Rise and Shine! 5 Ways to Make Yourself a Morning Person

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While not everyone would label themselves a "morning person," those employees who do are likely to get more work done each day, new research finds.

More than 60 percent of executives feel they are most productive in the mornings, with 72 percent saying they are most creative before noon, according to a study from The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service for interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals.

"Starting the day on a strong note can mean the difference between getting ahead or falling behind at work, and avoiding long hours at the office," Diane Domeyer, executive director of The Creative Group, said in a statement.

To help get their day started off on the right foot, The Creative Group offers these tips.

• Have a plan: Employees are setting themselves up for failure by having an overambitious schedule each day. Try taking a few minutes either the night before or in the morning to create a realistic to-do list for the day. Make sure to prioritize the tasks that are the most important and plan the rest of the day around them.
• Stay focused: Since people are more efficient when working for a longer period in the same mental mode, as opposed to constantly changing assignments, try grouping together tasks that require similar effort or resources in the same time frame.
• Cut out distractions: While surfing the Internet and social media may provide workers with creative stimuli, they can also become a big distraction. To increase productivity without cutting off sources of inspiration, set designated periods to surf the Web in the afternoon or after completing a major to-do. Turning off email and app notifications so you're not tempted to review messages as soon as they arrive is another way to limit their distractions.
• Don't procrastinate: Even the best employees have times where they put off working on an unpleasant or overwhelming assignment. To combat this, try breaking the project into smaller, more manageable, tasks.
• Don't forget to recharge: Workers should be sure totake short breaks to help replenish their energy and fight off fatigue.

The study was based on approximately 200 telephone interviews with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 200 telephone interviews with advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.