10 morning rituals for a productive start to the day

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

On average, a person wakes up 25,000 times in a lifetime. Use these opportunities correctly.

Every morning is a clean slate. This is an opportunity to change one day for the better. And from such days our life is formed. If you want to achieve your goals, ask yourself the question: what do you do after waking up and how do you feel?

1. Don't reset the alarm

We are used to hating the sounds of the alarm clock, so we press the reset button or pause it: we feel good, we don't want to get out of a warm bed at all. Although, after 10 extra minutes of sleep, we feel worse.

Evolution is a slow process, and humanity as a species is not yet accustomed to waking up from artificially created noise. So we just ignore it.

When we wake up, our bodies start producing dopamine, a chemical that suppresses feelings of sleepiness. Its effect is comparable to drinking a cup of coffee or an energy drink. When we sleep, serotonin, the hormone of pleasure, is produced.

After resetting the alarm, two hormones with the opposite effect begin to be produced at the same time. Due to such a load on the body, we wake up disoriented and inhibited.

2. Consider more than just the reward

We use rewards to motivate ourselves to do certain things, like waking up early in the morning and going to the shower. But, as Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, argues, an award alone is not enough to establish a habit.

It is necessary to identify the signal that leads to the undesirable behavior and replace it. For example, instead of hitting the end button on the alarm and falling asleep again, you can reward yourself with a cup of aromatic coffee. The smell of coffee in the room can serve as a signal for this action. If you live with someone, ask them to brew a drink every time you wake up.

3. Follow the right strategy

The average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep, but some get enough sleep in 6 hours, while others need less than 10. To cheer up, one person needs a shower, while another needs a cup of coffee. Determine which category of people you belong to, and it will be easier for you to form your own strategy and understand what advice to follow.

Gretchen Rubin, in Better Than Before, writes that all people can be divided into four groups depending on how they are motivated by the reward:

• Followers of rules and regulations:they always follow the rules - both external (established by their superiors) and internal (which they come up with for themselves).
• Bound by promises:work well only under the pressure of authority and when they feel justified obligations to other people.
• Seekers of common sense in everything:for each business they need internal motivation, some sense for themselves, if they find it, they do the job.
• Rebels: any task makes them want to do the opposite.

4. Wake up to natural light

In one experiment, a group of adults suffering from insomnia were sent on a camping trip for a week. For several days without artificial lighting, the participants in the experiment not only began to fall asleep faster, but also got up easily in the morning. Sleep inertia has almost completely disappeared.

Study organizer Kenneth Wright came to the following conclusion: in order to sleep soundly at night and wake up easily early in the morning, you need to get up after the sun.

It is quite possible to do this in a city environment: sleep in a room with a window, or better place the bed closer to the window in order to receive the maximum amount of light in the morning.

5. Meditate

Meditation is good for everyone. At the same time, it should proceed in its own way for everyone. There are dozens of its varieties - conscious, transcendental, yogic. But no specialist can say for sure which one is right for you.

But the benefits of meditation are quite obvious: the level of anxiety decreases, labor productivity increases, and memory improves.

For example, using MRI, scientists have found a decrease in the activity of beta waves in the brain after a 20-minute meditation session. This means that during meditation, the brain stops processing distracting information, so we calm down.

If you're unsure where to start, try one of the quick techniques or use the Headspace app.

6. Minimize decision making

We are all prone to decision fatigue. This process takes away our strength, so in the future it becomes more difficult for us to make a choice.

As you can see, I only wear gray and blue suits. This way I try to make fewer decisions. I do not want to waste energy and think about what I will eat or what to wear. Because I have too many other things to do. Barack Obama

To simplify the process, Obama uses special notes, which are divided into three piles on his desk: “agree,” “disagree,” and “let's discuss.” This method significantly speeds up the feedback cycle, which means that things are completed faster.

To be more productive in your morning, consider what decisions you can make automatically every day. Here are some simple steps to help you: choose an outfit before bed, eat the same for breakfast, get up early to avoid traffic jams.

7. Eat the frog

Psychologist Brian Tracy in his book Eat the Frog! 21 ways to learn to do well”writes that each of us has our own frog - the biggest and most important task over which we procrastinate.

If you eat a frog in the morning, the rest of the day promises to be wonderful, since the worst for today is over. Mark Twain writer

Therefore, the first thing in the morning is to eat your largest frog, even if you don't feel like it at all. Our reserves of will are limited, so we need to start the day with an important task while we still have strength.

In addition, the level of creativity is higher in the morning. This is confirmed by research: after waking up, people experience increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for creativity.

8. Do one big thing

Psychologist Kevin Kruse, while studying the habits of millionaires, Olympic champions and entrepreneurs, found that none of them mentioned a to-do list.

There are several disadvantages to keeping a to-do list:

• Time is not included. When a person sees a long to-do list in front of him, he starts tasks that will take less time. Therefore, tasks requiring consistent, long-term execution remain unfinished (about 41% of tasks from the entire list, according to iDoneThis).
• There is no distinction between urgent and important matters. Again, on impulse, we rush to the urgent and ignore the important.
• Stress levels increase. The to-do list provokes the Zeigarnik effect, known in psychology: because of unfinished tasks, annoying uncontrollable thoughts appear in the head. Therefore, we feel tired all day, and at night we have difficulty falling asleep.

Instead of a list of tasks, choose only one task that you have to finish today. After completing it, you will feel satisfied and can easily deal with the remaining less significant tasks.

9. Get ready in the evening

How well you sleep will depend on how you feel during waking up and throughout the day.

Numerous studies show that electronic devices can disrupt sleep cycles. If you regularly experience problems, try turning off all devices 2-3 hours before bedtime (this also applies to e-books).

The cold glow of the screens makes it difficult to produce melatonin, the hormone that coordinates our internal clocks.

In the evening, you need to not only get enough sleep, but also decide how to spend tomorrow.

Greg McKeown, author of ESSENCIALISM. The Path to Simplicity,”recommends that before planning the next day, first write in a diary how your day went. If you don't figure out what you did right and what was wrong today, you won't be able to make a productive plan of action for tomorrow.

How do you plan things? We already mentioned that successful people rarely use to-do lists. Nevertheless, Cruz noticed that almost all of them use the calendar.

The method of scheduling tasks in the calendar is devoid of all the shortcomings of the to-do list that we talked about earlier:

• you can manage your time;
• you can plan the most important things for the beginning of the day, when you still have reserves of willpower;
• you avoid overstrain as you can include scheduled breaks in your calendar.

10. Take a shower to wake up

Misogi, or the awakening soul, is a ritual practiced by the Japanese samurai. Every morning they poured a bucket of cold water over their heads.

The domestic analogue of misogi is a contrast shower, when we alternate streams of hot and cold water.

Studies show that this type of hydrotherapy has a positive effect on health: it reduces stress, strengthens the immune system, the body begins to burn fat better and fights depression more effectively.

If you decide to experience a contrast shower for yourself, stick to this order:

1. First shower at normal temperature. Then turn the tap handle so that the water turns icy. Stand in a cold shower for 30 seconds.
2. Now turn on the tap to make the water very hot. Under such a shower capillaries open, blood circulation improves. Stand under it for 30 seconds.
3. And again switch to cold water, under which stand for another 30 seconds.

It seems that everything is very simple, but at first you can experience a real shock.

Every morning Benjamin Franklin asked himself the question, "What good can I do today?" Before getting to work, you must recuperate and prepare for the new day. This is the only way you can do something significant.

Everyone will have their own perfect start to the morning. Someone likes to listen to music in the morning, someone to read and check the schedule. Create the perfect routine for yourself. We hope our recommendations will help you with this.