1. Checking your emails or voicemails in the first three hours of your day will put you in a reactive mindset, which conflicts with the outward direction that entrepreneurs need to succeed.
2. The golden hours of productivity are the key to successfully saving 20+ hours of your time every week.

1. Your golden hours might be the first three hours of your day, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should get straight to work.
2. Light exercise in the morning can help you kick start your day.
3. The key is to avoid intensive exercise which will cut into our three hours of optimal focus time.
4. In fact, even 10 minutes of exercise is enough to release GABA, which is a neurotransmitter that helps reduce stress.

1. Yoga is quickly becoming a necessity in every successful entrepreneur’s morning routine, largely, because of its known ability to improve mindfulness and mental performance.
2. Writing in a journal has a similar effect on mindfulness.
3. Recent research on meditation suggests that meditation may improve mindfulness which can increase attention, memory, emotional intelligence and, ultimately, productivity.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Jonathon Tang , CEO of VASTRM fashion, hired a meditation facilitator to offer employees the chance to meditate for 20 minutes.

“When the session was over, people who had never meditated before were filled with a sense of calm. It helped them be more present at work and even carried forth to being more present with their families at home.”

1. Michael Green of Aston University in England recommends “more frequent but smaller meals” to maintain healthy glucose and fat levels throughout the day.
2. When it comes down to our morning routine, our diets should consist of healthy sources of glucose and fat.
3. For our morning routines, we want to include foods that contain low glycemic carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins and healthy fats, because they provide sustained energy.

1. Work smart. Take on the most difficult, challenging, and important tasks first;
2. Set goals. Several studies suggest that having a concrete plan boosts confidence and feelings of control. Your goals should be specific and achievable;
3. Play your favorite jams, over and over. According to psychologist Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis’s book, On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind, listening to music on repeat drastically improves focus and productivity.
4. Clean your workspace. A Princeton University study concluded that cluttered workspaces create more distractions and decrease productivity levels.
5. Time yourself. To make the most of your to-do list, you should time yourself and track your progress.
6. Avoid multi-tasking . A Stanford University study  found that multitasking is less productive than doing one thing at a time.
7. Be good at saying “No.” According to a recent study from the University of California in San Francisco , people who have trouble saying “no,” also experience more stress, burnout, and depression. By saying “no” to a new commitment, you will have the time and energy to focus on your existing commitments.

1. When it comes to productivity, personal motivation and consistency are fundamental, however, working 40+ hours every week isn’t the best use of your time.
2. On the contrary, it’s the way we apply motivation and consistency that determines our productivity.

1. What we eat has a direct impact on our performance at work. Want your mind (and your body) to perform optimally? Then you’ll need to practice good nutrition.
2. When it comes to nourishing our bodies and brains for optimal performance, it turns out good nutrition involves both what we eat and when we eat it.
3. For example, our brains work best with about 25 grams of glucose circulating in our blood stream — about the amount found in a banana.
4. If we were to snack on something high in sugar, like a handful of M&Ms, then we risk a blood sugar spike followed by a crash.