How do you start your day? Let me guess: Your alarm clock goes off, and it’s time to quickly shower, brush your teeth, skip breakfast, then head to work. Is that it? What you might have failed to notice is that when your morning starts in such a frantic manner, the rest of your day seems to reflect that mood of panic as well. How your day will go is predetermined by how your morning is, so it’s time to start planning your morning routine properly. To feel stress-free, alert, and energized, it is crucial to have a good morning routine. It creates a feeling of happiness that you can carry with you all day long and sets the productivity tone for the rest of the day.
Incorporate these fabulous morning habits into your routine to increase your daily productivity and creativity:
1. Get enough restful sleep from the night before
Before you can implement proper, healthy morning habits, you should have the foundation of a well-rested body and mind. An exhausted person isn’t a happy person!
Your sleep habit is the predetermining factor in how you feel when you wake up. Waking up exhausted and cranky will only destroy your happiness. Waking up irritable only points to the fact that you are not getting enough quality sleep. A good night’s sleep is synonymous to air itself because of the importance attached to it in ensuring your overall sense of happiness and general well-being. When you are deprived of sleep, the effects are always adverse not only to your physical well-being but also on how well you think, react, work, learn, and get along with others. It is one of the most excellent ways to improve concentration, strengthen the immune system, and enhance your mood and feel better generally. However, a common side effect of not getting enough sleep is the impairment of your memory and an elevated level of your stress hormones. So, the first step to creating a happy, cheerful morning is ensuring you get enough quality sleep the night before. Have a timetable for sleep and stick to it. Your happiness may depend on it.
2. Wake up at your right time
Morning people are the most productive people. There is a saying which goes: “The early bird catches the worm.” The key to creative insights is not mainly in the number of hours you sleep but in how you wake up. Studies have put it out there that a reasonable amount of creativeness come when we are still somewhat sleepy because sleepy people have a more diffused attention focus, which leads them to widen their knowledge network. This leads to an increase in problem-solving. This may mean you need to go to bed earlier or just set your alarm thirty minutes earlier than usual. Although it will be difficult to change, it will be well worth it. The most important thing is not what time you wake up; it is getting up and in tune with your body’s clock. Waking up at the right time when your body is fully rested is key to a productive day rather than getting out of bed hours before your brain is prepared. One method which could work is to put your alarm clock away from your bed, so you have to get up to turn it off. That buzzing noise will keep you up, and by the time you walk over to turn it off, the sleep would gradually diminish mainly and the reality of a new day is already on you. The summary of this is for you to be out of bed well enough before you have to leave home. Having to rush your preparation would only make you feel worse. Set your alarm clock fifteen minutes earlier than usual, and use the time to mentally get ready for the day.
3. Stay unplugged from technological gadgets
If you are one of those people where the first thing they do immediately after they wake up is to check their smartphone for messages or work email, you are not doing yourself any favors. When you check your phone immediately after waking up, you are being flooded with new messages and other things that could affect how your day will go eventually. All these things pull your attention and do not give you time and space to start the day calmly. Also, your thoughts and focus are immediately hijacked by what you have received. Your mind becomes occupied with the agendas of other people instead of being focused on yours. You are immediately cultivating a reactive mindset which will cause you to start your day in a defensive state, rather than a place of inner peace and control. Aside from all these, what begins as checking a message for five minutes turn into fifteen minutes, which then turns into an hour. You can soon get addicted and before you know it, you have to start rushing to be able to meet up with lost time. As a substitute, try removing yourself from technology for the first hour of your day so you can begin your day with present moment awareness and a positive focus.
4. Make time for workout and exercise
A thirty-minute workout will fill you with mood-boosting endorphins that will last most of the day. Exercise stimulates creativity and gets the blood flowing to our brains. Whether it is a simple yoga routine, a walk with your pet, strolling on the treadmill, a quick set of sit-ups and push-ups, or hitting the gym to work off last night’s meal, starting your day with movement energizes the body and the mind. You should choose what kind of exercise is right for you and schedule it. It does not have to be complicated or long, but doing some training in the morning is good to keep you healthy mentally with a good flow of blood. Make your routine exercise a variety to keep them exciting and fun.
5. Meditate
Making time for meditation in the morning is one of the most important habits a person can form. Daily meditation can help create a happy mind. Spend time meditating each morning to improve focus, self-esteem, and confidence. This morning routine can help train your mind and emotions, which then influences how you react to challenges throughout your day. When you meditate it makes you more creative and increases mental clarity.
6. Reduce your morning choices by having a routine
A productive morning is determined by how the night before went. The fewer decisions you have to make, the less stressed you’ll be. Everything should be planned ahead of time. Pick out your outfit the night before by picking whatever makes you look presentable, and feel confident. Do not waste your time choosing between vast arrays of clothes. When you think of the number of decisions you need to make, it will slow you down and drain your brain for the rest of the day. Conserve your energy for activities in the day ahead that deserve it like brainstorming, writing, or problem-solving. If it is possible to remove decision-making from your mornings, you’ll have more energy and time to have the most productive morning you can.
7. Set goals for the day
Take some minutes to write down the list of tasks for the day ahead. Then prioritize it, so your listing has only three to five items on it, ranked in order of priority to make sure you tackle the most important things first. You give yourself a sense of purpose each day when you know what you need to get done. There is a joy that comes from within when a task on the list is achieved; it gives one a sense of accomplishment. It feels satisfying to have set priorities and you meeting those milestones. Develop a sense of purpose and work each day to make progress and accomplish your tasks. Begin your day by setting goals for yourself. Get answers to what you want to achieve that day. What the most efficient and effective use of your time would be. Make it a point to spend a few minutes each morning choosing and scheduling what you want to do that day. Read through your schedule, check what you have got coming up in your day, and then you will know what’s coming and mentally prepare for the day ahead. When you have observed your schedule for the day, then you can add in any other activity that would fit into the rest of your time. The goal is basically to have control over your day to an extent so that you do not spend time prioritizing the less critical tasks over the important ones.
Mornings can be rough, tough, and overwhelming. You can have control of it by doing a few focused things like some of the habits listed above when you wake up. With these habits, you can set yourself up for more productivity throughout the day!
