How can our morning routine help our productivity?

Our morning can make or break our productivity for the day. From the moment we wake up, the things we do next set our mood and motivation for the rest of the day.

The start of the day is like a blank page. We get to write the story of our day however we want- it is in our power. Picture the moment of waking up as a neutral spot, from there we choose whether we bring our motivation up or down. That neutral spot is our opportunity to create an inertia upwards, ramp up our energy and focus. It would be a waste not to take advantage of this opportunity.

If we slack off first thing in the morning by letting our brain get sucked into anything that numbs it, then we are creating a downward direction for our motivation. This can be hard to come back up from and is usually something that starts our procrastination.

Our morning routines often consist of being sucked in by social media or Netflix.  This prolongs brain fog after sleep and might leave individuals feel drained, absentminded, groggy, lazy, etc. Others rush out their doors as soon as they wake up, which leaves them feeling rushed and stressed for the rest of the day. Starting a day with stress and demotivation can poorly affect our productivity.

 Can you relate to any of these? It is easy to let life happen to us, so it makes it that much better when we put in the effort to make us happen to life instead.

A proper morning routine can help us create positive habits and become increasingly more alert the closer to the end of a routine we get. If we start the morning by clearing our minds after our sleep, we will feel energized, sharp, and ready to go.

A small morning routine can set up your mood for the day, give you energy, motivation and help you be productive.

I usually suggest people stay away from their phones at least 15 minutes after waking up, even better to make it 30 minutes to an hour. Without external stimuli, our brain automatically focuses itself on what is important and pulls us in the direction of completing the work that is the priority for the day.

I also suggest to do at least one productive thing before starting any work. It might be a 15-minute workout, reading a couple of pages of a book, or just making the bed. The idea is that once we’ve done at least one thing, no matter how small, we can already feel good about ourselves for doing something today. This gives us more energy and motivation to do more things (try it, you won’t regret it!)

You’ve got the ball rolling, what now? Don’t drop it, keep going!

Photo by Chewy on Unsplash

Now is the perfect time to follow the built inertia and get some work done.

From my experience, It is much easier to transition from a morning routine to studying because we’ve already ramped up our energy. The principle is that there needs to be a consistent pattern of activities after which we would do the work we need. This way our body and mind get conditioned to starting work after this sequence of events and consequently would switch gears automatically, making it much easier to start studying.

Implementing a work routine, building that inertia, and conditioning ourselves to start work on cue can be hard at first, like implementing any good habits can be. With time however, it will make your life much easier

When we want to make any changes to our habits or ourselves we might be tempted to make 180 degree changes and for some people that works. Nevertheless, if we change by only one degree every day/week/month, even if we change by only one degree during our lifetime, at the end we will end up in a totally different place than we started off.

By Alona Gordeeva

My morning routine:

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Firstly, I try to wake up at a consistent time every day to train my body to work like a clock. This helps me avoid oversleeping and lying in bed for hours, arguing with my brain about why I indeed need to get out of bed.

When I hear the alarm, I roll over and get out of bed, brush my teeth and hair, drink water and change. I then make my bed, make coffee and read one chapter from two books that I selected for continuous growth. Then, even if I was doing all those things like a zombie, by the time I’m finished reading a chapter from the second book I’m fully awake, caffeinated, and ready to switch to doing my studying/work.

I find myself switching my routine every half a year or so, adding or taking away some things depending on what I find enjoyable. Some of the things that I’ve included in my mourning routine include 15-minute workouts, morning runs, dance sessions, gratitude journaling, and 15-minute journaling sessions, where I would write anything that came to mind without filter. This is a good practice to get out all your thoughts that could motivate you or maybe hold you back if unexpressed.

There are many other things out there, so I urge you to find some activities you would enjoy doing in the morning that would help you wake up and be productive. Remember that the things we do first thing in the morning can give or take away our motivation for the day, so morning routines are important. Moreover, we can increase our productivity and chances for success drastically with good habits. It is in our power to ensure we do well in school and work, so when we don’t create structures that help us, it is our choice to go in the opposite direction. 

Hi, I’m Alona! I’m open, compassionate, and love adventures. Welcome to StudyTips, a place where I share knowledge from years of experience, studying, and hard work.

It is possible to do well in school and have fulfilling balanced lives. I learnt it the hard way but hope you won’t have to. Studying more is not always better, the trick is to know how to do it well.

Here you can find tips, concepts, and techniques based on various psychology principles that I wish I knew in my first years of university.

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