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Our habits can shape our day more than we might think. If you spend a period of your morning in bed, scrolling through your social media feeds, it’s not going to be the most productive or relaxing way to begin your day. If anything, it’s like throwing time down a deep, dark pit, and often getting little more back in return than frustration. If you have a habit of picking up your phone or turning on your laptop first thing in the morning, then there are many better habits you can use it for, such as the following.
Set Up A Curated News Feed
A lot of people make the excuse that they check their feeds to make sure that they’re keeping up with the events of the world. This might be true, but social media algorithms are also designed to distract you and to show you things that get you spending more time on those platforms, even if they’re not to your benefit. Instead, you might want to set up your own news feed, choosing a few trusted outlets, newsletters, or RSS feeds and collating them so that you have your morning digest. This can make sure that you’re not just doomscrooling or dipping into sensational headlines, but actively choosing the type of news you want to start your day with.
Take The Time To Set Your Goals
Actively planning out your goals is one of the most effective ways to set yourself up with the motivation that can serve as fuel for the day ahead. Start the day with intentionality, using a notes app to take down five or six (or more) goals that you want to hit for the day. Try to keep those goals as SMART as possible, meaning they should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This allows you to hit the ground running when you get into the workplace, and to schedule out your time that treats your goals as a priority, while allowing some flexibility for you to adapt to the events of the day without getting dragged entirely off-track.
Wake Your Brain Up With Some Word Games
Word puzzles are great for offering mental engagement without totally overloading you. Taking your time with a crossword alongside your coffee can help you improve your focus and your ability to mentally probe into concepts and thoughts while keeping things calm. Leaders need to be able to speak with meaning and clarity, and the memory, vocabulary, and pattern recognition benefits of a good crossword can help you do that. Think of it as a good warm-up for the mind while keeping things on a relatively slow pace. You don’t need to be thinking at your fastest before you get into work, but you can shift your mindset from a passive one to a more active one.
Enjoy A Podcast And Walk (Or A Run)
Waking up your body is just as important as waking up your brain. Getting the blood pumping and your energy levels rising can help you be much more effective throughout the day, and a little morning exercise can be just the right thing for that. Having a morning walk or run, even for 30 minutes, can make a huge difference for the rest of the day. It can be a lot easier with the help of the right podcast, as well, be it one that delves into interesting topics in fields like science and history, or a business and leadership podcast that helps you transition your mindset into one ready to engage with the world of work.
Set Your Emotional Baseline With A Meditation App
Some people wake up with a little more stress and distraction on their minds. If thinking about the day ahead is overwhelming, rather than clarifying, then you might want to try out a meditation app for a short, guided session in the morning, instead. Rather than immediately having to deal with all of the external noise of the world, a good meditation session can help you check in with yourself. Grounding yourself can help lower the impact of stress hormones on your body and help you emotionally regulate better for the rest of the day. By being more aware of your mind and body’s condition earlier, it’s easier to maintain that calm and focus during the day, or to notice when it’s at risk from distraction or stress.
Begin A Daily Journal
If you begin the day with a lot of unfiltered thoughts, especially those that can make it difficult to really set an agenda and goals for the day ahead, then you might want to start with a little morning journaling habit. Writing freely about your emotions, concerns, and ideas can be an effective and safe way to process them. You can write down things before you forget them that might prove valuable later, or get a little space from worries that have been building in your mind so that they don’t loom quite as heavily on the day. This is even better when paired with a similar journaling habit at night.
Add One Little Act Of Creation Or Growth
Your mornings don’t have to be all about practicality or achievement. Getting into the right headspace is enough. However, little acts of creation or growth can help that mindset. By reading a few pages of your book, doing a short stretch routine, or learning a language, you can engage your brain and shift into a growth mindset that carries you forward for the rest of the day. Don’t focus on perfecting or succeeding at anything, just in making progress towards long-term goals bit by bit to give you the momentum to keep going as the day plays out.
The right habits can shape your entire day more than you might think. With the tips above, you can make sure that you’re using those quiet moments in the morning to your real benefit, rather than letting your feeds cloud your thoughts and affect your mood.
