Want To Be More Productive? Flip This One Daily Habit

Forbes

11-05-2025

Despite our desire to be more productive, Americans spend an average of seven hours a day consuming online content—and that number's still climbing. Between emails, social feeds, podcasts, and newsletters, we're constantly plugged in, absorbing information at every turn.
But here's the problem: All that input may quietly crowd out output. And nowhere is that more evident than in our mornings.
If you're a founder, solopreneur, marketer, or creator, your most valuable asset isn't your content calendar or your email list. It's your creative energy. And if you spend your first hour of the day consuming—scrolling, reading, reacting—you're using that energy on someone else's priorities before touching your own.
That's why one small habit shift can make a massive difference—something I first heard from author and entrepreneur Marie Forleo: Create first. Then consume.
When you start your day in creation mode, you shift your energy from reactive to proactive. You build something that didn't exist before—before the meetings, before the client asks, before the world gets noisy.
This practice works because it:
It's really about who owns your time. When you consume first, the content creators whose work you're consuming own your time. When you create first, you own your time, your message, and your mindset—before anyone else has a chance to rent space in your head.
If you're anything like I used to be, your mornings at work might go something like this. First, you open your laptop and check your email. That's a good 10 to 30 minutes of consumption right there. Then, you glance at your phone. A few taps later, and you've read three articles, saved two more for later, and responded to a few comments on LinkedIn. By the time you're ready to start creating something—anything—you're mentally scattered, looking at the clock, and feeling low-key overwhelmed.
Sound familiar?
Consuming first leads to:
The irony? You probably consumed content meant to inspire you to create… but never got around to it.
You don't need hours of uninterrupted solitude to make this work. Just 15 or 20 focused minutes can shift your entire day.
Start by defining what creating means for you. It might be:
If you'd like to give it a try, here's how to make it easy to begin the new practice.
The goal is momentum, not perfection.
Look, you already create for clients, customers, and your community. But what could change if you created something for yourself first—every morning? Before email. Before Instagram. Before the news cycle. Just you, your ideas, and a few blessed, uninterrupted minutes.
Your audience doesn't need more content. They need more of your content.
So tomorrow morning, try it. Create something—anything—before you consume a single thing. You might be surprised at how you can be more productive and accomplish your goals when start the day on your own terms.