8 Morning Habits Everyone Should Be Doing

Even if you aren’t a morning person, you still have a morning routine. It could be as simple as a cup of coffee or a hot shower when you wake up or as complicated as an hour-long workout followed by a specific breakfast. Regardless, some habits are more conducive to feeling good for the rest of the day than others, and these eight will go a long way toward making you a morning person.

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Drink a Glass of Water

Most people do not drink enough water. While how much water you need to consume varies by person, it’s still a good idea to kick off the day with some hydration. Drinking water first thing in the a.m. helps ward off any dehydration from overnight and improves brain fog. Fill an insulated water bottle before you go to bed and keep it on your nightstand to have chilled water ready as soon as you wake up. Also, consider buying a daily intake water bottle with time stamps to keep you on track throughout the day.

Skip the Snooze Button

As tempting as it can be to get a few more minutes of sleep, there’s something to be said for waking up as soon as your alarm goes off. That’s easier said than done for many of us, but hitting the snooze button once can easily turn into hitting it two or three times, giving you less time to start your morning routine without actually helping you feel more rested. Waking up and falling back asleep every five or 10 minutes isn’t exactly restful, and having to rush through the shower, breakfast, and everything else you do before starting your day. (Pro Tip: Really want to up your wake-up game? Invest in a sunrise alarm clock to really kick start your day.)

Exercise for 30 Minutes

Kick-start your day with a workout. Studies have shown that working out in the morning promotes healthy eating, sustains energy throughout the day, boosts mood, improves focus, and supports better sleeping habits. If going to the gym isn’t your thing, you don’t need much to work out at home. Consider buying a yoga mat and some dumbbells or resistance bands to get started. And don’t forget a good pair of sneakers — they make all the difference!

Eat the Right Breakfast

It may seem easy to cut breakfast out of your routine — especially if you’re in a hurry — but don’t. Eating breakfast helps boost metabolism, controls blood sugar, provides fuel for the day, and prevents hanger, among other benefits. If you’re constantly running out the door, try making overnight oats in mason jars that you can grab on the go. If you have more time, smoothies are a great way to get nutrients. Some blenders even come with cups that you can make your smoothie in for easy transportation.

Start a Dream Journal

While it may be all but impossible to understand the exact meaning of a dream, it’s possible to track patterns over time. Unless you’re keeping a dream journal, you’ll probably forget most details that could shed light on what’s happening in your unconscious mind. Sleep experts recommend starting a dream journal, both as a way of centering yourself in the morning and coming to a better understanding of what’s truly going on up there.

Eat the Frog

According to a famous quote attributed to (but probably not actually spoken by) Mark Twain, “If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long.” 

To put it in more straightforward (and less gross) terms, get your most challenging task out of the way as early as possible so that it doesn’t hang over your head all day and you know that you accomplished something. What that task is is up to you — if you work from home and are prone to being sedentary, maybe it simply means working out shortly after waking up rather than waiting until the evening. The important thing is to start your day with a feeling of accomplishment rather than procrastinating for as long as possible

Play a Brain Game

The morning is, in many ways, a time of transition — from sleep to wakefulness, from yesterday to today. How you make that transition sets the tone for the rest of the day, and for some, that effort is hampered by the usual brain fog that comes from still feeling half-asleep. A great way to clear that fog is with a brain game: sudoku, Wordle, a crossword, or anything else mentally stimulating to get the gears turning and help you wake up.

Meditate

If you’ve never meditated before, it can sound like a strange practice. But meditation is popular worldwide for a reason, and first thing in the morning is an especially good time. If caffeine doesn’t affect you much and you’d like to be more alert and energized when you wake up, try a quick meditation and see how much better you feel—you might be pleasantly surprised by the results.

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