7 Daily habits of successful women

Super-successful people aren’t hitting the snooze button at 9:00 a.m. and delaying the start of their day. CEOs and other leaders are known to function efficiently on just four to five hours of sleep — and to get up early and get a head start on their day.

Working out in the morning is the ultimate commitment — you can’t escape it, and when it’s done, it’s done. Making morning workouts a daily habit means you knock it out of the way, feel good and can clear your head for your agenda later that day.

You don’t lose weight or write a book or accomplish other lofty goals in a single day. Create a daily to-do list that is broken down into smaller tasks, and prioritize your top-three must-do items each and every day. Life coach and author Beverly Flaxington lives and preaches to-do lists, and she says, “A list helps to force you to stay aware and present about the decisions you’re making.”

Getting started on the right foot is a big deal. As blogger Claire Díaz-Ortiz discovered, “When you successfully get through a short period of good, solid work, you feel psychologically awesome and want more. Small wins built on small wins, and… I was on such a streak that I wanted to keep going.”

Successful women are always thinking about the next thing — and that means setting up digital calendar reminders, leveraging Evernote lists, iPads and more to stay organized.

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with an e-mail detox, but successful women tend to circle back at the end of their days to check in, knock out some more e-mails and close loops on projects.