Essential habits to start the morning right
Many of us start the day by waking up to a ringing alarm clock, grabbing a cup of coffee, and browsing the internet. But if you analyze the morning habits of successful people, that's exactly the opposite of what they do.
Consistent morning habits set the tone for a productive day. Here's some advice on how to start your day off right.
Make Your Bed
Recently Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson took to social media to explain why he makes his bed every morning and it totally makes sense. By making your bed every morning, one of your first feelings of the day will be a sense of accomplishment. From there, you will be driven to be more productive throughout the day.
Stretch your body
It’s no secret that your body becomes rigid and low in energy when you are sleeping so doing gentle stretches right after waking up will help loosen your muscles and make you more flexible. Even five minutes of stretching relieves unwanted tension from your ligaments and joints, improves blood circulation, and makes you feel more active. It’s highly recommended to stretch if you spend much of your day sitting down at a desk.
Ditch the alarm clock
This might be tough, and it might take some time to get used to but if you can get yourself to wake up naturally, you’ll feel so much better in the morning. Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (who swears he gets eight hours of sleep each night), is a big proponent of waking up naturally, without an alarm. Oprah also wakes up on her own. In her wellness diary, she wrote: "I have never set an alarm, I don't believe in them. They are…alarming! I put the number in my mind, and I wake up before that, usually between 6:02 and 6:20, because the dogs are trained to go out around that time. My first thought in the morning is, Oh, I'm alive. Thank you!"
Don't go straight for the coffee. Drink water instead.
We all love our coffee, but experts recommend you don’t drink coffee right away in the morning. In fact, every health expert will recommend a nice cold glass of water first. Since your body loses water while you sleep, you need to compensate for these losses when you wake up to avoid dehydration. After going several hours without H2O, a serving of water first thing in the morning will hydrate the body while aiding digestion and metabolism. Water is an essential nutrient and the organs and tissues in your body depend on it to function.
Be grateful
This can be tough if you are going through a tough time, but you should try and start your day with gratitude and positive affirmations. Be happy for another day in your life amidst the chaos of the world.
Self-reflection
Self-reflection in the morning can set you up for success during the day. No one knew this better than the late Steve Job who asked himself one fundamental question in the mirror every morning: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? If the answer is no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." Obviously, not everyone can just get up and quit a job they are unhappy with, but if you at least acknowledge you need a change, you are more likely to find a solution.
Exercise your body and brain
Yoga and meditation are great ways to bring synchronicity between body and mind. Setting aside just five minutes every morning to focus on your breath will set the tone for the rest of your day. If you have time for twenty minutes of meditation, we recommend that too. Meditation will help you stay focused, cheerful, and optimistic.
Energize your body
This is a no-brainer and something we are taught in our first year of school. As they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so set aside some time and sit down and eat breakfast without rushing out the door. Waking up 15 minutes earlier to have a proper breakfast will be worth it overall.
Put off checking your phone.
Believe it or not, trying to resist checking your email and social media accounts right away in the morning might be the hardest bad habit. But ignoring your phone in the morning makes such a dramatic difference. For such a tiny device, your phone holds a lot of power, and it also holds plenty of potential to stress you out with things such as work-related emails, the morning news, an invoice, your bank account balance, or even a text message. And even if you don’t see anything that will upset you, just checking your phone first thing can quickly derail your whole morning routine. Who hasn’t lost themselves down a TikTok hole before even getting out of bed?
