Morning habits help you get more done

Morning habits?help you get more done

The ideal morning routine helps us stay healthy and productive throughout the day. A morning routine has been shown in studies to be beneficial. A daily morning practice that becomes a habit can reduce stress, increase energy, and boost work productivity. Check out these new routines that can transform your morning habits from uninteresting to productive, from drinking water to not hitting the snooze button.

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Having a morning routine can help you manage stress and get ready for a productive day at work, whether it's a quick workout, a stroll around the park, or some time in the sun.

We've all heard that having a morning routine is critical to living a successful life. The best way to start the day will make you feel good and set you up for success throughout the day. There are several actions you can take to develop a morning routine that works for you, from staying away from social media to sipping water and listening to a podcast.

For decades, our elders have lauded the virtues of developing an early morning ritual. There are those who get up at 4:30 a.m. every day and do a workout before the sun rises, and others who enjoy the calm of mornings with a hot cup of coffee and reading.        

However, things have changed, and mornings are becoming difficult. When thoughts of all that you need to get done during the day rush through your head or you're snug under a mound of blankets, it might be far too tempting to push "snooze" on your alarm, especially during the winter, when mornings are colder, darker, and drearier.

A morning ritual has scientifically proven benefits: a previous study has shown that a consistent morning practice can reduce stress, increase energy, and improve work productivity.

I've put together a list of strategies that psychologists [as per their chat with CNBC Make It] offered to help you get started on your own routine if you want to establish a pre-work morning refined routine but don't know where to begin.

Pick an offline ritual and follow it consistently.

According to Denver-based psychologist Debbie Sorensen, turning off electronics in the mornings is the best reboot you can offer your brain. So finding an offline activity, such as reading, writing, or exercise, to do in the morning to disengage from electronics is advised.

Sorensen notes that looking at your phone or computer immediately after waking up primes your brain for distraction and can cause a stress reaction if you see or read something bad.

Find an offline activity that recharges you instead, like reading, journaling, taking a stroll, or going to a fitness class. Sorensen says that if you do something relaxing and offline first thing in the morning, the benefits will last for the rest of the day because you'll feel "more grounded and energized."

She goes on to say that it gives you long-lasting energy to get through the day and manage your stress.

Before the rest of her family wakes up, Sorensen enjoys spending her mornings reading on the couch with one of her children or catching up over a cup of coffee. Before diving into work, she says, "I look forward to this really sweet, calm bit of quality time."

Set a goal for the day.

According to psychologist Jessica Jackson, checking your calendar, emails, or to-do lists first thing in the morning may be doing more harm than good. Instead, meditate and make a one-word or one-sentence goal for the day.

Checking your emails, calendar, or to-do list just after waking up "immediately starts the day off on a stressful note, and instructs your brain to go into panic mode," says Jackson, who is also the clinical strategy manager of mental health equity at Modern Health.

Instead, Jackson advises all of her clients to begin each day with an intention meditation, in which they sit in silence for a few minutes, take a few deep breaths, and select one word or statement to serve as their "north star" for the day.

Jackson says that you might tell yourself, "My purpose for today is to feel successful" or "I want to be comfortable today," and then consider what you can do in the following 24 hours to feel that way. It can also be a single, strong word, like "thankfulness," that will direct how you respond to and consider everything that occurs throughout the day.

According to Jackson, setting an intention each morning before you go to work can help you better connect your actions with your beliefs, stay focused on your priorities, and, most importantly, become enthusiastic about the day ahead of you rather than focus on all the things you have to get done that day.

Enjoy your mornings

Laura Pendergrass, an industrial psychologist, suggests engaging in an enjoyable activity to get your day off to a good start and says that fun is an important but underappreciated component of the wellbeing equation.

To increase endorphins and set a positive tone for your day, Pendergrass advises finding one small thing that will make you smile or laugh as part of your morning routine, whether it's having a 3-minute dance party while getting ready for work or calling one of your funniest friends to say "good morning."

As vital as anything else we do to take care of ourselves, she asserts, having fun is self-care. Pendergrass claims that watching inspiring nature programs for a few minutes in the mornings makes "a significant difference" in her mood.

"We realize the value of recess for kids and incorporate it into their school day," she says. "But we overlook the value of play as adults." It's up to us to design our own enrichment activities so that we may add some joy or creativity to what could otherwise be a dreary day.

Even if you don't like getting up early, you need to make it a habit to focus on your health if you want to stay productive and efficient.

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