All Successful Morning Routines Come Down To These 5 Things
Built healthy habits — not chores.
What are the first things you do when you wake up?
Roll over to get some more sleep?
Check your phone?
Hit snooze?
What you do first thing in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. It governs your energy levels, hormones, even how well you sleep at night.
But, with so much conflicting morning advice out there, it’s hard to know where to start.
The truth is, not all morning advice works for everyone. But all successful morning routines contain these 5 things. Use them to create the mornings (and life) you deserve.
You are as unique are your alarm clock
I love waking up early.
And to be honest, if I could, I’d wake up at 5 AM every day — but I can’t.
Everyone has a preferred sleep schedule. For me, it’s between 7–8 AM. Some people are night hawks. Other, early birds.
The first step to mastering your mornings is by finding a sleep schedule that works for you. Much of what you do in the morning governs your quality of sleep and ability to fall asleep at night.
Your life is written through 24-hour chapters
Any good writer will tell you, a beginning is just as important as an ending.
In the first few minutes of waking up, these 3 things happen:
- A 16-hour timer starts
2. Your brain begins saving its data
3. Your body needs hydration and movement
The first actions you take in the morning set the tone for your day, your tomorrow, and the rest of your life.
Here’s how you can start each day right.
1. Understand this truth of life
Life is about consistency — not intensity.
Waking up at 5 AM, taking a cold shower, and hitting heavy squats may work for some people.
But not most people.
These are all healthy practices — but they’re missing something. Everyone wants to work hard and do well. So, if the answer to success was simply forcing yourself to do more, most people would.
Forcing yourself to do anything is not the answer. Eventually, you’ll burn out, lose desire, and revert back to your base instincts.
The truth is, sleep is built on a foundation of routine – it’s a habit. Although you can catch up on sleep, you can only adjust your schedule by 15 minutes each night.
The only way to achieve a consistent good night’s sleep is by rising and falling at the same time each day/night.
James Clear in the book “Atomic Habits” writes that the key to maintaining healthy habits is to make them easy, obvious, attractive, and satisfying.
Embrace a long-term mindset by embracing these 4 laws of habit formation.
2. When you wake, a timer starts
There are 24 hours in each day — and most people need 8 hours of sleep.
When you wake up, a biological clock starts counting down (known as your circadian rhythm). According to sleep expert Dr. Matthew Walker, approximately 16 hours from the time you awake, you will begin to feel tired.
This is because our bodies want to rise and fall and the same time each day/night — to match the rhythm of the sun.
The sun fuels us. It boosts our serotonin levels, makes us feel happy, and gives us energy. It also tells our brains we’re awake.
In the book “Why We Sleep”, Dr. Matthew Walker explains that interacting with the sun tells our bodies we are awake — even if our brains already know it.
The longer you stay in bed with the lights dim, the harder it will be to fall asleep at night.
You can kick start your circadian rhythm by interacting with the sun:
- Get outside and absorb sunlight on your skin (the best method)
- Look at the sun through a window
- Simulate sun with overhead lighting
3. Emails aren’t healthy brain food
As we sleep, we engage in a process called neuroplasticity.
During deep sleep (REM sleep), all of the information we gathered throughout the day is organized and made ready for use. Sleep is where we do the majority of our learning.
When we wake, our brains begin tying off loose ends – saving and filing away important data. So, when you wake up and immediately pick up your phone, your brain is flooded with new information.
It has no choice but to focus on what’s in front of it — stopping your overnight learning.
Avoid looking at your phone first thing in the morning to let your brain fully absorb your night-learning. I like to toss my phone out of arms-length after checking the time.
Another problem with looking at your phone first thing, is that it raises levels of dopamine and cortisol. These hormones are at their highest when you first wake up. Spiking them even higher makes it harder for your body to maintain healthy levels, lowering your baseline.
If anything, the morning should be a time for expression. Move your body, be present, and if you feel inspired, journal.
4. Express yourself (body and mind)
Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?
During REM sleep, a neurotransmitter called GABA is released, paralyzing our muscles. Sleep paralysis happens when we become conscious during this time.
After a night of sleep, your body has been inactive for hours. Physical movement (just like light), tells your brain that you’re awake — to start your circadian timer.
As soon as you wake up, get up, and start moving.
Gentle movement coupled with deep breathing increases air and blood flow throughout the body, brain, and helps modulate mood. James Nestor, in the book “Breath”, describes proper breathing as being one of the most important habits for increasing longevity.
You don’t have to do anything intense, but get up and move your body.
Your dopamine levels are highest in the morning, so instead of reaching for your morning coffee shake off the cobwebs.
5. Fuel yourself with optimal energy
While sleeping, we lose a surprisingly large amount of water.
This is simply through sweat and breathing. First thing in the morning, we need proper hydration. Reaching for a glass of water is a great idea.
Drinking water does more than just quench thirst.
It helps deliver nutrients to your cells, lubricates joints, and helps monitor mood.
Coffee in the morning might feel like a necessity, but give yourself time to hydrate first. Drinking coffee first thing in the morning lowers your baseline for dopamine and cortisol, just like looking at your phone.
Although water is a great first step, it doesn’t properly replenish the nutrients you lose overnight. Shortly after waking up, I like to replenish with a concoction of water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, raw ginger, and salt. This helps support healthy bacteria and gives my body the proper replenishment it needs.
**Everyone’s body is different, so experiment with a hydration method that works for you. I will link my recipe at the end of this article to help get you started.
Your morning is a routine — not a chore
The key to any habit is to understand why you’re doing it — then make it easy, obvious, attractive, and satisfying.
Much like many of the habits in this article, you’ve probably heard of the book “Atomic Habits”. Even though it’s a cliche at this point, it’s one of the best books I’ve read for creating and maintaining healthy habits.
To summarize, build a morning that works for you, by understanding these 5 key elements:
- Sleep is built on routine – it’s a habit
- When you wake up, absorb sunlight (natural or artificial)
- Avoid your phone first thing to maintain healthy hormone levels
- Get up, stand up, and start moving
5. Drink water before your morning coffee
And as promised, here’s what I drink in the morning. It may not be a perfect fit for you but I hope it helps you discover what is.
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