This video explains from a neuroscience perspective why you should do the most important things first in the morning through an anecdote from NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. It goes beyond simple time management and suggests ways to take the lead in leading your life by utilizing the brain's energy and hormonal rhythms, emphasizing the importance of building a sustainable system rather than just working hard.

1. Jensen Huang and the wisdom of the Silver Pavilion Gardener

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang says he often works overseas for about a month every summer. The video begins with an anecdote from a visit to the Silver Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan one summer. Despite the scorching heat, Jensen couldn't hide his curiosity when he saw the gardener picking out the moss with small bamboo tweezers.

"Isn't this large garden too large to be managed by yourself with small bamboo tweezers?"

The gardener's answer impressed Jensen.

"I've been managing here for 25 years. I have plenty of time. There's no need to rush."

This gardener's words didn't just mean 'you can take it slow'. Rather than trying to see the entire garden at once, the gardener was concentrating on the task at hand, concentrating on the little moss in front of him. He thought that he would be doing this for a long time, so there was no need to rush to finish everything today, and he showed the value of consistency that if you take a little care every day, the garden will eventually take care of itself.After this conversation, Jensen Huang says he tries to spend his days like a gardener. They say they finish their highest priority tasks first every morning, and only after those tasks are completed do they help others or begin other tasks. This morning routine helps you start your day proactively and delivers the message that small accomplishments can lead to big changes. We emphasize that you can't change your life overnight, and that you have to work on it consistently to get closer to what you want.

2. Why should you do the most important thing in the morning? Neuroscience perspective

There's a scientific reason why so many successful people advise doing your most important tasks in the morning. This is because what you do first in the morning determines the direction of your day. From a neuroscience perspective, there are three reasons why.

2.1. Immediately after waking up, the brain is clear 🧠✨

If we have slept enough, our brain, especially the prefrontal cortex, is charged with energy right after waking up. The prefrontal cortex plays a very important role in achieving goals because:

• Choosing future-oriented actions over immediate rewards: Because actions to achieve goals are often not immediately convenient, the prefrontal cortex helps us select and maintain actions that fit our desired future rather than being driven by immediate stimuli or immediate rewards.
• Impulse Suppression and Staying Focused: Plays a key role in suppressing impulses, maintaining focus, and modifying behavior.

From the moment we wake up, our brains must respond to a variety of external stimuli, including messages, news, emails, cell phones, and people around us. As these stimuli accumulate, the prefrontal cortex becomes increasingly fatigued. When the prefrontal cortex becomes tired, rational judgment becomes difficult, and it becomes easy to be swayed by rewards that can be easily obtained rather than rewards that are obtained through effort.Therefore, the reason you should do your most important tasks first thing in the morning is to focus and use the energy of your prefrontal cortex, which is key to achieving your goals, on the most important tasks.

2.2. As each day passes, the likelihood of procrastination increases ⏰📉

One study compared when people planned to exercise versus whether they actually exercised. As a result, exercise plans made in the morning were more likely to lead to actual exercise, but plans made in the evening were often not implemented. In particular, it is said that plans made between 5pm and 8pm were most often ruined.

This is because as the day goes by, unexpected events such as fatigue, appointments, emotional changes, work, temptations, etc. continue to pile up. Conversely, actions that have been decided in advance on when, where, and how to be done are more likely to actually follow through during times of day with fewer interruptions, such as in the morning.

Completing important tasks in the morning not only makes you less likely to procrastinate, it also sets a positive tone for your day. The small sense of accomplishment you feel in the morning is like the habit circuit turning on**, and your brain continues to move in that direction.

"The moment you put on workout clothes, your brain interprets it not simply as a change of clothes, but as a signal that it's time to exercise."

In this way, the first action in the morning can set the tone for the entire day in a proactive and positive way. Conversely, if you look at your phone as soon as you wake up, your brain begins to respond to stimuli such as notifications, messages, and videos, and this stream of distractions can carry over into your entire day. Ultimately, what you do first in the morning is crucial to having a fulfilling day, which ultimately leads to performance and achieving your goals.**

2.3. Harnessing neurotransmitters and hormonal rhythms 🧪💡

Getting important things done in the morning is more than just time management; it taps into brain neurotransmitters and hormonal rhythms. The morning when you have enough sleep is the best time to do important work.* Cortisol: Commonly known as the stress hormone, it plays an important role in waking up our body and brain in the morning. The cortisol awakening response, which occurs approximately 30 to 60 minutes after waking, mobilizes energy in the body and helps prepare the brain for the day.

• Neurotransmitter system: During the waking state, neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, noradrenaline, serotonin, and GABA are involved in the regulation of attention, arousal, stability, and distractibility.

When you wake up in the morning after getting enough sleep, you are in a state before you are influenced by external stimuli, and your information and emotions have been organized to some extent while you sleep. Therefore, morning is a good time to decide the direction of immersion. The problem depends on where you spend your best energy during the day. Doing the most important things in the morning isn't just about time management; it's about using your best energy on the things that are most important to you and orienting your brain before the day takes you by its own pace.

3. Precautions and advice for an efficient morning routine

You know it's good to do important things first thing in the morning, but there are a few things to keep in mind.

3.1. The meaning of 'morning' is not '5 am' 😴≠⏰

'Morning' mentioned in the video does not necessarily mean 5 am. The key is not waking up early, but what you do with the first hours after waking. While you sleep, your brain organizes information and emotions from the previous day. As soon as you wake up, if you look at your phone and check notifications and social media, your brain begins to be drawn to external stimuli again.

"The important thing is not to react to the world as soon as you wake up, but to move in the direction you want first."

Doing the most important thing in the morning means spending the first energy of the day on the direction of the life I want.

3.2. Decide what to do the night before 📝🌙When you wake up in the morning and start thinking, "What should I do today?", your brain uses up good energy thinking and making choices. Then you're more likely to make the easiest choice, like go back to sleep or look at your phone.

Therefore, it is a good idea to decide in advance the most important things you need to do the night before. Morning should be action time, not thinking time.

3.3. The importance of rest and recovery 🛌🧘‍♀️

From a neuroscience perspective, it is not a good idea to sleep less, overwork your body, and wake up early. Just as important as moving toward your goal is giving your body and brain time to recover.

• Fatigue and Stress: As fatigue and stress accumulate, the amygdala's response to danger becomes more sensitive, and the function of the prefrontal cortex, which plans, makes judgments, and controls impulses, may decline.
• Return to easy choices: When you're tired, it becomes easier to choose actions that are comfortable and familiar right now rather than actions that are important in the long term. Lying down and looking at your phone when you're tired isn't just because you're weak-willed, it's a natural phenomenon in which your brain tries to return to the most familiar and easiest actions to save energy.

Although you may need to cut back on sleep for short-term goals, it is important to let go of impatience to achieve long-term goals. Impatience can easily lead to unreasonable behavior. When we fail to achieve our goals, it may not be because we don't work hard, but because we try to keep working hard and overwork ourselves rather than creating a sustainable structure.**Therefore, saying that you should do the most important things in the morning does not mean that you should sleep less and force yourself to wake up early. Quite the contrary. If you find yourself falling asleep late in the evening due to games, cell phones, Netflix, etc., this means that you should reduce that time and create **a structure in which you fall asleep a little earlier**. This means that with enough sleep and in a state where your body and brain have recovered, you should first use the highest quality energy of the day on the things that are most important to you.

In conclusion, the important thing is not to push yourself harder, but to move yourself in a way that will last longer.

Finish

People who are serious about making changes in their lives often think that all they have to do is work hard. However, just living hard doesn't mean your life will change. The video emphasizes that the important thing is not to work hard at everything, but to know what is directly related to the goal you want and to do it consistently while eating well and sleeping well.

For this consistency, mere will is not enough. Cutting back on unnecessary appointments, keeping a diary to stay on track, exercising for your strength, meditating for your mind and spirit - all of this is not a separate habit, but a system for consistently doing the things that matter most.

"Changing my life wasn't about working hard, it was about establishing a system that would allow me to keep going in the direction I wanted."

Because we've never really learned how to set goals, how to stick to them, and how to bounce back when we fall, it's easy to blame ourselves when things don't go our way. However, we offer warm consolation that it is not that there was a lack of effort, but you may not have known how to try.Instead of simply saying "work hard," this channel explains why we don't last, what we need to do first before working hard, and how we can last for a long time based on neuroscience theory and practical experience.

Life doesn't change overnight, but if you can repeatedly turn the start of your day in the direction you want, the direction of your life can change little by little. I recommend that you decide what you need to do first thing tomorrow morning every night, and start doing the things that are most important to you first before reacting to the world. I advise that this small start can be the first sign of changing your day.