Fuel Running Logo

14 Tips For Starting Your Morning Off Right


By Jeremy Chin
Posted on 08 Jan, 2019


14 Tips For Starting Your Morning Off Right

A stressful morning can make your whole day unpleasant, so it is important that we set up our mornings right. Here are some surefire ways to start the day on your own terms, and to move through it mindfully, calmly and joyfully.

1. Get Proper Sleep

Nothing can wreck your day like a bad night’s sleep. Find a sleep schedule that works for you and practice it religiously.

EyelidMaintain a wind-down routine. Don’t watch TV right before bedtime - the images from your TV set continue to flash in your head even after you’ve switched it off. Keep a notebook on your nightstand to siphon out the things on your mind. Or else they’ll orbit in your head all night.

If you can maintain a regular pattern, you can start relying on your biological clock instead of your alarm clock. And if your schedule permits, wake up naturally with the light of the rising sun. Leave your window shades half open so that sunlight can flow into your room.

 

2. Wake Up Earlier

Studies have shown that early risers are happier than night owls. Those who are up and about before the rest of the world tend to feel they have accomplished a lot by sunrise, and they ride this high into the next half of the day.

Waking up early also lets you set up your day, rather than have the day run you.

3. Get Conversational

To spice up your morning, try striking up a conversation with a stranger on your commute to work, or with the people in line around you at the coffee shop.

4. View Your Alarm Clock As A Race Gun

Nothing adds more tiredness to your body than the jar of your alarm clock in the morning. But a minor change in perspective can help you start your day with energy instead of lethargy.

Every day brims with opportunities and your alarm clock should be treated as your green light to seize the amazing day ahead of you. One great way to ease yourself into this mindset is to set tomorrow’s goals the night before. This way, you wake with purpose.

5. Eat A Healthy Breakfast

There are some common mistakes that we make with breakfast; we either forgo it, settle for a cup of coffee or it is comprised of artery cloggers like fried eggs, sausages, bacon and hash browns. In the morning, your body would not have had food for almost 12 hours. It needs the best fuel you can give it. Give yourself the best start and have a breakfast that is healthful, nutritious and clean.

6. Know How Long You Really Take

Time how long it takes you to get ready each day. And then add a buffer for those wildcard moments; coffee spills, missing keys, Rudolph pimples.

7. Keep Your Environment Positive

Our day takes on the shade of our mood, so don’t allow your day to start with negative thoughts.

Download inspirational quotes or motivational TED talks, and have them play in the background as you’re getting ready for work.

And instead of kicking off with the bleak hopelessness that often comes with the morning news, get yourself a book of daily motivational quotes and read one each morning. Keep those words close to you, and throughout the day, look for opportunities to turns those words into your reality.

8. Schedule The Important Things Early In The Day

Plan your day so that your important meetings and tasks happen early in the day. Not only are you sharpest and most energetic in the morning, but by clocking some early wins you are likely to carry the momentum through to the second half of the day.

9. Routinize Your Morning

For a truly relaxing morning, reduce the number of choices and decisions you have to make. Make your decisions the night before; what to wear and what to have for breakfast. Let everything else run on auto pilot; morning stretches, meditation, shower, breakfast, your commute to work.

10. Exercise In The Morning

It is important to get your blood flowing through your body for that early dose of oxygen. So move. This can range from simple stretches, to a run, to a full yoga routine.

It has been shown that people who work out in the morning are more likely to stick with their exercise regimen than people who exercise in the evening – in the morning, excuses don’t have as much time to plot against you.

11. Avoid Checking Texts And Emails First Thing When You Wake Up

Not only does this come in the way of your morning preparations, but it also puts other people’s priorities before your own.

12. Set The Tone With The Right Music

Not every day is the same. There are days when we need to be upbeat, and other days when we need to calm down.

Music can invigorate, soothe or inspire. Put together a playlist for every occasion and go with what meets your day’s requirements.

13.Prepare The Night Before

Decide ahead of time what you are going to wear. Pack the things you need to bring to work the next day, rather than scramble to recruit them the following morning. Keep essential items like your house keys, phone and wallet in the same place each day, on your nightstand or on the dining. Wake up feeling relaxed and in control.

14. Make Time For Meditation

Ahhhh, who has time for that. Funnily, it is when you have no time for meditation that you need it the most.

Meditation stills the mind, gives you renewed focus, and equips you to tackle the day in a clear and concise way.


Photo Credits

Some Other Things You May Like

back to top