How to start your morning right

A productive day starts in the morning. Your energy and mood throughout the day depend on what time you got up, how you showered, and what you ate for breakfast.

But for many, waking up in the morning is an act of violence against the body. A person forcefully gets up on an alarm clock and gets ready for work without really waking up. It is hardly possible to talk about cheerfulness and a positive mood in such a situation.

The good news is that you can easily turn your morning routine into programming for a successful, productive day. Here are seven simple rules that will help you start your morning correctly and manage your condition and mood throughout the day.

Plan your day the night before

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What you do the night before has a lot to do with your morning.

There are many ways to plan for tomorrow. You can write things down in a diary or calendar, make “reminders” on your phone or in special online services like Evernote. The main thing is to set goals and stick to this plan.

Here's a simple planning technique that many business people use:

At the end of each working day, write down six important tasks that need to be completed tomorrow.
Arrange things in order of importance.
At the start of your workday, focus on the most important task. Finish it, then move on to the next step.
If there are unfinished tasks left, in the evening move them to a new list for the next day.
Repeat this process daily.

Learn to get a good night's sleep

To ensure that the climb is not painful, you need to get a good night's sleep. There are special rules that will help make your sleep deep and fulfilling.

Try to go to bed early and before going to bed, think only about good things - the upcoming vacation, desired purchases, meeting with loved ones. Do not remember problems under any circumstances - they will not let you sleep. Follow the rule “the morning is wiser than the evening.”
If you watched a movie, played a computer game or communicated on social networks, do not lie down right away. Take a break for evening tea and conversation with relatives.
To ensure sound and healing sleep, maintain the room temperature at 18-22 degrees.

Start with gratitude

Interesting point. I think not everyone practices this, but we want to draw attention to it. Gratitude is a powerful tool for connecting with the Universe. It doesn't matter what religion you are. Emotions and attitude are important here; you don’t need to prepare for this. When you wake up, start giving thanks for everything you have: for the house in which you just opened your eyes, for the opportunity to live fully and enjoy the little things, travel, see your loved ones and friends. It will take a few minutes, but it will have a positive impact on your mental health.

Do some stretches in bed

When the alarm clock rings and pulls you out of the embrace of sleep, this is the most stressful state in the morning. Don't jump up immediately if you're having a hard time. Trick your body into waking up by stretching in bed.

Stretch in different directions - wherever your body wants. Bend over, twist – this will quickly warm up your muscles. Pat your face with your fingertips.

If possible, turn on your favorite music. It makes it much more pleasant to start the morning - getting up and getting ready for work.

Read a few pages of your favorite book

Of course, if you have time left, devote it to an inspiring book, the reading of which will fill you with only pleasant emotions. This should be an easy and exciting book; don’t burden your brain with complex business literature in the morning. Give yourself a little high, because a new and eventful day awaits you. And how you start it depends only on you.

Take a cool or contrast shower

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Cold water improves physical and mental health. Regular cool or contrast showers will strengthen your body's immune, lymphatic, cardiovascular and digestive systems. And it will make the skin more elastic.

You don’t need to immediately pour cold water on yourself - lower the temperature gradually so that your body gets used to it and you don’t feel stressed. And every day bring the water to a lower temperature than yesterday. If you prefer a contrast shower, then follow the same rule: reduce the water temperature gradually.

After a cool or contrast shower, you will feel cheerful and light. The broken morning state will disappear as if by hand.

Exercise

A little exercise is not only good for your body, but also for your mind. Physical exercise will help put your thoughts in order before the working day, relieve anxiety and stress. This is especially important when serious tasks lie ahead - start work in a balanced state.

You can do any exercise, but in the morning it is better to choose aerobics - it will allow you to organize your thoughts.

Here's a quote from the Harvard Health Blog that supports the benefits of aerobics for the mind:

“Scientists at the University of British Columbia have found that regular aerobic exercise, which gets your heart and sweat glands pumping, increases the size of an area of the brain involved in memory and learning. Training with weights, balance exercises and muscle toning did not produce the same results.”

And if you do exercises before breakfast, the excess weight will quickly leave the body.

Wake up early

Probably everyone has already heard or read the book “The Magic of the Morning”, in which the author assures that getting up early equates to a productive working day. In addition, it also contributes to the proper functioning of the body as a whole. Our hormones awaken early in the morning, so you will feel cheerful, unless, of course, you went to bed late. This is a very important point: in order for the body to fully rest and recover 100%, you must not forget about the time when you go to bed. Fall asleep between 10 pm and 11 pm - the most important sleep hormone, melatonin, is released at this time. To a large extent, it determines how your night and morning will go. Train yourself to go to bed early and you will forget what tired eyes feel like in the morning.

What should be the right breakfast?

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Breakfast sets your digestive system up to function properly throughout the day. Therefore, it is important to provide your morning meal with all the necessary components.

As soon as you wake up, drink a glass of still water to get your digestive system working.

After 20 minutes you can start breakfast. It should be based on long carbohydrates, which take a long time to digest and will supply the body with energy for the first half of the day.

The best option is porridge. Any, at your discretion. Cereals contain a lot of fiber, protein, and vitamins. You can add fruits or nuts, cook in water or milk. But keep in mind that “quick porridge” from bags does not have a grain shell - a source of fiber.

Cottage cheese is no less useful - it regulates the functioning of the digestive system and sets it the correct program for the whole day. You can also add fresh fruits and berries to cottage cheese.

Eggs are an excellent breakfast product: they contain easy-to-digest protein, vitamins, and phospholipids. Eggs are suitable in any form - boiled, scrambled, scrambled. You can add them to a salad - they go well with any vegetables.

You can diversify your morning meal with natural yogurt, cheese, and lean poultry.

There are two important conditions for a proper breakfast:

You should not skip your morning meal - this is the most important meal of the day.
For good health during the day, do not eat fatty foods in the morning. After all, the digestive system has not yet worked at full capacity after waking up - do not overload it.

Meditate to focus on important tasks

The brain doesn't work productively while your thoughts are chaotic. A great way to focus on important tasks is to meditate before work. Those who practice meditation are advised to start their morning with it, before the flow of thoughts takes over the consciousness.

During meditation, deep relaxation occurs - a process opposite to stress. It helps to organize thoughts and concentrate on what is important. After meditation, the solution to a difficult problem will come on its own.

Meditation is especially beneficial for people who are stressed. The body responds to relaxation: depression, pain and high blood pressure go away.

Here is a simple meditation technique:

Take a few deep breaths in and out. Focus on your breathing. Feel your chest rise as you inhale deeply and fall as you exhale.
Relax all parts of your body. Mentally control this process. Feel your feet, knees, abdomen, diaphragm, arms, shoulders and neck relax one by one. Bring your attention to each part of the body and relax.

Just five minutes is enough to reboot your body: feel a surge of strength and constructive ideas.

How a Morning Routine Can Change Your Life

How you spend the first hour after waking up affects how you spend your entire day. Try following the tips in this article, make your mornings efficient and see the benefits it brings.

Your morning should be more than just the sum of your habits. It must take the form of a ritual that cannot be missed, no matter what happens. Ritual may concern maintaining inner peace, attention and concentration, personal development, planning, health and happiness. Therefore, the best thing to do is to take care of yourself first without thinking about work, projects, demands and other people.

What productive things can you do in the morning?

Here is a list of things to do when you wake up:

Drink a glass of warm water
Write about ten things you are grateful for
Meditate
Eat a healthy breakfast
Take a contrast shower
Do yoga
Visualization
Journaling
Do exercises
Read a book, affirmations
Review your goals and plans for the day

And this is only part of what you can do in the morning. True, these are proven methods, so pay special attention to them. And add something individual that will help you quickly recover and set yourself up for a productive day. But we will return to our list and offer an option for a ready-made ritual.

What is a morning routine?

A morning routine (or ritual, as Western motivational speakers call it) are specific actions you do to increase your energy levels, reduce your stress levels, and motivate yourself.

On a deeper level, this means dedicating the first hour of the morning to improvement, growth and development. You become more focused rather than treating your morning as something to be experienced.

The purpose of a morning routine is to help you become the person you want to be in order to create a life in which you can achieve your desired goals and objectives.

A morning ritual helps develop the habit of consistency because it is about taking daily, consistent, purposeful actions.

Benefits of a Morning Routine

Let's summarize all the benefits of creating a morning routine:

Reduces stress levels.
Increases concentration.
Brings the body and brain in order.
Allows you to look at the day ahead with optimism.
It helps you start moving towards your goal from the first hour after waking up.
Increases motivation.

Of course, it all depends on what kind of routine you have. Let's now see how famous people start their morning.

Tony Robbins , a famous motivational speaker, is sure that everyone can find time for a morning ritual: “If you don’t even have ten minutes to devote to yourself, then you don’t have a life.”

His morning routine consists of three stages:

Perform 3 sets of 30 Kapalbhati Pranayama breathing exercises.
Close your eyes, slow your breathing and express gratitude for everything you have.
Pray and get support for the day.

Tim Ferriss is a great role model, if only because he created his own morning ritual, in which he combined thousands of recommendations from successful people from different fields who he interviewed on this topic.

First, he makes his bed. Ferriss says it gives him a sense of pride and allows him to achieve his first goal of the day. He then meditates for 20 minutes.

After that, he takes just 30 seconds to charge, after which he makes himself some tea. His routine ends with journal entries, which helps him clear his mind of unnecessary thoughts.

Oprah Winfrey starts her morning with a twenty-minute meditation that she says fills her with “hope, fulfillment and deep joy.”

Then he goes on the treadmill to bring his heart back to normal. She claims that just 15 minutes of cardio improves her performance and energy levels.

Then she “tunes” herself by walking, listening to music, and preparing food. Breakfast consists of food full of complex carbohydrates, fiber and protein.

What should your morning routine be?

Now we will offer you our version of the morning ritual. Spend ten minutes on each item and get a boost of energy that will last for the whole day. Remember that you can find time for all this if you wake up half an hour to an hour earlier than usual.

Education

Learning something new is a valuable use of your morning time. This could be reading a book or textbook, listening to an audiobook, or watching an educational video. You can also read fiction, just for pleasure.

Morning is the ideal time to absorb new knowledge. Therefore, in the evening, prepare material that can be quickly repeated in 10-20 minutes. But, of course, the more the better. This time allotted for training will definitely pay off.

Meditation

Meditation has many benefits: it improves sleep, calms the body and mind, reduces stress and improves concentration.

Incorporating meditation into your morning routine involves finding a comfortable place where you can sit in a relaxed state in complete silence.

There are many ways to meditate, we will talk about the simplest (but also effective) methods. You can just sit in silence and observe your thoughts. An alternative is to focus on your breathing. Meditation can also take the form of prayer, self-reflection, or gratitude.

Charger

Exercise is what you should probably start your morning with. It increases your energy, improves concentration, promotes emotional well-being and health.

Yes, it is very difficult to do exercises immediately after waking up. In the first minutes you don’t want to move at all. If you push yourself and do it, it improves discipline and willpower, which is another powerful benefit.

Morning exercise can be different: stretching, yoga, squats or a set of exercises. Find out what you enjoy most so it doesn't become a burden. Take 5-10 minutes to bring your physical and mental state back to normal.

Journaling

Journaling has many benefits: clears your mind, reduces stress, improves concentration, increases self-confidence - just to name a few of the benefits it can bring.

There are several different ways you can keep a journal:

Gratitude journal
Planning your day
Morning pages: freewriting, when you write whatever comes to mind
Brainstorm
Description of yesterday

Visualization

Visualization is a process during which you imagine the desired situation using all your senses. There are several types of them.

Visualization of goals

You close your eyes and imagine yourself in a situation where you have achieved your goal. This tactic is often used by athletes who imagine themselves crossing the finish line or scoring a goal.

It is important to present the whole situation in detail. Feel the temperature with your body, hear sounds, touch something.

Dream visualization

Imagine everything you want to receive. It could be a house, money, a car, a job. Many people are very skeptical about this type of visualization. It’s up to you to believe it or not, but there are those who claim that this technique has helped them a lot. Again, the main thing is to present everything in the smallest detail.

Visualization of a successful skill

This technique works especially well when you want to develop a skill or habit that will require a lot of time and effort. Suitable for those who:

Wants to lose weight (imagine yourself with a good figure).
Wants to learn English (you can speak with native speakers without any problems).
Wants to stop making impulse purchases (imagine walking into a shopping center and not paying attention to the tempting displays).

Thus, it is important not only to think about how you will achieve your goals, but also how you will avoid obstacles or setbacks that you encounter along the way and solve the problem when it arises.

Of course, most often visualization is used to achieve some goals. Every goal you set for yourself requires certain behavior, habits, and ways of thinking. All this is extremely difficult to imagine. But it is during visualization that you sit down in a quiet place and imagine how it could be. If you were able to imagine this in detail, then you are psychologically ready for success.

Here are more examples of when visualization can be used:

How you need to think when you are under pressure.
How to behave and what to say when speaking in public.
How you will act in a variety of situations (create scenarios).
How will you react to failures and how will you cope with negative emotions?
What knowledge will be useful to you and how will you apply it.
What abilities need to be developed and how you will do it.

What difficulties may arise during visualization? The most common thing is lack of imagination. It's hard to go somewhere you haven't been before and have experiences you haven't had before. But everything comes with practice. Give visualization a chance: do it for at least a month every day for 5-10 minutes.

Reading affirmations

Only those who do not know how beliefs are formed are skeptical about affirmations. And it happens like this: you just have to repeat to yourself or out loud a couple of hundred times something that concerns you, and you will begin to believe in it. Therefore, it can cause both harm and benefit.

Once again, we say affirmations every day without knowing it. For example, when we say “I can’t do it” or “Why is this happening to me?”, we are programming our brain to eventually make it true (in the case of a question, acquiring a victim complex).

Affirmations guide your thoughts in the right direction. We strongly recommend starting with those that increase self-confidence. Perhaps this is the first thing you should say to yourself: “I am confident in myself,” “I feel comfortable in any situation.”

Affirmations are also very effective when it comes to creating habits and beliefs that ultimately allow you to achieve your goals.

But it is best to create affirmations for all occasions, that is, in every area: financial, personal, career, self-development, creativity. If you do this, after a few weeks of regular repetition, you will change your thinking. The right thoughts will come in difficult moments as if by themselves.

Here are examples of affirmations you can use (but make up your own):

I am surrounded by honest and worthy people.
I always find a way out of difficult situations.
My mind is clear.
I am calm.
I am a creative person.
I achieve any goal I set my mind to.

And yes, of course, affirmations should in no case diverge from the case. If you repeat to yourself “I am smart” every day, then you should read a lot, take an interest in the world and people, increasing your intellectual level.

Affirmations are good immediately after waking up and before going to bed, when the mind easily accepts new information.

Brain Games

There are a huge number of games: chess, backgammon, puzzles, puzzles, logic problems, board games, Sudoku. Many of them are implemented as web or smartphone applications. For example, we have a PRO subscription that gives you access to all the games, tests and skill development exercises on the site.

If you're still unsure about what to put into your daily routine, here are some additional tips:

Make goals for the day.
Track your spending from yesterday.
Watch the inspiring video.
Make a “I’ll do it soon” list.

And finally, the last thing: how to accustom yourself to a morning routine? After all, it sounds so exciting, but in reality it may turn out to be another unsuccessful attempt to change your life. You need careful planning. To do this, answer the following questions:

How much time will I devote to my morning routine?
What time do I need to get up to fit into my routine?
What specific activities will I include?
In what order?
How will I get myself into a routine?
What will I do if an unexpected circumstance arises and I wake up half an hour later?

Books

There are few books on how to properly manage your morning hours. However, those that write about iron discipline and willpower will also help you, because this is exactly what is so lacking immediately after waking up. You can start with the following works.

"The magic of the morning. How the first hour of the day determines your success." Hal Elrod
"On the limit. A week without self-pity" Eric Bertrand Larssen
"One habit a week" Brett Blumenthal
"Be the best version of yourself" Dan Waldschmidt
“Get out of your comfort zone. Change your life" Brian Tracy
"Effective Time Management" Brian Tracy
“Good morning every day. How to get up early and get everything done" Jeff Sanders

We wish you good luck!

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Key words:1Time management