The way you start your day can either set you up for success or make you wish you stayed in bed. We all have those days what feel super productive and energized, while there are other days we wake up tired and depressed,and at the end of the day we feel like we didn’t accomplish what you hoped to do.
What if I told you that you can increase the number of productive days, those when you feel at your best, productive, accomplished? You can greatly influence how your day plays off by focusing on your habits. Here are seven healthy habits that will help you start your day right.
Habit #1: Don’t Hit the Snooze Button
I like to say, if you snooze you lose.
The extra sleep that you can get by hitting snooze comes in small chunks and isn’t good quality—and it can actually do you some harm. Letting yourself go back to sleep, even for just 10 minutes, communicates to your body that you’re not getting up and that it’s OK to go back into rest mode. If you’re someone who likes to press the snooze button multiple times, your brain and body get more and more confused. You can feel out of it and even more tired than you would have if you had gotten up with the first alarm. Rather than lose out on restful sleep with all that snoozing, it’s better to set your alarm to a realistic time.
A few things that have helped me:
Focus on the reason you want to wake up earlier and why it's important to you. Or schedule something fun to do early in the morning that motivates you to wake up and get out of bed.
Don’t keep your alarm clock on your nightstand. Instead, place your alarm somewhere that’s hard to reach.
Go to bed earlier. If you are struggling to wake up in the morning it might be because you are not getting enough sleep.
Engage your other senses. Light is a powerful wakefulness device. I love this Light Therapy Alarm Clock .
Follow a sleep schedule. You may be making things too hard on yourself. Some people are night owls. If you’re one of those people, don’t create unrealistic expectations of waking up at the strike of dawn every morning. Set a realistic alarm time (the last possible time before you need to wake up, ensuring you get maximum sleep), and gradually adjust your schedule in 15-minute increments until you achieve your desired sleep and wake time. As you gain success, you’ll feel happier around sleep, which will reduce stress and make things easier in the morning.
Habit #2: Practice Gratitude
You will be surprise with the power that gratitude can have in your life.
The benefits of practicing gratitude are nearly endless. Gratitude is one of those keystone habits that has a ripple effect in many areas of your life.
Personally, I write down the five things that I grateful for every morning. I focus on things that happened in the last 24 hours. There are gratitude journals like this one you can get to guide you through a gratitude practice.
Habit #3: Skip Social Media
Be honest with yourself, how long does it take for you to check social media after waking up? I am guilty of jumping to check my social media accounts first thing in the morning, but I found that this is a detrimental habit for many reasons.
It pulls for your attention, giving you no time and space to start your day calmly. You can easily get suck up into social media and end up not doing anything else.
Your thoughts, ideas, and focus are immediately hijacked. In other words, your mind will be occupied with other people’s agenda — not your own.
Aside from your attention, your time is also being hijacked. What starts out as checking social media for 5 minutes quickly turns into 15 minutes, which then turns into 30 minutes. Before you know it, you have to rush to make it on time to work, starting your day hurried and stressful.
By starting the day distracted, you set the tone for a distracted day.
Habit #4: Drink water
Drinking water is another of those keystone habits. Drinking water has so many benefits to our body and mind. Personally, I like to start the day drinking a glass of water. On one hand sets the tone for the rest of the day, but most importantly it helps me replenish all the liquids I lost overnight.
I've found that filling up my water bottle the day before and leave it somewhere I will see it first thing in the morning is a great way to build the habit of drinking first thing in the morning.
Habit #5: Make your bed
Sounds silly but here is the thing. Starting your day crossing something off your list, accomplishing something will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another, setting you up for a productive day ahead.
There is even a book that talks about this!!! Really? Don't believe me? Check it out!
Habit #6: Eat a healthy breakfast
It's incredible how many people skip breakfast. My grandparents used to tell me breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Multiple medical studies have proof that eating a healthy breakfast every day brings many health benefits.
tI have found that the secret formula for breakfast is to pair carbs with proteins. The carbs give your body energy to get started and your brain the fuel it needs to take on the day. Protein gives you staying power and helps you feel full until your next meal. Personally I have a super food shake or bowl with a side of fruit every morning Monday through Friday and on weekends I eat eggs paired with quesadillas, re-fried beans, fruit or a GF toast
Habit #7: Fuel your mind
Just like we fuel our body we also need to fuel our mind. From meditation, to reading a book or listening to a podcast or journaling. Do something that fuels your mind, that broadens your prescriptive, that helps you learn something new, that inspires you. I find that spending just 15 minutes every morning doing these things set my mindset for the day, and over time you can really harvest the compound interests of your time investment in personal growth.
Looking for a book to read? Check these book recommendations.
Looking for a podcast to listen to? Check out the Leading Yourself podcast