Morning Office Routines – What Do You Do As Soon As You Get to the Office?

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cars driving at sunrise on a nearly empty city street

We've talked a lot about morning routines from a health and sanity perspective — but I don't think we've ever talked about everyone's morning office routines — particularly about whether people have built any good habits for the morning routine at work, or how they ensure productivity as soon as they get to the office. Here are the questions about your morning office routine:

  1. What time do you aim to get to work?
  2. What is your commute like, and what do you do on your commute? Do you go straight to the office or stop somewhere (coffee shop, gym, daycare) along the way?
  3. What do you do as soon as you get to the office — talk with your assistant? Review a to-do list? Go to a meeting?
  4. Do you have any “first thing at work” habits that you've purposely built to maximize productivity for yourself — and have you had to break yourself of any bad habits (like, say, surfing the Internet for far too long in the morning)? Examples of this might be listing THREE things (no more!) that you want to get done on a Post-it, or avoiding the computer for an hour to focus on a paper project…
  5. Bonus Q – if extra work needs to be done, do you prefer to do it in the morning or at night? Do you prefer/need to be in the office for the extra work, or can you usually take it home?

In the past, we've talked about productivity hacks, our favorite books on productivity, scheduling breaks to increase productivity, and how to make the most of your productive times.

My Morning Office Routine(s)

For my $.02, these are some of the morning office routines I've used over the years:

{related: how to wake up more easily when it's dark out}

1 – When I worked in offices, I tended to roll in on the later side — 9:30 was about the earliest I ever got to work, both in magazines and in BigLaw.

2 – I would walk whenever possible for my commute, both to get some exercise and because I've always hated the subway. (Be smart about your commuting shoes, ladies — I still blame a lot of my current foot problems on my decision to walk 1-3 miles daily in blocky 3″ Steve Madden shoes. (Not quite these but close.)

3 – First order of business at work was usually to put lunch or breakfast in the fridge and grab another cup of coffee — but I am definitely prone (even now) to falling into the “let's just check the news!” trap and looking up and realizing that I've spent 60 minutes (or more) futzing around the Internet.

4 – Good habits – In part to avoid falling into Internet rabbitholes, I've developed some good habits like using the Chrome browser app OneTab to quickly close any tabs I left open the night before, making the list of three things to accomplish, or working in a different place to help promote focus on work projects (I used to just go to the visitor's side of my desk when I was in BigLaw). I've also used “night before” tricks like leaving sentences unfinished the night before, so when I come into work first thing I could pick up the train of thought I'd dropped the night before. Coming in to a clean desk is also helpful.

5 – When I've needed to get stuff done, I know my energy and focus is better in the morning — so where possible I prefer to work from home in the mornings — sometimes I've started by getting up really early, such as 3 AM. In the evenings, though, I've always preferred to stay at work to get stuff done — I have so many boundary rituals and so forth it's hard for me to continue the work flow once I walk through the door.

How about you, ladies? What are your morning office routines — what do you as soon as you get to the office? 

Further Reading on Productivity

Some of our latest favorite books on productivity, below:

Further Reading on Morning Office Routines:

We've also talked about how to make the most of your productive times, as well as morning routines for successful people — these additional resources may be of interest as well:

  • 9 Things You Should Do As Soon As You Get to the Office [The Muse]
  • 16 Tips for Getting 90 Percent Of Your Work Done in the Morning [Inc.]
  • 16 Things You Should Do At the start of Every Work Day [Forbes]
graphic reads The BEST Morning Office Routines for Productivity, Calm & More; in the background there is an image of cars driving on a city street at sunrise

15 Comments

  1. 1. I aim to get to work at 7:30. It’s usually 7:45-7:50.
    2. I have a 25-minute drive to work. I fill the time with podcasts or NPR. This is actually one of my favorite daily rituals.
    3. First order of business: Put lunch in fridge, fill up water bottle.
    4. Good habits. Check email first. I know the productivity experts say NOT to do this, but in my office culture, waiting an hour to open email would be out of touch, at best. The night before, I try to write down my daily to-do list, otherwise I just faff about forgetting what I needed to do. I also keep a running list of “low-energy” tasks that I can do when I feel tired or just need a few easy wins to buckle down and start the day.
    5. Extra work: I’d prefer to get it done early in the day, either at home or in the office. After 5 p.m., my brain is just done and I have zero drive to work after my kids have gone to bed. I have almost no free time as it is.

    1. This is alot like me. I leave home at 7:30, get to work at 8:30, open up the Internet and go get a cup of coffee and a croisant downstairs, by 9:00 I am already hard at work and I squeze in Corporate whenever I can (I totally was NOT abel to yesterday). I then eat lunch between 12 and 1:45, incuding goeing out to Lord And Taylor (they are goeing out of business here — FOOEY on that — I will have to rely in Nordstorm’s), I come back, read the internet until 2, including stuff relevant to work, and then plow straight thru to 4:30, when I leave, walk up to Whole Foods, get dinner (takeout), walk home, eat and then meet Myrna, watch a movie or surf the web, bill cleints’, then go to bed by 10:30 to get my beauty sleep, b/c by then I am POOPED! And that is alot easier then when I had to babysit my ex, and his stupid “needs”. What a day I have, every day, including weekends, but those are different.

  2. 1. I aim to get to work between 9:30 and 10. I actually arrive at work between 10:15 and 10:45 (unless there is a pre-scheduled meeting or call I need to be in for). My kid sleeps until 9 am, so everything in our household is shifted later and I’m grateful my job is flexible enough to let me shift too. Will be an ugly transition when she starts school and the whole house has to be up and at em early.
    2. Given my timing, usually a 20-30 minute drive in. I call my mom every morning (and evening) while driving to and from work; she’s going through some health issues and really looks forward to the calls. If she’s napping or otherwise unavailable, I listen to the radio (country, actual FM station, and yes I know it makes me OLD).
    3. First order of business is docking the laptop and getting it to boot up and checking emails that were too complicated to read on my phone, followed by dropping off my lunch in the fridge if I brought it and eating the breakfast I stashed in my purse on my way out the door at my desk. Rest of morning depends on what email looks like and how many crises there were overnight or this morning.
    4. Good habits – I don’t have many, but I do try to keep a post-it note of all my current projects. Much of my day to day work involves tending to the next “crisis”, so it’s nice to have the background list of “filler” projects to do between client emergencies.
    5. Extra work. I usually prefer to stay at the office and do it, but I also try to always make it home for bedtime (admittedly late – 10ish), so I end up finishing a lot after kiddo goes down. Because my toddler does not and has never slept through the night despite every sleep training method we can think of, I am often super exhausted and so sometimes I will only work until midnight and then get up at 5 or 6 to crank through stuff at home before I go in if I am really slammed (and pray the toddler sleeps for the same stretch I do).

  3. I am most productive in the morning as soon as I sit down. I practice inbox zero, so I clear out my inbox as much as I can right away. Sometimes it’s 11am before I look up and realize I haven’t even had my morning tea yet!

  4. 1) Aim to get to work between 8:30am-9:00am.
    2) I drive to work – 20-25 min commute. In the mornings I listen to the radio and on the way home I listen to podcasts. If I don’t make coffee from home and if I am not running late for a 9am meeting, I will stop to grab a coffee on the way.
    3) As soon as I get into the office, I boot up my computer, fill my water bottle and go through emails. I also have a google doc with my ongoing tasks. I prioritize what I need to deal with that day based on my list + email review. I try to deal with as many emails as possible in the am. Around 10am I like to settle down to tackle a bigger project which takes me to (hopefully) lunchtime.
    4) My google doc is my lifeline – I have my browser set up so that it open automatically to the document. I like to get my day organized in the document when I arrive in the morning. I try to keep surfing the web for late afternoon when I usually don’t have as much focus. To avoid getting distracted, I will print out any agreements I need to review and sit away from the computer to dedicate some focused time.
    5) I prefer to get extra work done in the AM. I like my evenings to workout/cook/spend time with fam.

  5. 1 – Unless I have a meeting I plan to get in by 9:45, but often it’s closer to 10:15, especially if I walk
    2 – I love walking, which takes an hour. Often, though, I do the 12 minute drive instead. A bike would probably be a good middle ground but it seems fussy with work clothes and dangerous after dark.
    3 – My first tasks of the day are skimming my inbox and checking in with the other lawyer in my practice group (who has the same schedule I do and is also just getting started) about our respective priorities/to-do lists for the day.
    4 – I spend a lot of the day wasting time with meetings, responding to emails, training associates, dealing with practice group and firm governance, etc. but I block out a few evenings a week to knock out big projects.
    5 – I am a total night owl. I tend to leave work between six and seven. Two or three nights a week I will have a networking or social obligation, and depending on how much I drink (which depends on how much I have to get done) I may or may not work afterwards for a couple of hours. The other two or three nights a week I’ll plan on working until at least midnight, at home on the couch with my dog. I’ll shift any remaining extra work to the weekends rather than have to get up before 8:00. No kids, obviously.

  6. 1) Aim to get to work between 7:30 and 8:00. While my daughter was at primary school, it was more like 8:30.
    2) I commute by public transit – 20 min by bus followed by 20 min walk most days (I get off the bus early). I listen to podcasts on the way in – either work or career related mostly. I listen to music on the way out or surph the net on my phone. I have tweaked my walking route (downtown) to pass through beautiful spots – hidden squares, little churches, the like – it recharges me in the mornig and is like a brain shower on the way home.
    3) Boot up computer, change out of commuting shoes and make a nice coffee, fill a water bottle and pass to say hello to the other early birds on the way back to my desk. Takes less than 10 mminutes total. Back at desk, open bullet journal up to where I am at and look in my calendar to get a sense of what meetings I have, who with, where at what time.
    4) I have always been very organized at work but taking up bullet journaling for work has really taken my game to the next level. I write in the new date, see immediately if I wrote any priority task I wanted to start the day with, and get going. The simplicity of the system helps me focus on one day at a time, while keeping track of the bigger picture too, and it is a huge time-saver.

  7. What time do you aim to get to work? – If there are no train delays I get to work between 8:50 and 9.
    What is your commute like, and what do you do on your commute? Do you go straight to the office or stop somewhere (coffee shop, gym, daycare) along the way? – I drop off my three kids at three different schools in the car starting at 7:30 AM. I drop the last one at 8:10 and drive to the train. I listen to music – the kids have a playlist of their favorite songs and then I listen to my own playlist after I finish dropping them off.
    What do you do as soon as you get to the office — talk with your assistant? Review a to-do list? Go to a meeting? – I immediately get a cup of hot coffee and fill a huge water bottle. I usually have conference calls first thing in the morning, so I unfortunately have to dive right into those.
    Do you have any “first thing at work” habits have you purposely built to maximize productivity for yourself — and have you had to break yourself of any bad habits (like, say, surfing the Internet for far too long in the morning)? If I do not have a conference call right at 9 AM I spend the time before my first call getting my inbox to zero. I do my mindless web surfing in the afternoons or during calls where I do not have to participate.
    Bonus Q – if extra work needs to be done, do you prefer to do it in the morning or at night? Do you prefer/need to be in the office for the extra work, or can you usually take it home? I can take it home and I do it at night after the kids are in bed.

  8. I check email when I first get up for any emergencies. When I get in I write a short list of tasks for the day on a big Post-it and tack that to my timesheet so I can keep track of what I have to get done. Lower priority tasks go on a separate list.

  9. 1. What time do you aim to get to work? 8:15AM

    2. What is your commute like, and what do you do on your commute? Do you go straight to the office or stop somewhere (coffee shop, gym, daycare) along the way? I leave my condo at 7:15-7:20AM, walk to my coffee shop, and walk to a shuttle that takes me to my office. Roughly an hour, hour and 5 minutes door to door. Subway would be faster, but the shuttle drops me off at my office and minimal shuffling, body contact, and subway experiences this way.

    3. What do you do as soon as you get to the office — talk with your assistant? Review a to-do list? Go to a meeting? I glance over my e-mails on my phone before getting in the shower at 6:30AM. Put lunch in fridge, make my oatmeal, and dock my laptop at my desk. Put commuting shoes in drawer and change into my work shoes (typically heels). Go through easy e-mails to build to-do list for the day. Check in with Analysts to see if they need anything.

    4. Do you have any “first thing at work” habits that you’ve purposely built to maximize productivity for yourself — and have you had to break yourself of any bad habits (like, say, surfing the Internet for far too long in the morning)? Good habits: Check calendar, build to-do list for the day, and schedule in projects to be done outside of meetings. Bad habits: checking the news/linkedin/professional blogs for too long.

    5. Bonus Q – if extra work needs to be done, do you prefer to do it in the morning or at night? Do you prefer/need to be in the office for the extra work, or can you usually take it home? I try to leave by 5 to get my workout in. Happy to work on my couch after work or if I have to dial into a teleconference at night with Asia rather than be in the office unless it’s video conference.

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