How you spend the first few hours after you wake up can set the tone for the rest of the day. Some of the world’s most creative or inspiring people rely on their morning routines to ensure their days are as productive and fruitful as possible. If you resist the urge to rise at the first alarm and choose to hit snooze, you might benefit from some of our morning habits listed below. You may be surprised at how it can improve your mood and help keep you motivated.

Clear Your Mind

As soon as you wake up, it’s natural for your mind to switch to the tasks for the day. However, it’s essential to give yourself the time to ease into the day; meditation is the perfect way to do this and is proven to boost self-awareness and the ability to concentrate. Plenty of successful people incorporate meditation into their morning routine.

Meditation relies heavily on creating a relaxed environment. To be relaxed, you need to be comfortable, and nothing says comfort like dressing appropriately. Sports companies such as Adidas & Nike offer a great range of comfortable sports clothing perfect for your morning meditation sessions. You can even get hefty discounts using websites such as Nike Discount Codes which offer up to 40% off.

Exercise

Exercising first thing in the morning has been proven to give you more energy and greater productivity throughout the day. For anyone that isn’t used to early morning exercises, it’s an odd concept to get your head around. How can exercising give you more energy? Naturally, you would think it would make you more tired.

Without getting too into the science, exercise releases chemicals in your brain that promote mental clarity and an improved attention span. Others describe it as feeling a sense of accomplishment that inspires you to do more throughout the course of the day.

Incorporating some form of movement into your morning routine will reap some benefits for you. You don’t have to break records or run marathons, something as simple as a 30-minute walk or 45 minutes lifting weights is enough to get your brain working. If you need more inspiration on how to workout we have some easy training ideas.

Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is the process of focusing on what’s good in your life and being thankful for the things you have. It’s taking a moment to pause and acknowledge the things we often take for granted, it could be as simple as having a place to live, food to eat or access to clean water.

You can practice gratitude in a number of ways. Saying it out loud, writing it in a journal or sharing your gratitude with others are all great ways to practice.

Drink A Glass Of Water

It might sound simple but drinking water is so important. Adding a glass of water to your morning routine can make a huge difference. Staying hydrated is a crucial part of being healthy and being healthy is what keeps you motivated and productive. Overnight our bodies become dehydrated. You spend around 8 hours without taking on any fluids, combined with the natural movement of being asleep whilst internally your body is repairing and recovering.

A morning glass of water has been shown to rejuvenate your skin, improve mental performance as well as jumpstart your metabolism. In addition to this, it is recommended you drink 2 litres of water each day. It’s very easy to forget this especially if you are not prepared. We recommend always carrying a bottle of water with you if practical.

Keep A Journal

Journaling is the process of writing down your thoughts and feelings to understand them more closely. It doesn’t have to include any real structure and can be a simple off-the-cuff ‘brain-dump’ of what is on your mind.

There isn’t really a right or wrong way to journal, just grab a pen and let your mind control what you write. There have been studies conducted that say just 20 minutes of journaling each day reduces stress & anxiety, improves job performance and helps process your thoughts.

There is a reason why people such as Warren Buffet and Richard Branson swear by this practice.

Eat A Nutritious Breakfast

Often dubbed as the most important meal of the day, having breakfast is so important, but you should pay attention to what you eat for breakfast. Obviously having a fry-up every day isn’t going to be considered an excellent way to kickstart the morning. There isn’t as much evidence to back up the importance of a good breakfast over a glass of water but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be overlooked.

What makes up a nutritious breakfast? You can’t go too far wrong with some fruit and yoghurt or wholemeal toast with eggs. Try to steer clear of sugary cereals that will cause a spike in energy levels as well as a crash and feeling of tiredness hours later. The aim of a good breakfast is to give your body long-lasting slow-release energy that will help it feel motivated throughout the day. If you are struggling to find some inspiration for breakfast take a look at some lean dishes for weight loss.

Short on time? Consider a quick smoothie with low-fat or oat milk and add in some oats for added energy.

This list won’t suit everyone but it is undoubtedly worth implementing some of these consistent morning habits to help keep you motivated. If you need a bit of extra motivation then treat yourself to some new trainers or a new outfit.