An often overlooked reason why people are unhappy is because they don’t feel in control over their lives.
We’ve all been there – the negative spiral where you feel like you spend most of the day putting one fire out after another before you slip into bed feeling tired and depleted.
One of the quickest ways to put yourself back in the driver’s seat is to leverage your mornings. Whether it’s taking the time to hydrate your body or carving out five minutes for meditation, structuring your mornings so that you are acting – not reacting – to prepare for the day ahead significantly improves your mood and well-being.
We’ve previously shared morning habits that may change your life for the better.
Today, we will discuss existing habits that are putting you back into a reactionary loop and making you unhappy.
1. Hitting snooze.
While it may be tempting to hit that snooze button – especially after a late night – doing so starts a reactionary loop where you are endlessly responding to the demands of those around you – or your clock, in this case. Instead of hitting snooze repeatedly until you’re stuck playing catch-up for the rest of the day, use Dr. Seiji Nishino’s science-backed method and set two alarms to give yourself a 20-minute window to wake up.
2. Keeping your room dark.
Wakefulness is triggered by the blue light contained in sunlight. In other words, sitting in a dark room and depriving your body of this blue light makes it difficult to wake up. The first thing you should do each morning is to open up the curtains, flood your room with sunlight, and let mother nature do the work. If you don’t have access to a window, invest in an alarm clock with a sunrise function, like this one.
3. Drinking caffeine first thing in the morning.
Did you know? Your body loses up to one liter of water while you sleep. Drinking diuretics like coffee and caffeinated teas first thing in the morning dehydrates your body even further. Swap out your emergency coffee for a tall glass of water to rehydrate and jump-start your digestive system. Wait at least 90 minutes after you drink your water to indulge in coffee or other caffeinated drinks.
4. Watching TV or scrolling through social media.
What television and social media have in common is that they display content that you don’t get to choose, triggering yet another reactionary loop of responding to material served up by others. Take control over the information that you consume. Instead of mindlessly scrolling on Instagram, use this time to engage in content of your choosing, like your favorite magazine publication or industry-specific news.
5. Making too many decisions.
Mornings are prime time for free thinking. Instead of filling up this precious time slot with mundane decision-making like deciding what to wear, complete these tasks the night before and carve out some white space in the morning for movement and meditation. As we’ve discussed before, humans have a finite amount of decisions that they can make before reaching decision fatigue. Save your AM bandwidth for meaningful decisions like how to approach an upcoming project, not what color shirt to wear.
6. Neglecting your long-term goals.
Ever notice how you can achieve razor-sharp focus when there is an encroaching deadline? Mornings are prime time for achieving your long-term goals not only because your brain tends to be more alert, but because there is usually a built-in deadline like the time you need to head out the door. Suddenly, less urgent tasks like goal-setting or exercising seem more urgent because there is a set time limit. Reclaim control over your long-term goals by carving out some time in the morning to complete one small task to invest in your future self.