The way you start your morning sets the tone of the entire day.
The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine- Mike Murdoch
For some people waking up in the morning is really a hassle, I am also one of you guys. Whereas for others it is very easy and exciting!
When you start your morning with empowering rituals, your mental and physical wellbeing alters. You get a boost to make the most out of your day.
You have to cultivate the habit of making the first 60 minutes of your mornings most effective by eliminating some conscious and unconscious habits that have taken a toll on your mood as well as your performance.
Having an amazing morning routine is critical for you to take charge of your day. If you don’t take charge, chances are, you are not going to be as productive as you can.
Below are 12 habits that can ruin your mornings, performance and productivity level that requires change.
1. Putting your alarm on snooze mode
Most of us put an alarm and end up just hitting the snooze button and sleeping more. When you set an alarm, always see to it that you are getting enough sleep (7- 8 hours) every day so that you can avoid the temptation of sleeping more.
When you are clear in your mind, before sleeping, that you have ensured enough sleep, you wont feel like putting the alarm on snooze.
Be clear and tell yourself before sleeping, you are going to get up at X AM.
Each time you hit the snooze button, you are stepping into the procrastination loop and how you condition your mind is going to influence the rest of your day.
It may seem like a little act just snooze for one day but it builds into a habit and you are conditioning your mind for incompetency and altering your performance level.
2. Checking Your Phone And Social Media first thing in the morning
I think most of us look at our phone and social media first thing in the morning. We feel guilty about it, yet we keep repeating the same thing.
There is an addiction or rather a strong persuasive connection that pops up with the light of our cell phone.
The urge to click through feeds, tweets, pictures, etc. ,to know what is going on and this act tilts the pendulum of productivity to a distracting end. When you wake up and want more result, avoid checking your phone first.
I know this is not the new tip but like you also know, knowing makes no difference. You need to get into action.
Like I said earlier, the first 60 minutes of your day are most critical. And if you spend that time in checking your phone, reading your Facebook news feed then rather than focus you are staring your day with directions.
So if you have been doing this, you have to disconnect from that persuasive addiction or attraction. Rather than reaching for your phone as the first thing in the morning, pray, express gratitude, hydrate, meditate, exercise, eat a healthy meal to groom and nourish yourself before you dive into the digital world.
So if you have been checking your phone first thing in the morning, desist from it. You can keep your phone far from your reach as you condition and work on your mind.
3. Making Impromptu Decisions
Planning is the most essential things to be productive. If you do not plan your day, you will just flow with the wind and will not have any clue about what to do, what not to do.
When you make impromptu decisions in the morning you are working in a disoriented position, you are forcing your body to process signals within a few seconds which can induce mental and physical stress.
When you do things impromptu you do not have enough time to think through the action which equates poor results.
4. Starting The Day Without having a bath
Bathing is a relaxant. Our nervous system gets relaxed when water falls on our skin. It will relax your nerves and activate the hormones to make your day most productive.
Do not start your day without bathing.
5. Consuming Negative Content
Reading news, social media feed starts the negative thoughts most of the time. It has a huge impact on how your brain will process further information.
If you are going to be consuming content make sure it is something that is empowering and valuable; such as listening to an important podcast, valuable videos, affirmations, self love and gratitude clips.
6. Avoiding sunshine to entre in your house
After waking up in the morning, do not leave the curtain closed, getting ready or sitting in a dark room for so long sends signals of grogginess to your body instead of being alert for the day.
Letting the sun rays into your room in the morning is a great way to wake yourself up, the beam of sunlight piercing through your window sets ripples of alertness to your eyes.
If you choose to get ready in the dark, your habitual system may be confused and think it’s night time this sets your brain in sleep mode, leaving you sluggish for the rest of the day.
7. Leaving Your Bed Unmade
Making your bed immediately after you get up, will make you feel fresh in the room. You won’t feel lazy to go back and sleep again. When your room and house is neat and cleaned there is a different energy that you can feel. Whereas if you stay in clutter for longer time, you won’t feel like doing anything proactively.
Experts says that making your bed after waking up cultivate an organizational altitude which conditions your performance level.
8. Waking Up At Inconsistent Times
Nothing is more effective than consistency in anything you do. When developing or cultivating morning routines of success, it is advisable that you develop a consistent and habitual routine such as waking up at the same time, It sends signals to your body that your brain can easily adjust and work with.
If you have an inconsistent time of waking up you are sending negative rhythms to your body and disrupting your sleep pattern and quality.
9. Complaining
A lot of people love to wake up in the morning and complain; complain about how early it is, complain about going to work, complain about how tired they feel.
It has a tangible effect on your level of motivation, so instead of waking up and complaining, dwell and think on the things you ought to be grateful and positive about.
