Having a good morning routine is one of the best ways to achieve many small things during your day, and it is those small tasks that amount to great success in the long run. The same principle applies not only to what you do at home but also to your workplace, thus your morning routine has a big impact on work productivity.
A new scientific study suggests that disrupting your morning routine might be overall bad for your productivity at work. The research was a collaborative study by Texas A&M University and the University of Wyoming. The study findings indicate that a company might experience a productivity decline if their employees experience disruption in theirmorning routines.
The researcher suggests that a mundane disruption, for example, skipping the regular cup of coffee or tea, may yield mental exhaustion during work hours. Shawn McClean, the lead researcher in the study noted that no matter the employee routine, a disruption to it disengages them from normal tasks at work, thus leading to a productivity decline during the day. The research findings are currently available in the Personnel Psychology journal.
The research focused on employees of a major university in the U.S. The researchers observed university employees three times every day for three weeks. The key focus was daily routines, especially in the morning, such as exercising, eating and the morning commute to work. They also kept track of extra factors like employee engagement, calmness, and mental energy levels. They also collected sleep quality data to determine how all those factors affected the employees while at work.
The study provided strong insights into the value of routines
The researchers found that the employees were mentally depleted and less calm on days when they deviated from their morning routines. Similarly, routine disruption also negatively affected their engagement levels with regular work tasks and as such, it affected their overall productivity.
McClean and his fellow researchers concluded that routines are important in our daily lives as humans because they create a sense of automation with our daily activities. The routines also allow us to conserve energy which is vital for achieving our other daily goals. The routine disruption throws us off our focus, causing inefficient energy use and mental depletion.
