First-task momentum · also called morning mode-lock
why does checking my phone first thing ruin my whole morning
First-task momentum is the tendency for whatever mode your first completed action of the day belongs to, reactive or self-directed, to carry forward for hours afterward. Opening the day by answering a message, a feed, or a notification that came from someone else locks in a reactive posture; opening it with something chosen in advance locks in a directed one, and the difference compounds by noon.
The first thing you finish decides who is driving for the next four hours, you or your notifications.
What to do about it
Before you open anything that came from someone else, finish one small piece of work that belongs only to you.
Books that work on this
Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.
Momentum Math$6.99
The First Step Daily$6.99
Action Before Mood$6.99
Lose Loud Once$6.99
The First Move$6.99
The Unstoppable Blueprint$6.99
Quit Is Verb$6.99
Pain Cap Lie$6.99Part of the Unstoppable series.
How people say it
Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.
- why does checking my phone first thing ruin my whole morning
- I lose the day before I even start it
- how I open my morning decides how the whole day goes
- messages from other people set my mood before I even start my day
- why am I reactive all day if I start on my phone
- starting my day with my own task instead of email
- the first hour sets the tone for everything after
Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.