone in that feeling.

Research shows that employees’ mood is often lowest at the beginning of the week and picks up as the week goes on (as it gets closer to the weekend, of course!).

Being five days away from the next weekend break isn’t always a fun feeling, but there’s things you can do to lessen the Monday blues. These Monday journal prompts are essential for mentally preparing for the week ahead, setting useful intentions, and gearing up for a successful week.

I mean, who couldn’t use some motivational Monday writing prompts?!

Oh, and bookmark these posts for a pick-me-up every day of the week!

80 Monday Affirmations to Kick Off the Week with Confidence

• 62 Tuesday Affirmations to Energize You
• 75 Wednesday Affirmations for Work to Fight the Midweek Slump
• 64 Thursday Affirmations for a Late Week Mood Boost
• 90 Friday Journal Prompts to Get That Friday Feeling
• 55 Saturday Affirmations for a Balanced Weekend
• Sunday Journal Prompts: 7 Prompts to Rest and Reset

This post is all about Monday journal prompts

Don’t forget about these Monday writing prompts! Pin ’em to come back later!

Why you should journal on Monday mornings

Monday morning journal prompts make for an opportunity to slow down, be present, and carefully reflect on the past week and how you can make this week even better. 

Monday mornings can be chaotic! So do yourself a favor: give yourself the time to be mindful and intentional about how you start your week.

It’s so easy to get caught up in prepping for the day and week ahead, but we need to prioritize spending time with ourselves as an act of self care. These Monday journal prompts will help you do just that.

Ideas for the perfect Monday morning journal routine:

• Sip your morning coffee as you journal
• Keep your journal on your nightstand so it’s within easy reach to use upon waking
• Pair it with a 5-minute meditation, releasing your thoughts in your journal to clear your mind before meditating
• Let journaling be the first thing you do before opening your laptop for the work day (if you work from home)
• Leave it in your car for quick reflection before heading into work (if you work in person)

Add your journal practice into wherever it makes the most sense for you in your Monday morning. Maybe you need a good alternative to scrolling through your phone as soon as you wake up. Maybe you feel most alert and can focus the best as you drink your coffee. Play around with where you can fit journaling in!

And if you feel stumped as you stare at a blank page, thinking to yourself “what do I journal about in the morning?” that question will no longer haunt you when you have these Monday journal prompts at the ready!

60 Uplifting Monday Journal Prompts

Let these Monday writing prompts journal prompts uplift, motivate, and guide you to an awakened Monday morning, where you feel prepared for the day and week ahead!

Weekly journal prompts create the perfect weekly check-in, where you reflect and catch up on your goals, plans, and mindset.

If your weeks feel scrambled, these Monday journal ideas will unscramble things for ya!

These writing prompts are great for everyone. Maybe you’re an overwhelmed mom who needs a moment of mindfulness in her day, a hardworking entrepreneur, or a busy student who could use some good Monday journal prompts for students! You’ll find a little of everything here.

New Week Journal Prompts for Mondays

These easy Monday journal prompts will help you create a good morning! Perfect for fitting in a quick journal session on busy Monday mornings .

• How do you feel about the week ahead?
• What intention do you want to set for this Monday?
• What does your soul need today?
• What are your weekly goals?
• What are you ready to welcome more of this week?
• What are 3 positive affirmations that can start you off right today?
• What can you do to bring yourself joy today?
• What can you do to bring someone else joy today?
• How will you make time for self care this week?
• Which self care activities will you do this week?
• What is one thing you’d like to manifest this week?
• What are your Monday evening plans when you’re done with work/school?
• How do you want to feel tonight when you look back on today?
• What is a situation that might set you back or trip you up this week? How will you plan for it?
• Did your weekend adequately prepare you for this week? Why or why not?
• What can you do on Sunday nights to make Monday mornings smoother?
• What distractions do you think you’ll run into this week and what can help eliminate them?
• What social media apps are eating up your attention the most? How can you limit your time spent on these?
• Is there something you have to do today that you’d rather not? How can you shift your mindset about it?
• What are 3 things you’re grateful for today?

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Motivational Monday Writing Prompts

These Monday journal prompts will motivate you to start your week strong! Mondays are a chance for new opportunity, new plans, and new intentions–all things these morning journal prompts target for a productive day!

• What is motivating you to get through this week?
• What is your main intention for the week?
• What are you most looking forward to this week?
• It’s natural for motivation to be inconsistent. What can you do to stay on track when your motivation dwindles?
• What is one thing you can add to your Monday mornings to make them more motivating?
• What is one thing about Mondays you actually enjoy?
• How can you make it easier to achieve your goals this week?
• What reminder do you need most today?
• What would you most like to accomplish this week?
• What do you need to prioritize this week?
• Are you rewarding yourself with anything at the end of this week?
• What would make today great?
• If you find yourself to have a little extra time this week, what will you do with it?
• What can you do this week to contribute to your long-term goals?
• Do you plan to make time for exercise this week? If so, what type of movement will you do?
• Which “big thing” can you get done this week that’s been sitting on your to-do list forever?
• What is one thing that went well last week and how can you keep up your streak this week?
• Which area of your life do you need to be more intentional with?
• What is one small thing you can do to work toward a larger goal?
• What are your main priorities in this season of your life?

More Monday Writing Prompts to Start the Week

Need a little bit more inspiration to get the week going? These Monday journal prompts will help you face whatever challenges this week may throw your way!

• What are you most worried about this week and how can you face it?
• What will be the most challenging part of the week? How can you prepare?
• What does your night routine look like on Monday nights?
• Do you think you have a good work-life balance? What steps can you take to improve it?
• What bad habits can you try to avoid this week?
• What good habits can you start to implement or do more of this week?
• What are some ways you can take care of yourself this week to prevent burnout?
• What can you do today that will help you fall asleep easier tonight?
• Which areas do you need to be a little more gentle with yourself in today?
• How can you slow down and be more present this week?
• Which negative thoughts do you need to reframe into something more positive or rational this week?

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• What do you need to release in order to start this week off fresh?
• What do you need to forgive yourself for to have a clean slate this week?
• Did your actions and behavior from yesterday align with your priorities? Is there anything different you need to do today?
• How can you decrease your procrastination this week?
• How can you give yourself the encouragement you need?
• What can you declutter this week, either mentally or physically, to free up mental/physical space?
• Is there an aspect of your life that you need to adjust your expectations for?
• What should you address and cope with today that you’ve been putting off?
• What can you appreciate about yesterday or the past weekend?

What are good things to journal in the morning to start off your Monday?

When deciding what to focus on as you respond to your Monday journal prompts, consider the following:

• How do you want to set yourself up for success this week?
• How do you want to feel this week?
• What do you need most this week?
• What can you take from the previous week and apply to this week?
• What helps and what hurts your chances of a mentally healthy week?
• What self care activities are you practicing throughout the week?

The purpose of Monday journal prompts is to spend some time with yourself and mentally prepare for the week ahead. If you make this a habit each Monday morning, you will feel so much more at ease and ready for the new week!

Let me know in the comments:

Which Monday morning journal prompts will you try for your productivity?

Psst…having trouble making time for self care? My (free!) daily self care check in makes it quick and easy! Grab it below to add just a few minutes of self care journaling to your morning and night routines!

Psst…make self care quick and easy by downloading my (free!) printable daily self care check in! Grab it to start adding a little self reflection into your morning + night routines.

You will receive your daily self care check in shortly.

This post was all about Monday journal prompts

More inspiration to make your monday suck less.

Morning Journal Prompts: 12 Prompts to Kickstart Your Day

Bedtime Journal Prompts to Ease Into the Night

60 Funny Positive Affirmations to Make You Laugh

LIKE THESE MONDAY JOURNAL PROMPTS? PIN THEM FOR LATER!

Founder & Content Strategist

Hey there! I'm Alexa, and I'm a self-care enthusiast and mental health advocate. At Ambitiously Alexa, I'm here to support women like you who are on a mission to achieve allll the things they're passionate about and make time for self care. I make this balance possible through journal prompts, positive affirmations, and self care ideas you'll love! Here's more about me, including my B.A in Psychology...

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Home / Blog

Top 6 Morning Routine Tips to Boost Productivity

January 27, 2023 

How you start your morning can impact your entire day. Sleeping through your alarm or spending too much of your morning on social media can lead to a scramble to get out the door on time. When you’re in a rush, you’re also more likely to skip breakfast or forget to pack the important stuff — and accidentally leaving your phone, laptop, purse, or school supplies behind is sure to put a damper on your day.

A frantic start to your day can lead to chaos and stress later on, but by planning ahead you can avoid these pratfalls. Carving out extra time in the morning to read, make coffee, and exercise or meditate can help set you up for a successful day.

We’re here to help with some great morning routine ideas to boost productivity and jumpstart your day.

Morning routine ideas to help set you up for a successful day

Setting a morning routine doesn’t have to be complicated. Think of it as teaching yourself to establish healthy, productive habits to help you achieve your goals. Here are some pro morning routine tips:

1. Don’t check your phone as soon as you wake up in the morning

A 2022 report from Exploding Topics found that people check their phones approximately 58 times per day. Using your phone to check emails or to keep up with friends and family on social media isn’t a bad thing, but grabbing your phone as soon as your alarm goes off can lead to immediate stress or distractions that might throw you off track for the rest of the day.

For example, if you received an after-hours email from your boss or a colleague, you could start stressing out about work before you even get out of bed. Or, you might be drawn in by the addictive qualities of social media. If you begin your day by checking all your apps and status updates, you might accidentally lose time scrolling that you don’t have to spare.

2. Open the blinds and make your bed

Opening your blinds or curtains and making your bed alerts your brain that your day has started. Tidying your sleeping space can also give you a sense of accomplishment, which helps start your day with a positive mindset. Incorporating this practice into your mornings can mentally prepare you to tackle the rest of the items on the day’s to-do list.

3. Get moving

Exercise is a great way to reduce fatigue, boost energy, and improve focus. It can also enhance your mood and reduce your risk of developing chronic conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Starting your day off with a physical activity like running, indoor rowing, yoga, or a workout at the gym can provide you with a dose of post-workout endorphins for a successful and happy day. Not only that, but implementing exercise into your morning routine means you’ll be able to reap the longer-term health and wellness benefits.

4. Eat a healthy breakfast

A healthy breakfast can kick-start your metabolism, providing you with the energy and nutrients you need to get things done. It can also help prevent you from getting so hungry later in the day that you overindulge on fatty, sugary, and potentially high-cholesterol foods.

If you don’t have time to prepare a sit-down breakfast, be sure to grab some healthy snacks before you head out the door.

5. Practice gratitude

Studies have shown that when people write in a gratitude journal, they have improved levels of mental health. An easy way to start a gratitude journal is by writing down three things that you are grateful for each morning. This practice can set your mood for the rest of the day and boost your overall sense of well-being.

Practicing gratitude doesn’t require a lot of time. For example, you can recite what you’re grateful for while making your bed, getting dressed, or preparing breakfast. You may also want to take time to reflect on obstacles you’ve overcome to get to where you are now for a little bit of extra inspiration.

6. Read over your to-do list

Starting and maintaining a to-do list is a great way to keep yourself organized. Take some time each morning to read over what you’ve jotted down and evaluate your priorities.

Whether it’s finishing an important assignment, doing a load of laundry, or making that phone call you’ve been avoiding, visualizing your action plan for the day can help you find the motivation to accomplish your goal. Tackle whatever requires the most focus first. Make sure not to overwhelm yourself, and remember to set aside time for fun, relaxation, or self-care.

Why morning routines are important

What you do first thing in the morning can have a tremendous impact on the rest of your day. A morning routine:

• Helps lessen stress. People tend to get anxious when they don’t have enough time to complete various tasks. A morning routine can help you stay organized and feel calm.
• Puts you in control of your day. Rushing to get out the door can make even the most level-headed person feel frazzled. Starting your day with a routine and a to-do list can help you feel as if you’re in control of your day, instead of the other way around.
• Boosts your energy. Exercising, eating a healthy breakfast, and starting the day with a game plan can help improve both your mood and your energy levels.
• Gives you more confidence.  Setting aside time each morning to get focused, plan your day, and engage in self-care can help you feel collected, confident and accomplished. Checking items off your morning to-do list is a productive feel-good task.

Set yourself up for success

Establishing a morning routine is one of the most effective ways to set yourself up for success. When your time feels unmanageable, your daily routine can help you overcome the sense of impossibility and prepare to go into the day with confidence.

Incorporating some or all of the above morning routine tips into your life can give you the freedom to focus on what’s important. Whether your priorities are yourself, your family, work, school, or all of the above, there’s no better time than the present to incorporate a morning routine.

Have you been thinking about taking online classes to start or finish a degree program? Discover how the online bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs at Maryville University can be incorporated into your daily schedule and help you change your professional trajectory.

Recommended Reading

Tips for Staying Motivated During the Holidays At-Home Workout Ideas for Students 5 Tips for Organizing and Managing Your Busy Household

Exploding Topics, “Time Spent Using Smartphones (2023 Statistics)” Forbes, “Four Ways to Start Your Morning For a More Productive Day” Greatist.com, “How the most Productive People Start Their Workday” Healthline.com, “The Benefits of Gratitude and How to Get Started” Mind Body Green, “These Daily Habits Will Set You Up For a Successful Life” Mindful.org, “The Science of Gratitude” MyVA.com, “10 Science-Backed Benefits of a Morning Routine”

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7 Morning Mindfulness Exercises to Start Your Day with Intent

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Are you tired of rushing through your mornings, feeling stressed and disconnected before the day begins? If so, you're not alone. Many people across the globe start their days on autopilot , jumping straight into their to-do lists.

Rather than intentionally setting themselves up for a successful day, they immediately begin their daily grind without a second thought.

In addition to the stresses of the workday and the constant push to produce more, there's the added worry of unpredictability regarding the political climate and economics.

While everyday stress may be here to stay as part of modern-day life, there is a solution to help stave off its profound effects. You must be intentional to keep prolonged stress from taking a toll on your mental and physical health .

If not, you'll find yourself experiencing the symptoms of chronic stress… which include headaches, muscle tension, and digestive issues. Not only that, but stress can weaken your immune system, making you more susceptible to illnesses. 

The impact stress has on mental health cannot be understated. Chronic stress is associated with health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and even cognitive decline . It can affect your ability to concentrate, sleep, and make crucial decisions.

Ultimately, the long-term consequences of chronic stress that goes unchecked can be detrimental .

To help counteract it, intentionally adopting a habit of morning mindfulness exercises will help you manage your stress and prioritize well-being in your daily life.

Table of Contents

What is Mindfulness? 

First, to understand mindfulness, realize that it is a mental practice and state of awareness characterized by being fully present in the moment . What that means is that you're intentionally observing your own thoughts, emotions, and sensations with an open and non-judgmental attitude .

Mindfulness involves intentionally directing attention to the present experience and accepting it . No matter what, you aren't trying to change or react to your experience. Using meditation techniques, you can cultivate mindfulness and integrate it into your daily life .

As you enter into the practice of regularly using mindfulness exercises, you'll see how they can help you reduce stress, improve your focus, and foster a greater sense of well-being and self-awareness.

Think of it like this: mindfulness is like giving your mind a vacation from its constant hustle and bustle. When you're fully present in the here and now, without judgment, you'll find yourself paying attention to the present moment with openness and curiosity.

Mindfulness is not about emptying your mind or achieving a Zen-like state. Instead, it's about acknowledging whatever thoughts, feelings , or sensations arise and letting them pass without getting swept away by them.

Often, when we're stressed, we allow ourselves to get caught up in our circumstances and make bad decisions.

Ultimately, mindfulness is a mental skill you can practice, which can help you tune into your thoughts and emotions without reacting automatically. It's about understanding yourself better, managing stress, and finding more clarity and peace in your everyday life.

Rather than just some trendy buzzword, mindfulness is genuinely a valuable tool for improving your mental well-being. 

The Benefits of Morning Mindfulness Exercises

Practicing mindfulness exercises in the morning rather than later in your day offers a unique advantage. They set the tone for the rest of your day .

Mornings are typically less hectic than afternoons or evenings, making it easier to find a quiet moment for mindfulness without the distractions of daily life.

Of course, you'll need to plan, particularly if you have family members, to schedule your mindfulness exercises at a time when your home life is less busy.

If you're a young mom or dad, you may need to wake up earlier and perform your mindfulness exercises before the kids wake up.

Whenever you choose to start your day, you'll find that starting it with mindfulness helps you build resilience to stress and enhances your ability to navigate challenges as they arise.

It also kick starts your day with a sense of calm and clarity , allowing you to approach tasks with increased focus and intention.

Ultimately, morning mindfulness can inspire healthier daily habits , such as making mindful food choices and staying physically active.

By prioritizing mindfulness in the morning, you cultivate a positive mindset that carries you through the rest of your day, contributing to your overall well-being.

Morning mindfulness exercises can provide you with many benefits that can transform your day from the get-go. Here's a quick rundown of the benefits you may experience when you intentionally choose mindfulness exercises each morning:

• Reduced Stress : These exercises help you start your day with a sense of calm, easing morning stress and anxiety. When you start your day with less stress, you may notice your daily challenges aren't quite as challenging.
• Improved Emotional Well-being : They boost self-awareness and emotional resilience, equipping you to handle challenges with a positive mindset. Emotional resilience will give you the ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity, maintaining mental and emotional well-being in the face of stressors.
• Enhanced Focus : Morning mindfulness sharpens your concentration, helping you tackle tasks with greater clarity and efficiency. When you've removed barriers to concentration, you'll find you can focus better on your tasks at hand.
• Better Relationships : By promoting empathy and communication skills, morning mindfulness can enhance your interactions with others. You may find your relationships become healthier, giving you a sense of gratitude for your circle of friends and family.
• Increased Productivity : When your mind is clear and centered, you'll be more productive and creative throughout the day. When you're more productive, you'll find success in achieving goals, maximizing efficiency, and creating a sense of accomplishment, ultimately leading to personal growth and success.
• Healthy Lifestyle : These practices can become a foundation for a mindful life, encouraging healthier choices and habits enabling you to live your best life. A healthy lifestyle entails maintaining a balanced diet, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, stress management, and positive social connections to promote overall well-being.
• Joyful Mornings : Ultimately, they can turn your mornings from a chaotic rush to a peaceful and purposeful start, making each day a little brighter for you and those you with whom you interact.

As you can see, the benefits you'll receive from intentionally practicing mindfulness in the beginning of your days are tremendous. But how do you figure out how to begin each day with intention and mindfulness?

Not to worry. We've put together 7 simple morning mindfulness exercises that can help you achieve these benefits as you start your day with purpose, positivity, and less stress.

7 Exercises for Morning Mindfulness Exercises

Remember that any mindfulness exercise takes time and commitment to affect change. B e patient and intentional as you perform these each day. It shouldn't take long before you begin noticing positive changes in your daily life.

1. Set Yourself Up to Wake Up Gently

If you've ever awakened to the loud blaring of an alarm clock, you know that can increase your stress level from the start.

To help you ease into your day, follow these steps instead:

Step 1:  Set your alarm to a soothing, soft tone. 

Step 2: Resist the urge to jump out of bed immediately upon awakening. Instead, take a few moments to fully wake up. Yawn. Stretch.

Step 3: Breathe in and out deeply while focusing on your breath. Slowly, as you're waking up, become fully aware of your surroundings.

When you start your day with a gentle awakening, you set a calm tone for the hours ahead as your household comes to life and you prepare to take on your day.

2. Write in a Gratitude Journal

Setting your mind on being grateful first thing in the morning is good because it promotes a positive outlook, reduces stress, and fosters emotional well-being.

That's why we recommend gratitude journaling. To get started: 

Step 1: Grab a notebook and pen or download some printable worksheets .

Step 2: Before getting out of bed, write down three things you're grateful for.

Step 3: Take a moment to reflect on these blessings and let the feeling of gratitude wash over you.

Practicing gratitude can shift your mindset towards positivity right from the start.

3. Begin Your Day with Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing can help you reduce stress, increase your focus, and promote a sense of calm and presence in the moment.

Here are a few steps to get you to form a morning habit of mindful breathing:

Step 1: Find a comfortable sitting or lying position.

Step 2: Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose, counting to four.

Step 3: Exhale slowly through your mouth, also counting to four.

Step 4: Repeat this for a few minutes, focusing solely on your breath.

Mindful breathing helps calm your mind and reduce stress, preparing you for the day ahead. Breathing exercises can both calm and energize you.

4. Prepare Yourself a Mindful Breakfast

A mindful breakfast involves eating with full awareness of your meal's flavors, textures, and sensations. 

Here are the steps to transforming a mundane meal into a sensory experience:

Step 1:  Pay attention to each bite as you prepare or eat your breakfast.

Step 2: Notice the flavors, textures, and smells.

Step 3: Chew slowly and savor each bite rather than rushing through your meal.

A mindful breakfast can enhance your connection with your food, foster healthy eating habits, and promote a sense of gratitude for nourishment.

5. Treat Yourself to a Morning Stroll

An early morning walk is good for you because it provides a peaceful and refreshing start to your day, helps clear your mind, and boosts physical and mental well-being.

Here are a few steps to help you step your way to a better way to start your day:

Step 1: Take a short walk, preferably in a natural setting like a park or garden.

Step 2: Pay attention to the sights, sounds, and sensations around you.

Step 3: Let go of any racing thoughts and simply be present in the moment.

A morning stroll in nature can be incredibly rejuvenating for both your body and mind.

6. Set the Tone for Your Day with Positive Affirmations

Positive affirmations can boost self-confidence, reframe negative thought patterns, and inspire a more optimistic mindset.

To help you start your day best, follow these steps:

Step 1: Choose a few positive affirmations that resonate with you.

Step 2: Repeat these affirmations to yourself in front of a mirror or quietly in your mind.

Step 3: Believe in the power of these words and let them inspire confidence and motivation.

Morning affirmations can set a positive tone for your day and boost your self-esteem as part of your morning mindfulness routine.

7. Perform a Digital Detox

When you eliminate digital devices from a part of your morning, you'll notice the benefits of reducing information overload, fostering a calmer morning routine, and promoting a mindful and focused start to your day.

Step 1:  Intentionally avoid checking your phone or any electronic devices for at least the first 30 minutes after waking up.

Step 2: Use the time away from your devices for meditation, stretching, or enjoying a peaceful, uninterrupted cup of tea or coffee.

A digital detox in the morning can prevent information overload and set a calmer pace for your day.

Final Thoughts on Morning Mindfulness Exercises

Incorporating these 7 morning mindfulness exercises into your daily routine can help you start your day with intention, positivity, and a greater sense of awareness and purpose .

When you do that, your day will feel much less stressful, and you'll find that you can better manage the stresses as they come your way.

In addition to practicing these morning exercises, you may want to read our article on 9 Strategies to Break the Cycle of Morning Anxiety . 

For many, anxiety is worst in the evenings or mornings, while lying in bed. This is likely because this is when you actually have time to think .

Remember, the goal is not to rush through your morning mindfulness exercises, but to take the time to connect with yourself and your surroundings, to truly be in the moment.

Over time, these practices can transform your mornings and set a more mindful tone for the rest of your day.

So why not give them a try and see how they can enhance your daily life? We wouldn't be surprised if your mornings become your favorite part of the day!

And if you're looking for more articles about mindfulness, be sure to check out these blog posts:

• 7 Best TED Talks on Mindfulness & Staying in the Moment
• 25 Fun Mindfulness Memes to Embrace the Moment
• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction: A Simple Guide

Finally, if you want a simple way to reduce your stress and anxiety, then try writing these 35 mindfulness journaling prompts to live more in the present moment .

Productivity

Productivity tips

Forget Mornings: Here’s How to Design the Best Afternoon Routine, According to Research

With the amounts of tips and tricks out there telling us how to have the most productive morning possible, you’d think the majority of the working population spends the pre-lunch hours lifelessly shuffling around like a bunch of office-bound zombies.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

No matter what your morning routine is, our body is predisposed to get stuff done in the AM. Humans have a ‘master clock’ called our Circadian Rhythm, which controls when we have the most energy and alertness. And while each person’s ‘clock’ is set slightly differently, the most common scenario backed by research shows that we have high mental alertness at 10am (a few hours after we wake up) with energy levels dropping off in the early afternoon until a predictable crash at around 3pm.

So, if we’re predisposed to sluggishness in the post-lunch hours, what can we do?

Just like a morning routine can kickstart your day, devising an afternoon routine based around our lower energy levels can help us get the most out of the day, even when our body would rather curl up on the couch and watch Netflix.

Plan for a Productive Afternoon—Before You Have Lunch

The hours before your energy naturally starts to decline are some of your peak working hours and shouldn’t be wasted. However, you should use some of this high energy to set yourself up for a productive afternoon. Here are a few suggestions.

Use Hemingway’s famous hack

It’s easy to keep riding the pre-afternoon high of our natural boost in energy, but fully completing a task or project at this point can actually be detrimental to your ability to get back in the swing of things after lunch.

So instead of neatly wrapping up that task before you break for lunch , follow this simple piece of advice from Ernest Hemingway: Stop while you’re ahead.

"If you stop when you are going good, as Hemingway said…then you know what you are going to say next," explains author Roald Dahl (who, oddly enough, is the original source for Hemingway’s trick). "You make yourself stop, put your pencil down and everything, and you walk away. And you can’t wait to get back because you know what you want to say next and that’s lovely."

This trick can be applied to any job. Whether you’re banging out customer support tickets, putting together a new strategy doc, or editing your slide deck for a presentation, the key is to stop not when you’re finished, but when you know exactly what to do next.

Why? Well, Hemingway’s hack works for two reasons:

You’re lowering the psychological barrier to returning to work: When you come back after lunch and head into your afternoon, there’s no question of where you want to start. You don’t need to expend any unnecessary cognitive energy or risk hitting a block.

Our minds naturally hate not finishing a task we’ve started: The Zeigarnik Effect is a psychological phenomenon discovered back in 1927 that explains how "the brain has a powerful need to finish what it starts. When it can't complete something, it gets stuck on it," and will even give us a boost of energy to help us finish what we’re started.

Set a minor milestone you’ll be able to finish in the afternoon

Your afternoon depends on getting back into the flow of work quickly. But starting up the engine is hard enough, let alone trying to get any sort of momentum going. We get a rush of energy when we finish a task. However, we don’t need to hit major goals to see that benefit.

"When we think about progress, we often imagine how good it feels to achieve a long-term goal or experience a major breakthrough. These big wins are great—but they are relatively rare. The good news is that even small wins can boost inner work life tremendously," explains researchers Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer who studied the correlation between daily progress and happiness and meaning at work.

The effect is like a viral loop: Making measurable progress, even minor, makes us happier. When we’re happier, we’re more productive . More productivity means more progress. And on and on.

The key is to identify these minor milestones and work towards hitting them early in the afternoon.

Author Scott Berkun suggests starting with a big list of things you want to accomplish and then breaking each of those goals down into smaller and smaller milestones:

Writing things down is powerful. No matter how big the list is, everyone feels better once the list exists. Hey! You made something! Change of mood or mind starts with small things.

So, if you want to write a blog post in the afternoon, start with an outline and make that your goal. That first, meaningful step will help kickstart the rest of your afternoon.

Set your afternoon triggers

The last piece of the puzzle is to set up what I like to call "guardrails of motivation"—reminders to nudge you back on the right path when you inevitably drift later in the day.

You can set these up in any way that fits in your workflow, but here’s how I do it:

Work in 50 minute sprints: Research has found that working in short sprints and taking regular breaks is the best way to maintain your energy. While some people opt for the popular Pomodoro technique of 25 minute sprints with 5 minute breaks in between, recent research has suggested that 50 minute sprints followed by a 10-15 minute break might work even better. Whichever you choose, make sure you stick with it. I personally use an app called Be Focused to track my time and alert me when it’s time to take a break. But there are a lot of great apps available to help you do this .

Send yourself a reminder for when you know you’re going to dip: I know I’m most susceptible to low energy between 3pm and 4pm. Which is why pre-lunch I’ll often set a reminder for somewhere between those hours to simply ask "Are you working on the right thing?" Sometimes all we need is a little push to get us back on track.

Working with Your Energy Levels During the Dreaded Mid-Afternoon Dip

At some point between 2pm and 5pm, you’re going to feel your eyelids sagging and your momentum hitting the ditch. At this point, if you’re like me, you might have Facebook open in another tab and start mindlessly scrolling (or pull up YouTube, if it’s an especially low energy day).

This is where the real work comes in and where your routine becomes so important in protecting your energy and your time.

Turn off the outside world to protect what energy you have left

You might be able to fend off notifications, email, and texts in the morning when you’re sharp, but as soon as your energy dips it’s easy to get dislodged by any ping that comes your way.

Gloria Mark, professor in the department of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, says that it can take over 23 minutes to get your attention back after a disruption. When you’re already in an energy-depleted state, it’s safe to say this number can only go up.

Your afternoon routine should include some heads down time to conserve what energy you have. Unsplash CEO, Mikael Cho, suggests closing your extra tabs and turning off notifications to guard your energy:

Though many things seem urgent, they hardly ever are. Most things can wait a couple hours. Notifications are poison for your attention. Turning off notifications allows you to focus. We can’t multitask. You might feel like you can but what’s really happening is your brain is switching between tasks. Shutting down and restarting every time. Switching is inefficient.

Bang out those mindless tasks

When our brain enters low energy mode, it’s a good time to bang out ‘easy’ tasks, like clerical work, catching up on emails, resizing photos, or whatever work doesn’t require too much cognitive stress.

This is a last ditch effort to squeeze as much productivity as you can out of your afternoon. And to make this even easier, don’t rely on your tired brain to know what you need to do . Instead, I like to create a ‘bucket’ list of tasks that are boring but needed that I can take on in the late afternoon so I have some sort of guide, even if I’m not there 100%.

Throw in a little late-afternoon chaos

I know we’re talking about routines here, but too much ‘routine’ in your routine can actually kill your energy levels.

As you near the final stretch of your workday, bringing in a little chaos can actually help get you over the finish line. University of Nebraska-Lincoln business professor Theresa Welbourne suggests shaking things up by changing your usual time, place, or format of afternoon meetings.

"The appearance of less bureaucracy makes people more energized at work," she says.

However you do it, setting up some event that knocks you out of your afternoon routine is a great way to boost your energy in the late hours of the workday.

Make time for a quick workout

A bit of exercise has been shown to improve mental health and mood as well as boost energy levels , which is why taking a little time out to move around in the afternoon is so important.

Try scheduling a simple workout during one of your afternoon breaks by doing a few rounds of the 7-minute workout or a short routine of pushups, planks, and jumping jacks.

If you’re in the office, why not make it a team effort? A friend of mine has been running "3 o’clock pushups" at his workplace for the past 3 years.

Right Before you Sign Off For the Day

With your levels at an all-time low, it’s time to wind down your workday. But there’s still an opportunity here to set yourself up for success for tomorrow morning (and afternoon).

Write a letter to tomorrow you

Your energy stores are almost depleted, but you want to push across that finish line! Follow the Ivy Lee method :

At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.

Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.

When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.

Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.

Not only does this list lower the friction of starting the next day, but research has found that ‘downloading’ your thoughts like this can actually improve your sleep , meaning you’ll be re-energized for another productive morning and afternoon the next day.

We put so much focus on our mornings that often the afternoons get left to their own devices. We assume the momentum from the day will get us through. And it might—but certainly not in the best way.

To hit peak productivity, be realistic about what you can finish in a day, work with your energy levels and not against them, and stick to your gameplan—all day long.

Morning routine image by Chris Adamus . Circadian Rhythm image by FuzzyScience

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Jory MacKay

Jory MacKay is an award-winning freelance writer and editor obsessed with the ways technology is changing our future. He once had an essay narrowly beat out for Medium’s top monthly read by Leonardo DiCaprio.

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• Essay on My Daily Routine | 200, 300, 400, 500 Words for Class 1-10

In our student life, we all need to follow a strict routine to get better output in the study and our health. We can manage time in a better way when we follow a daily routine. Here we have got some short and long essays on my daily routine for all class students. These essays are on every size, you can find a suitable one for yourself. 

In This Blog We Will Discuss

Essay on My Daily Routine in 200 Words

Everyone should follow a daily routine . As a student, I follow a very simple and easy routine for myself. I have made this routine with the help of my brother and one of my teachers. My day starts very early in the morning. 

I get up at 5 o’clock and go for a morning walk . I am very aware of my health. I try my best to keep myself fit and fine. After the morning walk, I bath with cold water and then take a rest for 10 minutes. 

After the rest, I eat my breakfast. And then I go to my reading room . I love to read science and English in the morning time. It’s the best time to concentrate on study. Then I prepare myself for school. 

Exactly at 9.30 o’clock, my father takes me to school. I come back from school at 3 PM in the afternoon. I eat my lunch in the school break time, I keep my food with me. Then I take a rest in my home and go out for playing cricket. 

Then I come back home before getting dark outside. I start reading at 6 PM and read till 9 PM. Then I eat my dinner. Before going to sleep, I watch television for 30 minutes. That’s all my daily routine. 

My Daily Routine Essay in 300 Words

Introduction: 

If you are following a daily routine that could bring some serious changes in your life. First of all, it will let you live a life in a fixed schedule and you can manage things in a better way. For the students, it’s a mandatory thing to follow. 

Because it can improve your study style and get better results for yourself. I also follow a daily routine as a student, and I am going to share things about my routine here. 

My Daily Routine: 

My routine is very simple but I follow it very strictly. Take a look at my daily routine here. 

4.00 AM – I get up early in the morning. 

4.00-4.20 AM – I brush my teeth and wash my face. 

4.20-5.00 – I go for a small morning walk and some basic exercises. And I get back to home. 

5.00-5.20 – I take a shower with cold water. 

5.20-7.00 – I prepare all my school tasks and homework. 

7.00-7.30 – I eat my breakfast. 

7.30-9.00 – Again I study and prepare my school tasks. 

9.00-9.30 – I prepare myself for going to school and got to school. 

9.30-3.30 – I spend all these hours in the school. I eat my lunch there. I keep my food with me. I love eating lunch with all my friends. 

3.30-4.30 – I get back to home and take rest. 

4.30-6.00 – I play cricket outside and then get back to home. 

6.00-9.00 – I study a lot in that time.

10.00 – I go to sleep after eating my dinner and watching TV for 20 minutes. 

That’s all about my daily routine. 

Conclusion:

I make some changes in the routine when I have free time or leisure time. Overall that’s a huge experience for me to follow this productive routine. 

My Daily Routine Essay in 400 Words

Introduction:

If you want to get the best result from your work, then you need to manage time properly. And time management becomes so easy when you are following a daily routine. As a student, I follow a very strict but simple routine and it helps me a lot to improve my study and other things. Today I will share everything about my routine. 

My Daily Routine:

My day starts very early in the morning. I wake up at 4 o’clock. I used to wake up very late, but when I heard about the health benefits of early rising , I started to get up early. Then I brush my teeth and go for a small morning walk . 

I enjoy the walk very much because it helps to feel good in the early morning. Sometimes I do some basic exercises too. Then I take a shower and eat my breakfast. Then I prepare my school tasks. I love to study math and science in the morning time. 

Because I can give better concentration on that period. I get ready for my school at 9 o’clock and my mom drops me there at 9.30 o’clock. I spend most of the time on my day at the school. I eat my lunch there in the school break time. 

I come back from the school at 3.30 PM and then I take a rest for 30 minutes. I love to play cricket in the afternoon. But every day I can’t play. 

My Evening and Night Routine:

When I get back home after the playing in the field, I feel very tired. And then I wash and take rest for 30 minutes. I eat some juice or something else that my mom prepares for me. I start to study at 6.30 PM in the evening. 

Most of the day, I keep reading till 9.30. That’s the most important part for my study. I prepare all my homework and do some extra studies too. And then I eat my dinner and watch Television before sleep. 

Conclusion: 

That’s all about my daily routine. I try to follow this routine always. But sometimes I need to bring some changes in the routine. And when I spend holiday and off day from school, I can’t follow this routine at all. I think this routine is helping me to use my time in the best work and complete my study tasks properly. 

Essay on My Daily Routine in 500 Words

To become successful, everybody should follow a strict schedule or routine. Especially in student life, we need to maintain our time properly. If we fail to maintain time then we can’t make a good result in the examination. 

Today I am going to share my daily routine and my experience here. I am a very regular guy who follows a routine. I made that routine almost six months ago with the help of my elder brother. 

I make some small edits and changes in the routine due to my own preference. 

I consider the morning is the most important part of the day. In the morning, you will find lots of peace and a calm environment. My class teacher suggested me to get up early morning. I followed here that suggestion very seriously and that made my day. 

Now I always get up at 5 o’clock in the morning. First of all, I go to the washroom and brush my teeth. I wash my face and wipe the water with a towel. Then I go for a small morning walk. I know the morning walk is very important for good health. 

Sometimes, I do exercise too. Most of the time I walk almost 30 minutes and the doctor said that’s enough for me. This little workout keeps me strong for the rest of the day. I come back to home after the walk and get fresh again. 

I eat my breakfast then. After eating breakfast, I study Math and Science in the morning time. I think morning is the best time to study. 

School Time: 

I go to school at 9.30 o’clock in the morning. My father drops me here with his car. I get a break at 1 o’clock after four classes in a row. And finally, I go home at 4 PM with my mom . 

She comes to pick me up from school every day. Because it takes almost 20 minutes to go home from school by car. I enjoy school time very much.

Eat and Sleep Routine: 

I eat my breakfast and then I eat my lunch in the school break time. I take my lunch with me. My mother is very aware of my food. She always cooks something interesting to me. I love eating Pizza and Burger, but she doesn’t buy me that kind of fast food. 

She prefers to cook them for me. I love her cooked Pizza very much. And finally, after reading and watching TV at night at 10 o’clock, I go for my sleep. When I go to bed, I think about my entire day. 

Holiday Routine: 

When my school is close and I have lots of spare time, my daily routine becomes a bit different. I add time for video games, playing in the field with friends, and spending more time with my cousins. 

That’s all about my daily routine. I love to follow this routine and I am very serious about it. I think It’s perfect for me. You can follow my routine too. 

10 Lines Essay on My Daily Routine

10 line essays are easy and short. Here is a 10 lines essay on my daily routine. I am sure you will be able to learn these 10 lines essay easily. 

1. A person who follows a good routine can handle his work and time properly. It’s easy to manage your time when you are on a routine. 

2. It’s a high priority for the students. And that’s why I follow a very simple routine to manage my time. 

3. My daily routine is very easy and simple. It helps me to study properly, eat on time, and take care of my health. 

4. I get up early in the morning and pray first. My mother always suggests me to pray in the early morning. 

5. And then I go for a morning walk. After a 30 minute walk, I come back home and go for a bath and then I eat my breakfast. 

6. I go to school at 9 o’clock and get back home at 3 o’clock. I eat my lunch in the school break time. I keep my food with me. 

7. I go outside to play cricket with my friends in the afternoon. I enjoy that time a lot. I think that’s the best part of my day. 

8. I read almost three hours at night. And then I eat my dinner. 

9. Before going to bed, I watch TV for 30 minutes. I love watching cartoon channels. 

10. That’s all about my daily routine. That is very simple and easy. 

How can I write my daily routine? 

If you want to write a daily routine, you can take suggestions from your teacher or someone elder from your family. When I wrote my first daily routine, I was very confused. But finally, I came with a very productive and successful schedule of my life. I suggest you look back on your day and think about how do you spend your time. You need to find where should you spend most of your time and where not. 

How important is a daily routine?

A daily routine is a very essential thing that will make your day easy. I hope you will be able to create a very useful and proper daily routine. 

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Essay on My Daily Routine in Summer Vacation

Students are often asked to write an essay on My Daily Routine in Summer Vacation in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on My Daily Routine in Summer Vacation

My morning routine.

During my summer vacation, I wake up early at 6 a.m. I start my day with a glass of water, followed by a walk in the park. After returning, I help my parents with household chores.

Afternoon Activities

Post lunch, I engage in my hobbies. I read books, draw pictures or play my guitar. This is also the time when I complete my holiday homework.

Evening Fun

In the evening, I play with my friends. We play cricket, football, or simply ride our bicycles. After dinner, I watch television or play board games with my family.

Night-time Relaxation

Before going to bed, I read a storybook. This helps me relax and sleep peacefully. This is how I spend my summer vacation.

250 Words Essay on My Daily Routine in Summer Vacation

Introduction.

Summer vacation, a period of respite from academic pressures, offers an opportunity to indulge in activities that rejuvenate the mind and body. My daily routine during this season is a balanced blend of leisure, learning, and relaxation.

Morning Routine

My day commences at 6 am. I start with a quick jog followed by a refreshing swim, capitalizing on the pleasant morning weather. This physical activity not only keeps me fit but also prepares me for the day ahead. Post-exercise, I relish a healthy breakfast, typically comprising fruits and cereals.

Afternoon Engagements

Afternoons are dedicated to self-improvement and learning. I engage in reading books, ranging from fiction to academic literature, broadening my knowledge horizons. I also dedicate time to online courses, enhancing my skills in areas of personal interest.

Evening Leisure

Evenings are reserved for socializing and relaxation. I spend time with friends, playing games or simply engaging in conversations that stimulate intellectual curiosity. I also take out time for my hobbies, like painting, which provides a creative outlet and helps me unwind.

Night-time Reflection

My day concludes with a light dinner followed by some quiet reflection. This introspective time allows me to evaluate my day and plan for the next. I then drift to sleep around 11 pm, ensuring a good night’s rest for an energetic start the next day.

My summer vacation routine, thus, is a mix of physical activity, intellectual stimulation, social interaction, and personal growth. It provides a break from the usual academic rigor, while still keeping me engaged and productive.

500 Words Essay on My Daily Routine in Summer Vacation

Summer vacations are a time of leisure and freedom, a break from the usual academic rigor and a chance to explore personal interests. As a college student, I utilize this time to balance relaxation, productivity, and personal growth. Here’s an insight into my daily routine during summer vacation.

I begin my day early with a refreshing jog at 6 AM. The quietude of the morning, coupled with the cool breeze, sets a peaceful tone for the day. This is followed by a nutritious breakfast, a blend of proteins, fruits, and whole grains to fuel my body.

Post breakfast, I dedicate an hour to read. It’s a habit I cultivated to enhance my knowledge and perspectives. I prefer non-fiction, particularly books on psychology, philosophy, and current affairs.

The afternoons are reserved for skill development. As a Computer Science student, I spend a couple of hours learning new programming languages or working on ongoing projects. This not only augments my academic knowledge but also equips me with practical skills.

Lunch is followed by a short nap, a practice I’ve found to increase productivity in the latter half of the day. Post siesta, I engage in a language learning session. Being multilingual is a personal goal and I utilize this time to learn Spanish through an online course.

Evening Activities

Evenings are for socializing and relaxation. I usually meet friends at a local café or park. Sometimes, we organize group study sessions, turning our academic pursuits into a social activity. The camaraderie and shared learning experience make these sessions both enjoyable and productive.

Dinner is a family affair. It’s the time when we all gather, share our day, and enjoy a hearty meal. Post-dinner, I spend some time stargazing, a hobby that helps me unwind and marvel at the vastness of the universe.

Night Routine

Before retiring for the night, I spend an hour planning for the next day and reflecting on the day gone by. This practice helps me stay organized and introspective. I end my day with a light fiction book, which helps me relax and drift into a peaceful sleep.

My summer vacation routine is a blend of discipline and leisure. It allows me to pursue personal interests, enhance academic knowledge, and enjoy quality time with friends and family. It’s a testament to the fact that vacations, while a break from regular academic routine, can be a time for growth and self-improvement. This balance ensures that I return to college after the vacation, recharged and ready to take on new academic challenges.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on My Plans for Summer Vacation
• Essay on My Summer Vacation
• Essay on My Favourite Season Summer

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Essay on Importance of Morning Walk for Students and Children in 1500 Words

In this article, you will read an essay on the importance of morning walk for students and children in 1500 words. It includes its importance, benefits, and how to do?

Table of Contents

Essay on Importance of Morning Walk (1500 Words)

Starting our day with a walk is a healthier choice throughout the day. After hiking, we feel more energized and less sleep-deprived. When our energy drops or we get tired, we are more likely to succeed in comfort snacks or energy boosters.

Walking within the morning may inspire us to settle on a healthy lunch and meals within the afternoon. Morning walk is the best cardio exercise because one does not need a way of effort in it, and still, one can get the specified results. Also, it is effortless to do.

A morning walk is a popular sort of exercise that the elder peoples can take. Walks within the morning are often pleasurable and soothing due to the relative peace, including the coolness and freshness within the air.

It is a solid feeling to start the day with exercises for many people. Walking exercises our entire body, which provides a refreshing feel.

A Morning Walk Is a Part of Our Routine Life

Set out clothing for a walk the night before. Leave your socks and sneakers by the door, so you don’t need to search for them within the morning. 

Try to set your alarm for a half-hour earlier so you’ll get in a minimum of a 20-minute entry in the morning. Search for a nature trail nearby or simply walk around the neighborhood. 

Find a co-worker or friend to steer within the morning. Chatting and dealing together can help keep you motivated. 

If you don’t have tons of your time within the morning, consider making walking a part of your commute. 

Try getting off the bus a stop or two early to urge an entry. Or, park far away from your office so you’ll walk from your car. 

Should You Walk Before or After Breakfast?

If you enter the mornings, you’ll wonder if walking before or after breakfast matters and if it’ll help if you’ve got weight loss goals. Research is mixed on whether or not skipping breakfast will increase your metabolism or assist you in reducing faster. 

Some research shows that exercising within the fasting state (before breakfast) helps your body burn more fat. But more studies are needed. 

In the meantime, it depends on your body. If you feel fine taking a walk before eating, or if your stomach feels better if you don’t eat, that’s OK. 

You’ll simply feel better eating a little snack, sort of a banana or a fruit smoothie, before heading out on your walk. Either way, after you exercise, confirm you eat a healthy breakfast and drink a lot of water. 

Importance of Morning Walk 

Morning walk causes you to wake up early, which suggests that you simply will get enough time within the evening to try various other tasks because you’ll perform your exercise within the morning. 

Morning walk enhances our metabolism, which may be a sign of getting a healthier body, but it also depends upon what we eat afterward. Science has taken out that people who wake up before sunrise are much more beneficial than other people. 

In this age of pollution , early morning walks provide pure air so far untouched by vehicular emissions. The morning air is additionally fresh, and before the sun comes higher within the sky and warms up the atmosphere, sometimes intolerably so.

For people, the morning walk offers tranquility before the work pressures of the day take over, especially just in case of the office going people. The morning is calming not only due to the fresh air but also due to the peaceful atmosphere with the birds chirping etc. 

Morning walk may be an alternative to exercise because the movement of all the limbs is involved, and brisk walking results in many calorie loss.

Walking in the morning also gives you the freshness that you only desperately got to stay happy throughout the day. 

All the people who suffer from stress can choose morning walks as their daily routine for a stress-free life.

Many people add on chores like getting milk or walking the dog that’s done alongside the morning walk so that they get more wiped out in the morning. 

For many people, it’s a medical necessity. People undergoing physiotherapy are often advised a morning walk to walk at an equivalent time, avoiding traffic. 

A pleasant morning walk is found to be inducing better sleep within the night for several people. Starting the day with the morning walk, including other measures, is understood to urge better sleep.

Morning walks allow you to meet various new people daily, suggesting that you simply will increase your social life by morning walk. 

For several people, a morning walk may be a time for socializing. With many senior citizens who meet for these walks and spend a while together, it’s a fantastic piece of time.

Benefits of Morning Walk

There’s something mystical about dis c ipline . It’s going to appear to be something out of your reach once you live a sedentary lifestyle. But morning walks are often your warning call, and once you begin building momentum and walk a day, you’ll end up enjoying it.

If you’re struggling to create new habits, start by taking a morning walk and stick with it. You’ll find the remainder of your day going much better too.

A brisk walk early in the mornings is suitable for your heart. When you elevate your heart rate, your organs circulate blood better and pump oxygen to the heart due to increasing demand. 

You can slash your risk of heart disease down by a large percentage when you go for a morning walk and stick to it in the long term.

If you’re watching what you eat and feel that going to the gym is not for you, you can take a morning walk. Morning walks are not HIIT/Cardio but low-impact exercise, which means they’re easy on your joints. You’ll still be burning calories while walking.

And when you create a calorie deficit by walking, you lose weight. The benefits of a morning walk for weight loss don’t just extend to merely losing weight, but it reduces your waist size and circumference, too, giving you that beautiful body you’ve always wanted.

Morning walks are a kind of brain-drain or a mental decluttering exercise too. If you’ve got tons of thoughts in your mind and need to de-stress, take a morning walk. 

The whiff of fresh air, sunshine, and quiet outdoors will assist you to connect with your inner self, thus, helping you develop mindfulness. Now, we don’t need to explain the advantages of mindfulness.

There’s one thing we agree on, mindfulness gets you into the habit of big-picture thinking by not letting you stray within the details. And that’s important not just for your psychological state but emotional health also.

Your bone density starts dropping after the age of 30, bit by bit, thanks to aging. Some studies show that walking reduces your chances of osteoporosis, arthritis, and other bone-degenerative conditions. 

Walking strengthens the joints, improves the assembly of joint fluids, and keeps them lubricated, thus preventing stiffness and mobility loss. Once you consolidate your bones and do impact exercises like brisk walking, you increase your bone density.

Morning walk also improves blood circulation to the brain, carrying more oxygen and supplying it with its nutrients. This makes your mood feel better and your mind more alert. You’ll notice that you simply make better decisions and think clearly after taking long walks.

Low immunity increases your susceptibility to illness and causes you to be susceptible to catching infections and getting riddled with illnesses and diseases. Walking for half an hour daily boosts your system and keeps you shielded from various conditions.

Starting your day with a brief walk offers a variety of health benefits. You’ll feel more energized throughout the day, see your mood and mental clarity improve, and sleep better in the dark. Make sure to stretch before and after your walk and drink much water to remain hydrated. 

People usually prefer performing other exercises rather than going for a morning walk because they feel that more than a morning walk. 

But the morning walk is best because it doesn’t require much strength or physical activity . You would like to steer, and you’ll still burn many calories and stay healthy.

A morning walk is a superb start to the day. It includes the weather of exercise and socializing often. Walking in nature with the sound of the birds is taken into account by many to be a sort of meditation and helping prolong the hidden layers of creativity. 

It’s also like warming up to satisfy the events of the day, for those who cannot take up activities like jogging or running a morning walk, the next best substitute. 

I hope you liked this essay on the morning walk.

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Apr 4, 2024

Shubman Gill inspired fitness routine and diet for toned physique

Shubman gill’s fitness lifestyle.

Shubman Gill is a renowned Indian cricketer representing the Indian cricket team. He is also the captain of the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League and plays for Punjab in domestic cricket. Let’s take a look at his workout and diet regime

Morning runs are a must

Shubman Gill starts his day with a glass of protein shake or coconut water and goes for a quick morning run which makes him feel energetic and ready for the day.

Incorporating cardio activities

The rising cricket star incorporates all types of cardio exercises including swimming, running, and cycling, improving his cardiovascular health, which also focuses on his back strength.

His everyday exercises

Focusing on his core strength, he starts with barbell back squats, core development, dumbbell exercises, and utilizing Olympic lifting.

Hydration is a must

Despite traveling across the world and the change of weather, Shubman Gill always keeps his body hydrated by consuming natural juices and substances that have no sugar, carbohydrates, or glutens.

Cool down activities

Shubman Gill understands this well that if you don’t recover after a workout properly, it will not make your body stronger, but weaker. As the cricketer understands this well he prefers going for ice bath sessions and long massages.

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Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Shubman Gill prefers consuming a breakfast full of egg whites and fruits, followed by lunch, where he intakes loads of carbs with a plate full of brown rice and roti with green vegetables. For lunch, he prefers boiled vegetables with grilled lamb and chicken.

On his off days, Shubman Gill prefers having a plate of pancakes with maple syrup alongside gluten-free authentic Punjabi food.

The IPL season

Gujarat Titans skipper and captain Shubman Gill failed to score a decent run in the latest game clashing against Punjab Kings. However, promising to return stronger than ever, his fans are waiting for him to roar at the stadium.

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New York Today

Celebrating history with 200,000 tulips.

Tulip Day is coming, as part of an initiative by the Netherlands Consulate General and other groups to mark the 400th anniversary of Dutch settlers’ arrival in what is now New York.

By Melissa Guerrero

Good morning. It’s Thursday. Today we’ll look at why truckloads of tulips are coming to Union Square this weekend.

Sunday is Tulip Day in Manhattan’s Union Square.

A temporary field of 200,000 flowers, trucked in from farms in New Jersey and Virginia, will bloom in the plaza from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; more than 10,000 people have registered in advance to create their own free bouquets. (Walk-ins will also be admitted.)

While there is no shortage of flowercentric events and festivals in New York each year, this is the first time Royal Anthos , a Dutch trade association for flower bulb companies, is bringing Tulip Day to the city alongside the European Union and the Netherlands Consulate General of New York. (Similar events are held in Amsterdam and San Francisco .)

Jeroen Bours, president of the Netherland Club of New York, which is also helping put on the event, said that when one of the club’s organizers mentioned the idea to him last year, he pointed out that if it were to take place in the city, the event would need to scale up. “If it’s not big, it’s not New York,” he said.

Tulip Day is one of many events that the Netherlands Consulate General is hosting to honor the 400 years since the first Dutch settlements were established in what is now New York.

The multiyear initiative, Future 400 , includes events, projects and activities in collaboration with organizations in the city and beyond. The initiative is described on its website as the Netherlands’ way of “reflecting on the trials and triumphs that tell a more complete story of New York, while simultaneously looking toward the future.”

The lineup includes a summer youth program, theater and dance performances and art installations. There’s also a two-day conference called “Slavery in the New Netherland & the Dutch Atlantic World,” hosted by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, with the New-York Historical Society and the New Netherland Institute.

Another highlight is “New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam,” an exhibition at the New-York Historical Society. Part of the installation addresses the notorious “purchase” of Manhattan from Native Americans, with a letter by a Dutch West India Company administrator announcing the sale, displayed next to a statement refuting the sale, signed by chiefs of contemporary communities of the Lenape.

Ahmed Dadou, the Dutch consul general in New York, said the purpose of Sunday’s tulip event, and the initiative as a whole, was to connect all people in New York City with the Netherlands and vice versa, so that they could be in continuous conversation about their shared history.

The “400” symbol will linger throughout Tulip Day, with a flower structure in the form of the number displayed. At one point during the event, Mr. Dadou will also present the “Future 400” tulip, a new variety.

Mr. Bours said that he hoped Tulip Day would become a staple event in the city, like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. “And if this could wiggle itself in between there and become a New York tradition, that will be just terrific,” he said.

Prepare for a chance of rain, with a high near 50 degrees. Tonight, expect a chance of showers with a low in the high 30s.

ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING

In effect until April 10 (Eid al-Fitr).

The latest New York news

A bridge toll for marathon runners : The M.T.A. quietly demanded roughly $750,000 a year from the New York Road Runners to make up for the toll revenue that the authority loses when it closes the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to vehicular traffic .

Congestion pricing challenge : A closely watched lawsuit could block or upend the city’s new tolling program, which will charge most vehicles for entering the busiest parts of Manhattan .

Trump trial delay rejected : The judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s criminal case in Manhattan rejected his last-ditch bid to delay the April 15 trial until after the Supreme Court decides whether he is immune from prosecution .

Parking permit abuse : A Department of Investigation report confirmed what many New Yorkers know firsthand: that tens of thousands of people with city-issued permits, many of them police officers, can typically park anywhere they like with little fear of consequences .

Solar Eclipse

Prisoners lockdown lawsuit : Six men at an upstate prison filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the eclipse has religious significance and that a statewide lockdown order preventing them from watching it violates their rights .

Opening act : Ursa and the Major Key, a local psychedelic rock band in Plattsburgh, N.Y., landed an unusual gig on April 8: opening for the eclipse .

Arts & Culture

Whitney Museum names new chief curator : Kim Conaty will steer the institution’s permanent collection and acquisitions .

The Met Opera’s new chorus director : Tilman Michael, who leads the Frankfurt Opera’s chorus, will succeed the veteran conductor Donald Palumbo, who steps down this season after 17 years .

METROPOLITAN diary

‘Here, kitty’

Dear Diary:

My first apartment in New York City was a ground-floor studio in a prewar building on West End Avenue.

I was studying there one afternoon when I saw an older woman peering through the security bars on my window.

“Here, kitty, kitty!” she said.

Noticing me seated at the table near the window, she became startled.

“Oh! I’m sorry,” she said. “I just wanted to say hi to your cat. I speak to him every day when I walk by.”

I told her he was taking a nap but that I could take a message.

“Tell him I’ll be back tomorrow,” she said.

— Nassim Behi

Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here .

Glad we could get together here. Corey Kilgannon will be here tomorrow.

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee . You can find all our puzzles here .

Mathew Brownstein and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected] .

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

Melissa Guerrero writes about culture, communities and the arts in New York City. She joined The Times in 2018. More about Melissa Guerrero