Starting your day out right is important. If you get your day started out right, you have set yourself up for a more successful and productive day. In financial modeling, it is important to stay on track and accomplish your tasks each day. The best way to do this is to get your day started off on the right food. Here are five things that every financial modeling professional should do to start each day.
Organize Your Desk – One of the first things you need to do is organize your desk. Though you should always end your day by a quick organizational pass of your desk, you want to make sure you have your desk or workspace organized at the beginning of each day in order to get started on the right foot. Not having extraneous things in your way and being surrounded by disorganization and clutter can help you have a clear mind and be in a better place to effectively work.
Priority Scan Your Inbox – One of the biggest time wasters for every financial modeling professional is the email. So, in order to not get sucked into your email and lose track of time, be sure to simply scan you inbox for important emails, confirmations and information needed for meetings and appointments, and responses to emails you sent out the day before. Once you scan for anything important, close your email for now and wait until you have a scheduled time to look through the rest of your email.
Listen to Your Voicemail – You will want to start your day by checking your voicemail. You will want to make sure that there aren’t any changes in your daily schedule or any responses that you were waiting for. Make sure to note any calls you need to return and mark them in order of priority that way you will know which calls to return next when you have a spare minute.
Place Important Calls/Send Important Emails – The morning is a good time to place any important calls or send any important emails that are pertinent for your day. If there is anything that needs to be sent out before you start your day, anything that you promised to send out in the morning, or any reports that your boss is waiting on, this is the time to do these. This is not necessarily the time to place all calls and send all emails but be sure to send anything that has to do with the upcoming daily tasks and schedule as well as anything that is time sensitive.
Plan a Break – It may seem counter-intuitive but planning a break is important to your mental health as well as the productivity of your day. If you have no break to look forward to, you may not feel motivated enough to keep moving forward with your tasks. Be sure to plan your break and then work diligently and fully committed until the break so you can enjoy your break and not feel like you don’t deserve a moment to collect yourself, clear your mind, and/or take care of anything personal that needs to be attended to.
A successful financial modeling professional knows that there are specific things that need to be done each morning in order to start your day on the right foot. Getting started in an organized manner can help your day go more smoothly and keep you on target and productive. Getting into the habit of doing these things each day and as quickly and efficiently as possible can help you be more productive and successful in financial modeling.