I recently watched a presentation that underscored the best practices of top performers. In particular, one topic they highlighted was morning routines and how top performers had a strict morning routine. For example, they wake up at 4am, work out, have their coffee, make their calls, and check their emails.
However, this notion of top performers having strict routines is not entirely true. It’s important to remember that you do not need to have a set routine that’s prescribed by somebody else. Everybody is different.
Top Performers Need to be Flexible
I’ll be the first to raise my hand and say, “I don’t have a routine.” On some mornings, I sit in bed for a couple of hours, answer my emails, scroll through my social media, drink my coffee, maybe work out if I feel like it, and then I get on with work. Whereas other mornings, I’m out of bed early having a coffee, eating breakfast, and getting ready to start my day. It requires flexibility to be a top performer, and I think that far too many people get caught up in a prescribed, fixed routine. We emulate what works for somebody else and that’s actually not the right way to be. We need to create systems that work for us, but you also need to be flexible as a top performer.
If you’re stuck in a routine that requires you to wake up at a certain time and conduct a certain number of activities before you start work, you will easily be thrown off when something inevitably changes or disrupts your routine. But it shouldn’t. It’s important that you are able to roll with the punches.
Indeed, don’t take someone’s prescribed daily routine as the gospel for what will work for you. Know your work schedule, know your family’s schedule, know your body, know your own mind, and be sure to create systems that will help you be more effective and profitable.
