With the average life expectancy of 78.6 years in the United States, by an approximation, we have 28,700 mornings that we need to survive in our lifetime. Rather than cribbing about not being a morning person, think about all you could achieve if you made these mornings better.
Overcoming low energy and exhaustion in the mornings, let’s talk about 7 effective ways you can improve your morning and make your entire day more productive –
1. Synchronize your sleep cycle
Tired of pressing the snooze button repeatedly every morning? Frustrating isn’t it. Try to form a sleep schedule and wake up at the same time – yes, even on weekends! This will make it easier for you to shake off that groggy, sleepy feeling quickly.
89% of US adults with excellent sleep health stated they felt very effective at getting jobs done in a study. This also proves the importance of having a consistent sleep time to help your body overthrow its tiredness in the morning.
2. Stretch those muscles!
The universal tip to be found everywhere for improving your mornings – Exercise! It may feel hard to get the motivation to exercise, but once you start – there is no turning back. Even exercising for as little as 10 minutes helps release GABA – a neurotransmitter that soothes your brain and controls impulse by reducing anxiety.
Choose your poison – from yoga, cardio, running, etc – there are a million ways to get your heart pumping. And the added benefit – your skin will love you for this.
3. Have a cup of your favorite drink
As a reward for all the stretching you did, treat yourself with your favorite drink and just browse through the morning newspaper or see the beautiful sunrise.
Even better, take a cup of this ethically great coffee that has biodegradable pods to mentally charge yourself. You can buy it here.
Think about this – you get to have a cup and you don’t have to feel guilty of harming the environment. Win-win!
4. Leave your phone alone
To make sure you don’t waste your precious morning hours dividing your attention between meaningless tasks, try leaving your phone for a while. Rather than bombarding your brain with mindless social media surfing, think of other ways to occupy your mind in the morning.
Also, focusing on negative news that you received or a highly stressful work email in the morning will zap your energy in a second. Focus on channeling this energy in positive directions will improve your morning exponentially.
5. Set goals for your day
Research has proven that setting concrete goals is correlated with an increase in confidence and feeling in control of the situation. Spending a few minutes in the morning to build a structure for your day helps in outlining your priorities and puts everything in motion.
This also helps articulate what you want to achieve in the long run and also in narrowing them down to a few achievable ones each day. This follows the philosophy of taking each day as it comes 🙂
6. Practice meditation
Rather than jumping into the day without planning for a minute to breathe for yourself can cause anxiety. Mindful meditation helps you take an essential and purposeful pause before the busyness of the day kicks in.
Meditation is a great way to reduce stress and rewire your brain to focus on only the essentials – basically removing all distractions from hindsight.
A Harvard study found that people who meditate regularly can sustain steady attention and not waver even during daily tasks.
7. Eat a proper breakfast
Eating anything at all for breakfast puts you ahead of a lot of people. People who eat breakfast are less likely to be obese and tend to have a lower BMI index ratio, have more stable blood-sugar levels, and tend to be less hungry over the course of the entire day. And these are just some of the statistics for people who eat any kind of breakfast.
Eating a balanced and healthy breakfast makes these statistics swing more in your favor. A healthy breakfast will also give you energy for a more productive day. This also improves a person’s short-term memory and helps them to concentrate more intensely and for longer periods in the longer run.
8. Check something off your to-do list
Have a pesky to-do list? Try checking something off per day on that list. Sitting down for just 10 minutes can make this task super easy!
It doesn’t have to be a big task, but if it is something that you have been putting off for the longest time, now is the time to do it. This will definitely help in improving your morning and you will feel content throughout the day, knowing that you accomplished something you’d been meaning to do.
9. Tidy your workspace
With everything being restricted to be managed from our own home, it’s quite easy to fall into bad patterns of being untidy and messy. Your workspace is your home space as well. But remember having a clean place to work makes a big difference to your ability to concentrate in that area.
A Harvard research found that people who worked in a clean workspace outperformed those who worked in a cluttered one because clutter poses as a distraction from the actually required work.
So the importance of having a neat workplace is highly relevant and understated.
10. Don’t multitask and have a positive mindset
Mornings mean your body is pumping with energy and feels like you can do everything together. But try to conserve that energy and focus on each task alone. This ensures that you give 100% to each task as it gets pretty frustrating trying to recall every information and organize thought for each task.
Similarly, focusing on a positive outlook towards the day will help you in beginning each day on a high note and setting the tone for the entire day to take every task head-on and be constructive whatever happens.
To empower your everyday life, the most important part is to take control of your mornings. Improving your morning will ensure you are energetic, productive, and focused on your set goals and not let chaos enter your life.
