From the moment you wake up you have begun your day and the way you do it can drastically affect how it will progress and your energy throughout it. Below are a few ways you might unknowingly be starting your day off wrong and how you can improve your morning routine in order to maintain control of both your mental and physical health.
- Using your phone as an alarm
The convenience of doubling up and using your smartphone as an alarm can’t go understated, however, it is not the best way to kick start your day and begin it on a good note. By having your phone next to you at night you are limiting the amount of good sleep you are getting due to the temptation of looking through it before bed because of the blue light it emits.
Similarly, having your phone next to you first thing in the morning makes it incredibly easy to dive right into work before you are even out of bed. While it is important to keep a constant eye on your inbox and to monitor your virtual data room during any major company deals, it might be a better idea to wait until you get into the office.
- Having blackout curtains
Blackout curtains are a very effective way to get a good night’s sleep and avoid being woken up by street lights. However, they may be making you more lethargic than necessary because they are preventing the morning light to stream into your bedroom and wake you up naturally. This can lead to hitting the snooze button a bit more than you should and reaching for an extra cup of coffee throughout the day.
This is especially detrimental during the winter months when there already isn’t enough sunlight to go around. Instead of blacking out your bedroom, trying leaving a sliver of the window exposed so that you are greeted by the morning sun in a comfortable way.
- Not giving yourself enough time
Time is something no one seems to have enough of these days, so if there’s ever an opportunity to give yourself some extra time it’s in the morning. Rather than jumping out of bed and getting right into looking at your emails or hitting that snooze button too many times and only leaving yourself with 20 minutes to make it to work, try to regulate your sleep schedule so that you have more time in the mornings to wake up comfortably.
Give yourself those few extra minutes to prepare a healthy breakfast rather than something on-the-go and maybe even enough time to walk to work instead of driving or taking public transit. The effect this will have on both your mental and physical health over time will be noticeable to you, your friends, and your family.
- Neglecting to plan out your day
The only work you should get into once you begin your day is planning out what the next few hours will look like so that you aren’t overwhelmed with a lack of direction. With your morning cup of tea or coffee, sit down and have a look through everything you need to get done, meetings you are scheduled to be in, or personal tasks you want to accomplish—this will give you an idea of how much time to designate to each item on your schedule and whether or not you should move it to another day rather than trying to jam into your daily to-do list.
Another way to give yourself a smoother morning when it comes to planning out your day is by preparing your schedule the night before and ensuring that all your work is up to date before you leave the office. This could be making sure to clear out your inbox or using a virtual data room provider that allows you to upload and share any necessary data at any time so that the parties involved in your company’s deal are satisfied.
- Not maintaining a pleasant space
The last thing anyone wants to wake up to first thing in the morning is a messy home or office space as it can really affect your mood for the rest of the day. Be sure to tidy up before bed or create some order to a cluttered workspace so that you’re not left overwhelmed and disoriented before your work day has even begun. Having a clean space to wake up and go to bed to can make a world of difference to your productivity and motivation.