6 Tips for Building a Healthy Morning Routine
Table of Contents
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1. Don’t Hit Snooze on the Alarm
It may just be me but sometimes those extra minutes of sleep don’t give me the gratification that I initially expected! Especially in situations where I’d continuously smash my snooze button before class or an internship, waking up 15 minutes later was the difference between my speed walking to my destination (shin splints activated) or praying that I would still be able to catch my bus. Changing this is easier said than done but the best practice is to try to jump out of bed as soon as possible.
Here are some hacks for this:
- Put your phone alarm clock across the room
- To avoid the morning social media scroll, switch to a conventional alarm clock and set your phone somewhere hard to reach from your bed
I’m not the only one who is advising against this – sleep scientists suggest that the snooze function is no bueno! The end phase of our sleep is referred to as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) which is a restorative state. Research shows that By hitting snooze, and fighting for the extra 7-10 minutes, we end up disrupting this process leading to negative effects on the body such as grogginess, which can last throughout the day! not exactly a smooth start…
The best way to compensate for this feeling which many of us know oh too well is to get more sleep to begin with! I am a huge fan of the Sleep Cycle app which tracks your movement while you sleep and allows you to analyze your sleep patterns over time. It also gives you the option for a gentle wakeup over a period of 30 mins. With this, the app uses the data it collects while you sleep to determine the best time to wake you up, minimizing REM disruption and eliminating those terrible haphazard feelings we get from hitting snooze!
yes.
2. Water
Hydration seems to be the answer to everything these days but a cold glass of water can actually do wonders for your morning! There is literally a myriad of benefits! Besides rehydrating your body after hours of rest, the cold might be the shock you need to spring back into action! Water gets your brain ready for the day, giving you a productivity boost and also kickstarting your metabolism!
Before you reach for your morning coffee or protein shake, try a glass of water!
3. Make Your Mornings All About You with a no Social Media Policy
This is an essential tip! it is so easy to pick up our phone from our nightstand and get sucked into scrolling. Our Twitter and Instagram feeds have become our generational way of staying up to date. They replace traditional news publications and take the place of morning mindfulness practices.
This is one of the main reasons we advocate for moving your phone alarm clock across the room. Better yet, if you are strong enough to fight the temptation, you can take this to the next level by implementing a no social media morning policy!
Starting your day being consumed with the lives of others as well as the stressful topics facing our world can really set the tone for how you feel throughout the rest of the day! Why not start on a positive note?
Take ownership of your morning by focusing inward. What are some new, positive things that you can feed your mind with? What are the areas of your life that you can express gratitude for?
4. Stimulate your mind
That brings us to our next point. what excites you?
Make your mornings a period of inspiration! Any TED Talks you find interesting? Can’t find time in the day to tackle that reading list you’ve been building? give yourself 30 mins each day to commit to something that genuinely inspires you and provokes thought!
we link a lot of good reads and TED Talks on Our Pinterest Page 😉
Sometimes focusing on the optimistic possibilities that life has to offer rather than the harsh realities can be the little bit of change and positivity that we need
5. Finding Yourself on Paper
Journaling!!!! I can’t stress how major this point is. Taking the time to really be introspective and analyze where you stand in life every day can be so beneficial. We often get so caught up in the rat race of fulfilling external expectations without even considering our own.
my newfound love for journaling involves a focus on:
- Manifestation – where do I see myself in the future? how can I depict that visually?
- Gratitude – what are the good things happening for me right now? there are so many things that slip right under our noses that are sources of joy that should be celebrated!
- Honesty – how am I really feeling? Acknowledging that it isn’t a requirement to be happy all of the time and that the best way to conquer feelings of anxiety and sadness is to face them head-on makes me feel so much more in control!
Journaling is a great way to map all of these feelings out and uncover the ones we didn’t even know existed.
An amazing tool to help with this process is the 6-minute Journal. It breaks down the psychological benefits of positive psychology and gives you daily, weekly, and monthly journal prompts to keep you on top of your mindfulness practice in just a few minutes a day!
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6. Start your day with a wonderful breakfast
I am a huge advocate for #smalljoys I try to give myself the best that I can with the resources that I have!
A lot of people skip breakfast but it truly is my favorite meal of the day! Making a bowl of oats with my favorite fixings (fruits, nuts, and seeds) or a delicious omelet is the highlight of my morning. I can’t lie sometimes I go to sleep excited about what I will eat the next day. I think that a major part of life is giving yourself things to look forward to rather than waiting on them to come to you, no matter how big or small!
What are some of the strategies you use in order to get your morning on track? Let us know in the comments below! Don’t forget to follow The Chroma Network and pin this to your productivity or mindset board on Pinterest!
