3 Research-Backed Ways to Have a Successful Morning Routine

What science tells us about getting the best start to your day.

Our morning routines set us up for the rest of the day. They are instrumental in getting us off to a great start.

I always see a morning routine like a warm-up. Just like when you exercise, it’s always better to have a warm-up to get your heart pumping and muscles ready.

The same goes for your morning routine — it gets you ready for the day ahead.

There is a lot of fluff out there about morning routines — things that aren’t backed up by anything. Instead, I want to share with you three research-backed tips that can help you have the best start to the morning, which can set up the rest of your day.

1. Create a Stress-Free Morning

When you wake up, research shows our cortisol levels which is known as the “stress hormone” is elevated — this is termed the cortisol awakening response.

This is a natural thing that happens. But, we make our day tougher because we often do a load of things in the morning that creates more stress, which increases our cortisol levels even more. And, when cortisol levels are very high for long periods, this can have toxic effects on us.

Most of us will have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Many of us will be up late for work and rush to get ready. Many of us will start to check emails whilst still in bed. The list goes on. The reality is, all this activity simply increases our cortisol levels even more, which is not good.

The natural rise in cortisol in our morning response is good for us and is vital in maintaining our optimal body functioning. But, the things we do in the morning simply increase our cortisol too much which will not set us up great for the rest of the day. Instead, we should be doing everything we can to have a relaxed, calm morning, to help with the natural rise and dip in cortisol levels, setting us up for a much better day.

What to do in a nutshell:

Because the research shows us that caffeine increases cortisol, it might be good to reconsider your morning cup of coffee. The natural rise in cortisol in the morning is fine, but we tend to elevate it a lot by having our coffee.

Instead, try waiting at least two hours before having your first cup. This gives enough time for the rise and natural fall in cortisol to occur.

Also, because we do so many other things in the morning that increase our cortisol, it’s beneficial to stop doing them. This could mean, instead of waking up in a rush, getting changed quickly before running out the door to work (or logging in online from home), wake up a tad earlier so you’re not in a rush. Don’t look at your emails first thing either. This can all help with allowing our body to go through the cortisol cycle, rather than us elevating it even more.

Some of the top entrepreneurs have a very relaxed morning. For example, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have quality family time before they start working.

So, create your stress-free morning to stop the negative effects of elevated cortisol on your body, to help you get on with your day ahead.

2. Make Decisions in The Morning

This one may seem odd but simply put, the research shows us that making decisions in the morning can actually be incredibly beneficial to us.

In this study, researchers studied chess players who have to make a lot of decisions in a short amount of time. They found in the morning, chess players made more accurate decisions compared to later in the day where they made less accurate decisions.

Incorporating decision making in your morning routine may help you make more accurate decisions, getting you off to a good start to the day.

As I said, your morning routine is what sets your day up. So if you can find a way to help you accomplish things in the morning, it can cultivate better habits and performance throughout the rest of the day. And, making accurate decisions is a great thing to accomplish in the morning.

What to do in a nutshell:

It could be worthwhile saving some of your decision making for the morning because you’re more likely to be accurate in your decisions.

A good way to do this is to make a list in the evening of things you need to do the next day.

In the morning, make decisions about that list. It could be when you’re going to do each thing on that list — chances are you’ll be more accurate.

It could also be that you need to make an important decision about a piece of work for your job or your business. If so, it might be worth saving that for the morning too.

This way, you’re creating a good morning routine because it sets you up entirely for your day ahead if you’ve got off to a good, accurate, decision making morning.

3. Make Small Gradual Changes to Your Routine

Part of a successful routine is implementing changes to make your morning routine better and to adapt things if they aren’t going well.

Needless to say, most of us make too many changes too fast. We also try to make massive changes. For example:

You might try to develop a successful morning routine and get a billion and one ideas. It’s easy to think you’re going to make these changes in one go and you’ll have the perfect morning routine. Such as, instead of waking up at 8am, you wake up at 6am. You then try to do a morning exercise routine, followed by some mindfulness, followed by writing or getting on with your business/work goals.

It’s just too much too soon and in too great of a magnitude — if you’re currently waking up at 8am, there’s a very small chance you can drastically change this to waking up at 6am the next day and then carry on with this.

Research shows the small changes are way more effective. A study that looked at changes in diet and physical activity for weight management found small changes were best for increasing physical activity, improving nutrition and preventing weight gain.

So, to have your successful morning routine, changes need to be made of course. But only small, gradual changes.

What to do in a nutshell:

Simply put, make your changes small and gradual. If you’re implementing some of the research-backed tips I’ve put in this post, don’t do them all at once.

For example, as mentioned, research shows cortisol levels are higher in the morning. So, instead of doing everything we can to have a stress free morning, try changing one thing first, then adding new things in. So, start by not having your coffee straight away. After a week of doing this, then add in getting up a tad earlier so you’re not rushing and keep building on this. Each week you could try getting up 15 minutes earlier so you’re not rushing.

The important thing with your successful morning routine is to adapt but gradually so the changes are easier.

Final Comments

Many of us want better morning routines to make a significant impact on our lives. We hear the stories of top people out there about their morning routines and how they get the best start to the day.

Unfortunately, with this comes a lot of fluff. Instead, we can look to the research to see what can actually make our morning routines more successful. So, keep these three strategies in mind when implementing changes to your morning routine:

Create a stress-free morning by not spiking your cortisol levels.

Make decisions in the morning because we can be more accurate.

Make small, gradual changes to your morning routine.