Are you setting yourself up to fail first thing in the morning?

When your alarm goes in the morning, it’s very common for you to roll over and check your phone. Or more likely your phone is your alarm so you’ll turn off the alarm and navigate away from your alarm, before you’ve even had a chance to wake up properly.

Whether you navigate to social media for a browse, check the latest headlines or scan through your work emails, this has become a commonplace habit for many as soon as you wake up. It may seem innocent to check your work emails as you sip on your morning coffee in bed, however, a recent article by Forbes explained that looking at work emails first thing in the morning can set you up for an unproductive or chaotic day.

Technology is great, there’s no disputing that. But, keeping people connected 24/7 and encouraging the ‘always on’ culture, it is of no surprise that many feel the need to check straightaway. The article by Forbes said that as your inbox is full of ‘everyone’s to do list’ for you it can actually set you up for an unproductive day as you will react to everyone else’s needs and emergencies, diverting time away from your priorities. Instead, it’s best to start the day be allocating time and energy for certain tasks throughout the day to avoid a messy start to the day.

It’s very easy to see how sending an email first thing without giving it your full attention could cause problems. Say, you’re pinging an email whilst trying to get the kids out of the door for school. You won’t be giving the email your full attention and something so simple as using the wrong name in the content or sending the email to the wrong person could cause problems.

Working hours despite the ‘always on’ culture are working hours for a reason, so next time you wake up and immediately navigate to your work emails, don’t.