Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Early Bird Catches The Worm!

Good Morning & Happy Wednesday!

Here is a life lesson I learned early in my time at college (the hard way - darn Engineering schedule): the early bird catches the worm (seriously though).

With discipline, I made myself learn to wake up at 6:30AM EST so I could peacefully go through my morning routine and get to work by 8:00AM with a solid breakfast, shower, stretch and morning readings in my system. Back then it was for my morning Calculus classes and now it's for work.

I thought about how I could use extra morning time in the office to make myself current and up-to-date considering I don't have cable at my place (by choice). I decided to read articles online! I have four main categories that I like to hit each morning and anything I don't get a chance to read (because I opt to get some more work done in the office instead), I throw the articles into my Readability app and check them later when I have time (awesome free app).

The four main categories for me with where I go are:
general news: nytimes.com
'money' info: cnnmoney.com , fortune.com
technology info: techrepublic.com
personal development: blogs.hbr.org

I find that this pays off for me because it helps me 1) grow as an individual and 2) gives me talking points at work with coworkers and upper management when we are in meetings and something is referenced or there is the random walk-by in the office and you want to say something that will have your coworker/boss notice that you are trying to keep on top of things (it's in the details).

Being on top of the web information available to you online is a great advantage in the workplace. I recommend that whatever work sector you are in (in my case, technology), you should be reading up on that to keep yourself current and if nothing else, it builds your knowledge base in your field.

What are some things you do in the morning to keep yourself in the game or get ahead? Any tips to help others out? Post a comment below!

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