10 Things Event Planners Should Do Before 9am

We’ve all heard of the early bird getting the worm. While night owls can have increased creativity, studies also show that they procrastinate more, making them less productive. Additionally, studies show that getting up early makes you more proactive with your day and can help you to mentally focus and stay motivated by achieving things early on. With this in mind, here are the top tasks to promote event planner productivity that you should do before 9am.

1. Wake Up Early

Many entrepreneurs and successful people are getting up several HOURS earlier in order to have a productive morning so unfortunately for you does not mean setting your alarm for 7:55am but instead, more like 4am-5am. This can be tricky, particularly if you are not used to getting up early so some of the ways to deal with this are;

Get a decent alarm clock – Don’t use your phone or tablet to wake you up because they can easily be snoozed and also force you to come face to face with your emails and social media notifications and encourage you to look at them.

Set it in stages – Don’t just decide to get up from 5am from now on and attempt to cut out several hours of sleep as you will rebound and end up feeling like you need to nap in the afternoon, which could lead to a later bedtime and an unhealthy sleep pattern. Instead, set your alarm back in 15 minute increments each day until you reach your desired time and also ensure you are going to bed 15 minutes earlier each day as well.

2. Catch Up On Trends

The event industry is ever changing and in some cases the latest craze or trend can hit overnight so catching up first thing in the morning not only helps keep your work day current but also puts you ahead of everyone else in terms of knowledge. You can opt to check your social media channels or even event specific news outlets that are current and reliable, also make sure you are following top event planning accounts on Instagram and other social media and you will find your own patterns and trends emerging, keeping you ahead of the game.

It is important to be careful here because there is a fine line between using the internet to research trends and stay current and browsing aimlessly through your social media is a bad habit that kills productivity.

3. Get A Decent Breakfast

Yes it is the most important meal of the day and eating a decent breakfast can also help to wake up your metabolism and immune system to keep you healthier as well. Food is directly related to our cogitative function on a systematic level, meals that are high in fat provide a lot of energy but can also require the body to focus on the digestive process rather than prioritizing oxygen to the brain which can leave you feeling tired, have you ever wanted to nap after a big dinner? That’s why. The type of breakfast you consume is constantly under debate from nutritionists and the health world alike but make it something you enjoy that is balanced and you can’t go wrong.

You may think that skipping breakfast will help you save time and therefore make you more productive but incorrectly fueling your body will lead to a dip in blood sugar levels and excess snacking later on and stops you from being able to focus, which means you will ultimately be losing out and less productive.

4.  Exercise

You may snort at the idea of getting up early and exercising but it can help you fit it into your day before it gets pushed aside for other more “important” work and can keep you motivated. Exercising in the morning also helps to give you focus and feel good about yourself making you productive for longer. If you don’t believe us, here are some of a few successful people use their early start to exercise:

Dame Anna Wintour – Editor-in-chief of Vogue, artistic director for Conde Nast and journalist, still at the age of 67 Anna gets up and is on the tennis court by 5:45am each morning for a game before she formally starts her day.  

Richard Branson – Entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, 66 year old Branson’s early morning routine involves getting up at 5am to exercise, meditate and spend time with his family before his day starts.

Michelle Gass – This Starbuck’s former president is used to travelling but always ensures that she gets up at 4:30am every morning to go for a run, regardless of where she is and she always takes her running shoes, no excuses.

Tim Cook – Apple CEO and industrial engineer, Cook gets up at a cringing 3:45am in order to hit the gym, get ahead on his emails and start work in whichever time zone is still awake to deal with business.

Michelle Obama – Former First Lady, Michelle Obama starts her day at 4:30am with a workout before her kids wake up so that she can fit it in around her busy schedule. Can you really argue with the former FLOTUS?

5. Shower

A shower is a good idea, especially after the exercise, but also to start your day “fresh” and clean off any of yesterday’s problems to make you a more positive eventprof. Showers can also be an excellent quiet space to problem solve and think about your upcoming day to get into the right headspace to deal with it. Does a clean body equal a clean mind?!

6. Have A Power Habit

A power habit is something that takes a minute or less that you use as a milestone during your day to help train your mind and body to prepare for different things. A common morning power habit is to make your bed which signals to your brain that it can no longer go back to it until tonight and that, that portion of your day is over, which is particularly beneficial in reducing mental fatigue when getting up early.

Creating quick habits like this can help you to spark a routine which makes you more likely to succeed and stay on track throughout the day.

7. Do Something You Enjoy

Whether it is a passion project or simply sitting with a coffee and reading a book, spend a little time each morning doing something entirely for you that you enjoy. This can help you to reduce event planning stress and mentally prepare for the day ahead.

You could use this time to start a new hobby or learn something new as well as ensuring you fit in some “me time” in your day which can stop resentment of your work and make you enjoy your career more!

8. Hit Your Top Priority

Look at what your most important thing to achieve for the day is, and do something towards achieving it. Don’t try to tackle it all first thing in the morning because it will consume all of your extra time and you’ll end up just starting work at 5am which defeats the purpose of getting up early. Instead try to think about the best way to approach it or just mentally preparing yourself for the task ahead.

You could opt to combine this activity with another such as exercise or power habits or even think about it in the shower if you would prefer to multitask but the point is to think and visualize your top priority task to give yourself some thinking time.

9. Avoid Social Media

The death of productivity is in social media and you should avoid getting embroiled in your friends social media updates, it will still be there later. Unless you’re using social media to surf event accounts for inspiration and trends, network or benefit you in some way (as discussed in #2), avoid it at all costs before 9am as it is more likely to make you fall into the abyss.

10. Prep For The Day

What do you want to achieve today? Ask yourself what your goals are, write a to-do list and think about today’s priorities to help give yourself meaning and focus as well as provide clear guidance on what you need to get done and how you will achieve this. It’s a great way to boost motivation but also helps to avoid procrastination during the day that stems from not having clear guidelines.

It is also important to take a minute for yourself to just breathe and mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead and what you need to achieve for your own sanity more than anything else.

In Conclusion

Whether you are a budding event planner or a seasoned veteran, using your mornings to your advantage can only lead to success. Regardless of whether you like mornings or not by incorporating these tasks and steps first thing in the morning it will help keep you on track throughout the day and boost your eventprof career.