How 20 Minutes of Early AM Focus Can Change Your Day

📌 Here’s What’s Up

✔ Motivation: A powerful mindset shift to kickstart your week
✔ Get Sh*t Done: Single-tasking for 20 minutes before checking your phone
✔ Get Better at Work: Learn time-blocking for uninterrupted focus
✔ In The News: 5am Homework, Hydration, and how to reply to Elon
✔ Featured Morning Routine: Cal Newport’s deep work-focused morning
✔ Stoic Reset: Training your mind to resist distraction
✔ To Do List: Make the most of your week

🔥 Motivation

"You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine." – John C. Maxwell

💡 Takeaway: Big results don’t come from big actions—they come from small, consistent habits.

⚡ Get Sh*t Done: 20 Minutes of Single-Tasking

Carving out 20 minutes in your morning routine for deep focused work is crucial for setting the tone and making progress on a high priority task.

✅ What to Do: Choose one important task and focus on it without any distractions.
✅ How to Start: Leave your phone on airplane mode (yes really), avoid emails, set a timer and get straight to work on that one single task. Avoid any temptation to do anything else.

💡 Why It Works: Your brain actually loves the early hours, even if you don’t. That means it is at its sharpest in the morning. Your mind is fresh and ready to absorb new information and tackle any challenge with creative solutions.

Starting with deep focus sets the momentum for a productive day, even if only for 20 minutes. Don’t waste that cognitive gold by doom scrolling on Instagram while laying in bed waiting for the next attack on the snooze button.

🚀 Get Better at Work: Master Time-Blocking

Time-blocking is a game-changer for productivity and focus. That 20-minute single-tasking morning sprint? Consider it your gateway drug to the productivity big leagues: time-blocking.

🔹 The breakdown: Time-blocking is strategic calendar domination—assigning specific work to dedicated time chunks throughout your day.
🔹 Why It’s Effective: Eliminates decision fatigue, reduces distractions, and ensures deep work sessions.
🔹 How to implement (without overwhelm):

1. Divide your day into focused chunks

2. Assign one clear mission to each block

3. Defend those blocks like they're made of gold

The advantage: No more decision fatigue, fewer "quick check-ins" destroying your flow, and actual progress on work that matters.

📌 Pro Tip: Schedule your most important task (MIT) as the first block of the day. (eat that frog)🐸

📈 In The News:

• "6 Things to Do When You Wake Up for Better Cognitive Function, Recommended by Neurologists" – EatingWell

• "I'm a Holistic Nutritionist – My Easy Morning Habit Is a 'Game Changer,' I Notice 4 Downsides Whenever I Skip It" – New York Post

• "I Get Up at 3 AM Every Day to Give My Kids Extra 5 AM Homework, Trolls Say I'm Too Strict but It Makes Me a Better Mum" – The Sun

• "Gen Z Is 'Task-Masking' in the Office and It's Destroying Potential Career Growth – Here's Why" – New York Post

• "Getting a Musk-Style Request from Your Boss? How to Manage Up and Show Your Work." – Business Insider

🏆 Featured Morning Routine: Cal Newport’s Deep Work Ritual

Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, uses a simple but powerful morning routine to maximize his focus.

✔ Early Morning Walk: Gets outside first thing for a mental reset.
📝 Single-Tasking Block: Spends the first 90 minutes of his day on his most important task.
📵 No Phone Policy: Avoids digital distractions until after his deep work block.
📅 Daily Planning: Uses time-blocking to structure the rest of his day.

💡 Why It Works: Clarity + Focus + Simplicity = A highly productive morning.

📋 Our Take: Cal knows his stuff, no doubt about that. I think a 90 minute deep work block isn’t ideal squeezed in the middle of an early morning routine but definitely can be effective if you are a writer.

🧠 Stoic Reset: Training Your Mind to Resist Distraction

"If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable." – Seneca

💭 Mental Reframe:
When notifications start popping, ask yourself: "Is this moving me toward my goals or just keeping me busy?"

The harsh truth: Most distractions feel urgent but deliver zero value. Know your port.

Instead of reacting to every notification, anchor yourself to what actually matters.

📋 To Do List: Your Next Steps

🔗 Follow us on Instagram → @HackMorning for daily success tips.
📩 Share a morning win or routine. How do you #HackMorning? Reply to this email—we’d love to feature you in an upcoming edition!