Create a Daily Routine

Your morning routine sets you up for success for the rest of your day.  Instituting positive morning rituals can change your mental and emotional outlook by preparing you for what lies ahead. 

Behavioral psychologists tell us that how you end your work session is as important as how you begin it.

Morning rituals are essential.  How about end-of-day rituals—a way to close out your workflow? 

End-of-day routines help you maintain a healthy work-life balance, especially since your work and home life might not be as distinct as before.

While everyone wants to wind down at the end of a long day, here's one important component of any end-of-day ritual: planning out tomorrow's tasks. 

Reflect & Plan

Take a moment before you power down your computer to reflect on the day's activities. 

What went well today?  What did I achieve?  What impact did I have?  What can I do better?

Reflection is not only a vital tool to make sense of our experiences; it's also a guide for making tomorrow even better than today.

Identify the Most Important Task (MIT) that you need to complete tomorrow, then follow this guideline to map out tomorrow's workflow.

• Prioritize your tasks with the Pareto Principle or Eisenhower Matrix
• Enter these tasks into your calendar or to-do list
• Make sure you didn't miss any of today's MITs
• Repeat this daily to make it part of your end-of-day ritual

Beginning your day with a schedule saves brainpower when it comes to making decisions.  Most importantly, it gives you more time to Flow. 

Morra Aarons-Mele, the founder of Women Online, has been working online since 1999.  In the TED video below, she notes the importance of setting routines and rituals to prevent remote work burnout.