Make 2018 Your Most Productive Year By Doing These 5 Things Before 8 AM

It’s a new year and that means a lot of us are making resolutions to improve our productivity and overall well being. The best way to ensure you stick to those resolutions is to set yourself up for a successful day the moment you open your eyes in the morning. However, developing a consistent morning routine and sticking to it is far from easy. After all, life gets hectic, and some days all you want to do is hit the snooze button.

But I can’t stress enough how important your morning routine is! Start your day off right and good things will happen, not just that day, but all year long.

Here are the five things I do before 8 AM.

1. Get 7+ Hours of Sleep

The importance of getting enough sleep cannot be understated. It affects everything else you do. Humans are holistic beings! Arianna Huffington even wrote an entire book about the importance of sleep. In “The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time,” she delves into just how much sleep impacts everything about our lives, both personal and professional, and the dire need for us to take sleep more seriously.

Some positive things that getting a healthy amount of sleep is linked to:

• Increased creativity
• Increased attention and focus
• Decreased risk of depression
• Decreased fat and increased muscle mass with exercise

If you’re not well rested, you can’t perform at your best, period.That’s why I always shoot to get to bed by 10pm at the latest, and turn my phone on silent so I can enjoy some uninterrupted, much needed shut eye.

2. Meditate (10 Minutes)

Many of the world’s most successful people work some form of mindfulness practice into their day. I find a quick 10 minute meditation session to be the perfect way to start my day.

It helps me feel grateful for what I have, focus on the important things in my life, and reminds me that I am in control of my emotions, which influences how I react to challenges throughout the day.

3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast

You can’t attack your day if you don’t fuel your body with the nutrition it needs. For me, this starts with plenty of water, followed by a healthy smoothie made of banana, berries, kale and hint water. Feeding your body also feeds your mind, and kicking off the day on a healthy note sets the stage for healthy choices the rest of the day. Eating well is not just good for your waistline, it helps you focus, improves creativity and productivity and gives you energy to get you through the day without crashing.

4. Exercise (Even if It’s Just for One Minute)

If you don’t take care of your body, every other aspect of your life will suffer. And it starts with getting ample exercise. For me, that means taking a 45-minute long hike every morning with my dogs and my husband. This kills two birds with one stone. It allows me to enjoy the beautiful outdoors and get some fresh air before driving into the city to face a hectic day, and also ensures I fit exercise into my day because it’s one of the first things I do. Waiting till the end of the day to exercise is risky, since life is busy and something almost always comes up that makes it tough to fit in that jog or yoga class. After my morning hike I feel refreshed, energized, clear-headed and ready for anything.

I realize not everyone has the access or time for a 45-minute hike through the hillside every morning, but morning exercise can take many forms and still reap huge benefits. Even if it’s just 20 push-ups or a quick set of jumping jacks, quick exercise gets the blood flowing and the mind focused, which can lead to a more productive day.

5. Read/Listen to/Watch Something Positive

Taking time every morning to read something uplifting or educational puts you in the zone to perform at your highest. Whether it’s knocking out a chapter of a book you’ve been reading or scanning through the morning headlines, fitting in some morning reading is a great way to jumpstart your brain.

It also adds up over time. Think about how many books you will finish over the course of your lifetime if you spend 15-30 minutes reading after you wake up. Hold yourself accountable and do it!

If you follow this routine or something similar, no matter what you have lined up for the rest of the day, you will have done the important stuff first. You’ll have put yourself in a position to succeed and meet your personal and professional goals that you may have just set. You’ll do better work, your relationships will improve, you’ll have more clarity and vision, and most importantly, you’ll be happier. Try it out tomorrow morning! Why not?

Kara Goldin is the founder and CEO of San Francisco–based hint, a healthy lifestyle band that produces the leading unsweetened flavored water and a scented sunscreen spray that’s oxybenzone and paraben-free. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.