Research has shown that starting your day with a healthy routine has the power to set the tone for the rest of the day and can positively impact your physical and mental well being.
Surely then, if what you do in the first couple of hours of your day can influence how the rest of your day goes, you want to learn how you can capitalise on this?
Let me take you through some key things to implement into your morning and some essential things to avoid..
DO: Exercise in the morning
This doesn’t have to be in the form of an intense gym workout or going for a run. For some, this could be a gentle walk or a 15 minute home workout.
Exercising in the morning specifically, has been shown to increase energy levels, focus and productivity throughout the day. In addition to improving mood (thanks endorphins) and sleep quality.
If you’re not currently a morning exerciser, start with something small that you enjoy and gradually increase over time. Perhaps you could meet a friend every Tuesday morning for a lap around the nearest park or sign up to a group fitness class with friends and make a pact to go once per week before you start work.
DON’T: Scroll on social media in the morning
Using your phone in the morning can negatively impact both your mood and your sleep quality and should try to be avoided.
Scrolling through social media exposes you to a large amount of information, a lot of which is negative. This can increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol and result in feelings of stress and anxiety throughout that day.
Similarly, the blue light emitted from phone and computer screens suppresses the release of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep and wakefulness. A lower melatonin production can lead to disrupted sleep patterns and decreased overall sleep quality.
When your alarm goes off in the morning, see if you can have a phone-free 15 minutes upon waking, having a clear set of things to do can help with this, e.g. wash my face, brush my teeth, have a glass of water. If you like to lie in bed, swap 10 minutes of phone time for 10 minutes of reading.
DO: Journal in the morning
I have no doubt some of you are rolling your eyes right now, I am aware journaling isn’t for everyone but I’d like to encourage you to be open minded about what this could look like for you. Journaling, for some, can be as simple as using a question prompt and writing a one word answer. For others it might be a couple of lines or maybe more.
Regular journaling is linked with reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, improved clarity of thoughts and emotions, improved mood and decision making as well as increased self awareness.
Find a notebook that you can dedicate to journaling and leave it on your bedside table as a reminder. Start by choosing 1 of the below questions and allocate 5 minutes, once a week to it to begin with.
- What am I looking forward to today?
- What would I like to accomplish by the end of today?
- How can I be 1% better than yesterday?
- How would I rate my mood on a scale of 1-10 this morning? (10 being fantastic). Write a sentence explaining why you chose the number you did.
- What would a successful day look like for me today?
DON’T: Drink coffee first thing in the morning
Again, I’m sensing some eye rolls. Please, hear me out.
Cortisol levels naturally rise in the morning, helping to wake you up and get you ready for the day. However, consuming caffeine early in your day whilst cortisol levels are still naturally high can cause a further intake in cortisol levels leading to overstimulation and anxiety. What follows this is usually a crash in energy and feelings of tiredness.
Like the blue light from screens, caffeine also suppresses the body’s natural production of melatonin which interferes with your natural sleep-wake cycle, thus, negatively impacting your sleep.
The benefit of delaying caffeine, ideally until 2hr after waking, is that you’ll enjoy your coffee more and you’ll likely get a more positive effect from the caffeine when it’s not paired with high levels of cortisol. So, swap your coffee first thing for a glass of water and wait a couple hours for your caffeine hit.
There you have it; two things to start doing in the morning and two things to stop! As with anything new, it’s important to start small and build over time. Don’t try to run before you can walk!
