Morning Routines + Grammar Quiz

By Jacqueline Schaalje

Lots of people believe that when you get up early in the morning you will be more successful than other people who sleep in. In other words: successful people get up early. Or do people simply work harder in the mornings? Well, turns out this is all completely untrue! You can be just as productive when your best working time is in the afternoon or in the middle of the night.

Read what four people do in the morning and what they believe makes them successful.

Racheli, bookkeeper at her family business, gets an early start

I get up at 5 every day. When my children were little this gave me an hour or two to tidy the house and prepare some food, before everybody got up and chaos would break out. Now I use the early hour to drive to my office before the morning rush hour and finish lots of administration before customers make their first phone calls. I believe that getting up early allows me to get the most out of my day and keeps me from wasting time. But the drawback is that I’m not a lot of fun at late night parties. My husband loves going to the theatre and nothing depresses him more than when I fall asleep next to him while we watch a beautiful play or opera.

Mikey, blog writer, makes a to-do list

Organization breeds success. So after I get up I sit at my desk and make a to-do list. I prepare a mug of steaming Himalaya coffee and drink it while I think and write. I’ve read tons of books and blogs about making these lists. What they taught me is that you can do the most urgent things first, but then you’ll never have time to be creative and do something original. What I do first is write an article for my blog, then I do other stuff that also requires my attention such as pay bills or go to a doctor’s appointment. As long as I finish my main task early in the day, I can relax and be happy for the rest of the day.

Lindsey, policewoman, likes to choose nice clothes for when she is not in uniform

My favourite mornings are when I’m not on duty and I don’t need to wear my uniform. I carefully choose the clothes that I will wear that day. Then I head for the cafe in our street and read the morning papers there. I like to read on paper, but I also bring my tablet to surf the internet. I can spend hours like this, not doing anything useful. I don’t worry about wasting my time too much, as I work long hours and I need this time to clean my head. I will even get up early for this, as it’s much more fun than just to sleep away the time.

Clive, travel guide, is in love with his exercise bike

I never used to have a problem with my weight, but lately I noticed a kilo too many around my stomach. Not so strange perhaps, as I liked to drink one 1.5 l bottle of lemonade every single day. You don’t want to know how many cubes of sugar that is! Because I’m so active at work, often walking all day long, I could get away with it. I was in shock when I discovered I was getting fat. Now I start my day off with three glasses of water instead of three glasses of lemonade. I’ve also bought an exercise bike. I cycle for about 40 minutes in the morning before work, when I’m not on one of my trips. It’s pretty boring, so I watch a movie while I pedal. But it works. I’m down to my old weight.