Start Your Business Days Out Right

Last week I followed a link from Problogger on twitter to a great post about how he spends his first 20 minutes of the day ! He talked about what he looks at,first thing in the morning.  For instance he looks at his blog stats,google alerts,emails,twitter accounts and he looks his RSS reader at the A-list blogs!

He inspired me to see if I could be more effective in the mornings. First off,I decided to started getting up at 6:00 AM instead of 7:30 AM.  Still not sure how that is working for me.  It is 8:40 AM as I write this and I am still groggy!  That being said I am on a mission to find time to work and be more efficient!  What I did was created a folder in my bookmarks that include:

• Sitemeter –This is where I keep track of my blog stats.
• Feedburner –To see if I have new subscribers.
• Google Alerts –I have alerts that keep track of my blog,as well as my name and all of my families names.  I use this for business and also to make sure I don’t miss a sweepstakes win!
• Google Reader –I typically have this full each day,with a lot to read!
• Facebook –I use facebook for personal use not business.
• Twitter –I want to see if I have new followers or direct messages.
• Yahoo email - This is my personal email,but I have business email messages forwarded to this account.
• Online-Sweepstakes –I quickly enter some daily sweepstakes that I have marked.
• Hunger Site –Right now if you click the button on their site a sponsor will donate cups of food to the hungry.
• Newspaper Sweepstakes –Our local newspaper is running a sweepstakes for local events and I don’t want to miss entering!

When I get up in the morning I first open the tweetdeck this is so I don’t miss any great tweets. Next I open all the tabs that are included in my “Good Morning”folder (that is what I named it).  I look at Sitemeter,Feedburner and Twitter very quickly and close them (check it off my to-do list).  Next I enter my newspaper sweepstakes and click to donate food on the hunger site.  After that I quickly scan Facebook,Google Alerts and my Yahoo email.  The last two things are entering sweepstakes on Online-Sweepstakes and read my Google reader. I leave these for last because they take up a bit more time!  My Google reader is what sucks up my time.  I don’t have an A-list folder like Darron at Problogger,I think this is part of my problem.  Part of the time I spend commenting for myself and this website and also I comment for Mom Giveaways.  Once my internship is over this should speed up.

Other than the Google Reader slowing me down this has worked really well! Part of my assignment for my internship each week is make at least fifteen comments on different blogs throughout the week and comment on Mom’s Talk Network blogs.  In the past I have had a hard time remembering to do this but this last week I have been really good at getting this done!

I feel more organized and I have a sense of accomplishment very early in the morning. Not only that I know what is going on with my business,but I also know what is going on around the web!  I really appreciate Darron from Problogger for posting his first 20 minutes of the day.  It has made my days go a bit smoother!

Do you have a routine first thing in the morning?  How has it benefited you and your day? I would love to hear about it!