Mornings are never easy. As soon as your alarm goes off, it is time to get moving, but your mind and body may not be ready, even if you have had a full night’s sleep.
This grogginess can start your day off on the wrong foot, which can significantly diminish your performance at work.
Your morning routine is fundamental in giving you the best tools to tackle your day. All it takes is one small mistake in this process, though, and you could be setting yourself up for a tough time. Our bodies are complex, so let’s look at a few changes you can make to your morning routine to give yourself the best start possible.
1. Avoid Screens
When morning comes, our first instinct is to reach for our phones. This might be because that is the source of your morning alarm; however, it is more likely to be because of social media. Several apps out there offer a new way to connect with our friends and family in real-time. What’s more, many of these apps come with a bunch of entertainment content too.
As a result, it is normal for us to spend a few minutes catching up on conversations and the news that occurred in the hours that we were asleep. Unfortunately, this screen activity can be detrimental during your morning routine. Your mind is sensitive to a new stimulus after waking up, and revealing information straight away can cause us to become stressed. This stress unnaturally raises your energy levels, which will drop once you finally need to start work. It might be difficult, but try to wait thirty minutes before you take to your smartphone in the morning.Â
2. Drink Plenty of Water
When you wake up, one major cause of discomfort can often come from de-hydration. Your body has to contend with a good eight hours without any new fluids, although staying hydrated is paramount to staying healthy. A lack of hydration can make your mouth dry, your muscles sore, and give you a nasty headache if you are not careful. Many of you will probably avoid drinking water before bed as this causes you to need the toilet at night, disrupting your sleep.
Therefore, make sure that you have a pint of water waiting on your nightstand that you can slowly drink once morning hits. This water will serve to hydrate you properly while also re-invigorating your system after being shut down for so long.
3. Wait For Your Morning Coffee
A key part of your morning routine often involves putting the kettle on and getting some coffee in your system as soon as you are able. After all, coffee contains caffeine which wakes you up. That’s a good thing, right?
Also Read: Kickstart Your Morning With These Healthy Power-Up Breakfast!
While there is no harm in ingesting caffeine first thing in the morning, you may find that you do not get any of the benefits. This is because of the high cortisol levels in our bodies. This cortisol is the chemical in the body that naturally wakes you up. Your body is full of this stuff once you leave an extended period of sleep, and this surplus is so prominent that it blocks other hormone receptors so that the body isn’t overwhelmed.
Therefore, your body will not produce anything new until these levels drop, including anything produced as a result of caffeine consumption. This means that your very first coffee isn’t going to have the desired effects. It is best to wait an hour or so for your cortisol levels to drop and then have a coffee to get the full benefits of that morning boost.
4. Removing Aches
Unfortunately, you have no control of your body when you sleep. You will likely twist and turn in ways that are not normal during the day, and this activity can leave you with aches that persist throughout the day. What’s more, this issue only gets worse as you age.
It is nothing that can’t be fixed with a few good stretches once you are out of bed. Your muscles have been in a state of inactivity for a long time, which means that you need to get the blood flowing toward them again. A few stretches are all it takes for most people to shake off the morning sores. However, anyone with more severe pains can try a specific exercise routine or alternative therapies. Solutions like full-spectrum CBD oil from The Good Level are often used by those with pain management issues or to help control levels of anxiety. This is a good place to go for those seeking to buy CBD oil. It may not take a lot, but removing your morning aches and resting your mind can really put you in good stead for the rest of the day.
Also Read: 50 Things You Should Avoid Saying To Yourself In The Morning
5. Wake-Up On Time
While your morning aches increase as you get older, so too makes your love of sleep. Sometimes, it can feel as like a full eight hours isn’t enough, and repeatedly hitting the snooze button gets more tempting each day. Many of you probably organize your morning routine to give yourself as much time in bed as possible. Your commute is short, and you can always shower when you get home.
Also Read: 40 Good Morning Quotes For a Beautiful Day
However, your body isn’t going to function properly with all of that melatonin still in your system. Remember the cortisol mentioned earlier? That chemical is needed to disperse the melatonin in your body. Melatonin is the sleep hormone, and it can stick around for a while after you wake. Therefore, you will have a more successful morning if you start work with all of this melatonin removed from your body. Melatonin is responsible for that nagging voice that urges you to climb back into bed. That is why you should try to get up with plenty of time to dispel the melatonin from your system.
6. Open The Curtains
Sometimes, the smallest acts can have the biggest effect on our day. It is perfectly normal to shun natural light in the morning, at least until you have fully woken up. But, this natural light can be the biggest ally in your morning routine.
Natural sunshine can halt your body’s production of melatonin, giving you the best chance to shake off your slumber. Furthermore, opening the curtains slowly gives your pupils the chance to prepare for the sudden intake of light. Instead of a sudden jolt, your body can slowly adjust to the morning.
Natural light is fundamental for separating day and night, and our bodies have evolved to know this distinction. Therefore, you will have a better chance of waking up smoothly by throwing those curtains wide first thing.
Conclusion
The sad fact of modern life is that you cannot always sleep on your body’s natural schedule. A full day’s work requires you to get up early and be prepared for the tasks ahead.
Fortunately, you can use the tips above to get the most out of your morning routine. A lot of these changes are minor, so try them out to see if they make a difference. Getting out of bed should never be considered a chore, and you will appreciate the early mornings more with the right routine.
