Health | Morning Routine
What You Should Be Doing First Thing In The Morning
The first 3 minutes of your day are make-or-break
What are the first few things you do in the morning? Pull the covers over your head? Pick up your phone? Beg your alarm clock for 5 more minutes?
Believe it or not, there is a right and wrong way to wake up.
Without a morning routine, it’s easy to fall prey to our impulses. The first 3 minutes of waking up set the tone for the day ahead. Mentally, emotionally, and energetically.
Here’s how to wake up on the right side of the bed, every day of your life.
What’s so important about waking up?
The story of your life is written each day through 24-hour chapters. Your morning and evening routines book-end the amazing progress you make throughout the day.
In the first few minutes of waking up, 3 things happen:
- You are dehydrated.
2. The clock starts on your circadian rhythm.
3. Your brain begins tying up loose ends from its overnight learning.
The first actions you take in the morning set the tone for today, tomorrow, and the rest of your life. So take control by starting each day off right. It only takes a few minutes.
Life is about consistency — not intensity
What’s the last piece of morning advice you received? Wake up at 5 AM, take a cold shower, and get after it?
Although these are great practices, in theory, they’re missing something. Waking up feels great but it’s useless without a good night’s sleep. And cold showers produce amazing results… as long as you keep taking them.
The world is full of well-intending, hardworking people. If simply forcing yourself to get more done was the answer, the world would be full of success stories.
Pushing yourself into a productive morning routine is not the answer. As James Clear says in his book “Atomic Habits”, the key to long term success is making whatever you’re doing easy, attractive, and obvious.
What you should be doing first thing in the morning
The second you open your eyes, a new chapter begins. So, paint yourself in the best possible light with these 4 simple habits.
1. Start your biological clock:
Once your alarm clock sounds, it’s time to set another. Your biological clock. We all operate on a 24-hour clock known as our circadian rhythm. We are programmed to rise and fall each day/night based on the schedule of the sun.
Like many organisms, sunlight fuels us. It boosts our serotonin levels, makes us feel happy, and gives us energy. It also tells our brains that we are awake. When we interact with sunlight (either through our eyes or skin), a biological timer is set for roughly 16 hours. When the timer runs out, our bodies are ready for bed.
Although natural sunlight is best, artificial overhead lighting has a similar effect. Sleep expert, Dr. Matt Walker says that getting outside and absorbing sunlight is best, but artificial overhead lighting is a close second. Your instinct may be to keep the lights dim, but this pushes your biological clock back, making it harder to fall asleep at night.
To summarize: Start your circadian timer by exposing yourself to sunlight or artificial overhead lighting first thing.
2. Avoid looking at your phone:
As we sleep, we engage in a process called neuroplasticity. During deep sleep (known as 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. When you pull out your phone, your brain is overwhelmed with new information, taking attention away from its overnight learning.
Avoid looking at your phone until your brain has had time to save its progress. If anything, the morning should be a time for expression. Many people love to journal in the morning for this reason.
In addition, hormones (such as dopamine and cortisol) are at their highest levels first thing in the morning. Looking at your smartphone spikes these hormones unnecessarily. Spiking any hormone above your natural levels creates dependency and an inevitable crash.
**Personally, I try to stay away from my phone for the first hour of waking up. At the very least give yourself a few minutes to digest your sleep learning.
To summarize: Retain sleep learning and maintain a healthy hormonal balance by avoiding smartphone use first thing.
3. Move your body:
During deep sleep, a neurotransmitter called GABA is released, paralyzing our muscles. After night-rest, your physical body has been inactive for a long period of time. Physical movement, just like light, tells your brain that you are awake and starts your circadian timer. So, get up first thing and move your body.
In addition to waking up your body, movement increases airflow to your brain and stretches out your lungs. Air, is our most vital commodity, and lung health is linked to overall mortality.
James Nestor, in his book “Breath”, cites numerous studies linking lifespan to lung capacity. The human body operates on a move-it-or-lose-it system, and your lungs are no exception.
Gentle movement coupled with deep breathing increases air and blood flow throughout the body, brain, and helps modulate mood. Being that our dopamine levels are the highest in the morning, we are our most motivated. Coffee is not required first-thing. Instead, engage in gentle movement. The five “Tibetan Rites” are a series of yogic stretches, used to open up the lungs. Some call the routine the fountain of youth.
To summarize: Get up and move first thing to start your circadian timer, stretch out your lungs, and get your blood flowing.
4. Hydrate and replenish:
As we sleep, 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.
To summarize: Hydrate upon waking up. Push your first coffee back as far as your schedule permits. For me, it’s around 2 hours.
It’s a routine — not a chore (to summarize)
The key to sticking to any habit is to make it easy, attractive, and obvious. Instead of pushing yourself into a routine, use the 4 simple habits above as supportive pillars.
The moment your alarm clock sounds:
- Stand up
2. Turn the lights on
3. Put your phone out of arms reach
4. Move your body
5. Breathe
6. Drink some water
Let your routine snowball. Once you’ve mastered the first few minutes of your day, extend it. Move a little more, leave your phone alone for a little longer, and engage in activities that will tune your body for a great day.
As promised, here is my morning hydrating elixer. It may not be a perfect fit for you but I hope it helps you discover what is:
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