A few years ago, researcher Christoph Randler found that morning people are in a better position to succeed at their careers than others. The reasoning is that they are more proactive than their night owl counterparts, Randler told the Harvard Business Review in 2010. Anyone looking to become more proactive in their own lives may want to pull out their personalized notepads and start taking notes. Some changes in habit – and business gifts – can help executives and potentially employees take better charge of their morning.
Defining morning people
Morning people, as defined by Randler, are those who wake up at roughly the same time every day, from weekday to weekend. Night people, conversely, have wide fluctuations in wake-up times, with an average of about two hours difference. Randler surveyed 367 university students about their energy levels throughout the day and their willingness to take action in various situations. The results seemed night and day.
“My earlier research showed that they tend to get better grades in school, which get them into better colleges, which then lead to better job opportunities,” said Randler of morning people. “Morning people also anticipate problems and try to minimize them, my survey showed. They’re proactive. A number of studies have linked this trait, proactivity, with better job performance, greater career success and higher wages.”
That’s not to say that some morning people can’t be creative or that those who reach their peak performing later in the day can’t be agreeable. As Randler noted, the research merely demonstrates a correlation, and not a certainty.
Becoming a morning person
People do have the ability of people to change their biorhythms to a degree, however, drastic changes are more difficult, Randler’s research found. Yet, whether one gravitates more toward night or morning, everyone could always learn ways to be more productive at the start of their morning. Exercise is one great way to start the day energized and refreshed, according to Forbes. People can do a set of push-ups, take a jog in the morning or else go to the gym. Another way to kick start one’s morning is to prioritize the day’s tasks and map out a schedule.
Sometimes people need a kick-start to get proactive. For those that need to go to a gym to workout, backpacks are a great gift for storing exercise clothes for the morning commute. When it comes to making lists and schedules, personalized pens and memos are a great way to get organizer-hopefuls to stop and think about their day.