Want To Be More Productive? Flip This One Daily Habit

Want to be more productive in the mornings? Create first, then consume.
Renae Gregoire
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.
Why ‘create first’ works to help you be more productive
Turn up the dial on intentional creativity to be more productive
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.