The Power of Morning

After shaking off my "nothing pressing" holiday schedule, I had to kick my brain back into high gear for a full day of meetings. While my active mind needed the holiday rest, I'm now raring to go as I plan for a new semester at CCNY, strategize for my work on Colgate and stretch to complete many overdue personal ventures.

To gather my thoughts, I got up at 4 am. The house is quiet and it's the perfect time to plan, write and create. If I discipline myself to rise at least two hours before the sun, I'm amazed at what I can accomplish by 8 or 9 am -- the time most people sit down at their desks to start the day.

Understand zones when you do your best work and play to that energy. Carve out the time to maximize your output. With discipline, you'll soon find that items on your to do list are quickly evaporating.