An effective morning ritual can help start your day on a high, feeling super charged and energized. The right habits could set you up for a productive day and infuse your morning with positivity and confidence. In fact, your morning ritual could determine how your day unfolds, or more accurately, your outlook on the events that await you.
So, here are 4 habits that can gear you up for a winning day.
1. Prepare the night before
Yes, your morning starts the night before. A few simple nighttime practices could get you all set for a power-packed morning.
- Minimize your morning chores by planning ahead. For instance, prepare your clothes and pre-plan breakfast before you go to bed.
- Set goals for the day during the previous evening. Fumbling through the morning without a clear plan will only make it unproductive and stressful.
- Create a winding down routine to help you get high-quality, restful sleep. It’s essential to wake up feeling refreshed.
- Keep your drapes open before you go to bed so the morning sunshine can hit you as you awake. It’s an excellent way to elevate alertness the first thing you wake up and jump-start the day without hitting that snooze button.
All these could minimize the morning stress and make things easier, relaxing, and worry-free. It could also help remove any emotional barriers preventing you from looking forward to a new day.
2. Avoid the phone.
An overwhelming 71% of Americans keep their mobile phones in their bed or on the nightstand while they sleep. And for many of them, checking emails and social media has become the first thing they do in the morning.
But this could put a damper on your morning routine for several reasons. First, it could become a serious distraction that eats into productive morning time. Plus, exposure to negative news the first thing you wake up could add a stressful, gloomy, or pessimistic start to your day.
So, keep your phone switched off at night when possible. And if that’s not an option for you, keep it away from your bed on the other side of the room. And avoid picking it up until at least one hour into the morning.
3. Create anticipation.
Adding an element of positive anticipation to your morning routine could make waking up more enjoyable and exciting. It could be something as simple as your favorite breakfast or a morning yoga workout.
It could boost your mood, get you excited and make you look forward to waking up in the morning. But don’t forget to include a few healthy habits, too, like drinking a glass of water and some light stretching as soon as you wake up.
4. Feed some positivity.
The brain generates beta waves when you are fully awake and alert. But as soon as you wake up, it’s running on alpha for a good 15 to 20 minutes. The alpha stage is a highly perceptive phase where information is absorbed much faster. This is the best time to feed positive and productive thoughts into your subconscious mind.
So, instead of going through social media or checking your emails, use this time on positive morning affirmations and gratitude. You can also practice visualization techniques or even listen to a motivational podcast.
Creating a winning day demands some preparation. But with the help of just a few simple steps, you can create a power-packed morning ritual for a stress-free, energized, and productive day.
