Last Updated on June 17, 2016 by Michael Brockbank
A lot of people don’t put much thought into how important the morning is for the day’s activities. For instance, the rest of my day seems pretty rotten if I wake up in a bad mood. There are a lot of things that will contribute to how your day will unfold all based within the first hour or two after you wake up. These things can affect everything from physical energy to mental acuity. It’s important that you start the day right if you want to get the most out of it.
4 Things That Can Affect Your Morning
For the most part, it’s the more obvious points of the morning that can dictate how the day will go. Although these are quite common place, you might be amazed by how many people simply forget or don’t care to put effort into waking up right. I know my wife doesn’t, and she usually feels like crap by lunch. It’s not that I’m a morning person, although I am, it’s that I know how to get things started off on the right foot.
1. Food
How you eat will play a dominant role in how the rest of the day goes. Most of us have heard the saying, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” This is more true than you probably realize. Getting the right amount of nutrients first thing can help you process information better while giving you a new sense of energy. A lot of people will have greater focus if they eat more proteins in the morning, such as frying up an egg.
2. Exercise
Many people will kick start the day with a healthy exercise. This is to help the blood get flowing to both muscles and brain. The more blood and oxygen that moves about, the more alert you become. In an ideal world, I try to go for a 20 to 30 minute bike ride first thing in the morning. Just make sure you eat accordingly. Exerting yourself on an empty stomach could cause a few problems, such as shaking in my experience.
3. Hot Shower
Nothing beats a hot shower, at least for me. Not because I relish in the warmth, but because I feel as though I gain energy and focus from it first thing in the morning. Studies show that high temperatures get the blood flowing. Essentially, I’m using the shower in much the same way that people use a sauna. It’s all about increasing circulation and feeling refreshed.
4. Sleep
Obviously the way you sleep will affect the day as a whole. You’re not a superhero if you only sleep for four hours per night. It just means that your brain isn’t running on all cylinders. The human body needs to sleep or it will start shutting down. Stress, organ function, rational thought and even the sex drive can be directly related to sleep deprivation.
Sometimes the Most Obvious is the Most Effective
This short list of things I wrote are some of the more obvious practices for many people first thing in the morning. However, they are some of the most effective ways to alter your physical and mental states to start the day. The thing is, not everyone practices these in a healthy manner. While it’s difficult to screw up a shower, you may be suffering from the other points. Here are a few ideas that I’ve found to be effective for getting the day started right:
- Sleep longer than seven hours
- Eat a proper breakfast with proteins and vitamins
- Get the body moving by going for a quick walk around the block as soon as you wake up
- If you don’t have the time to invest in fitness, go to bed earlier and make the time
One of the biggest problems many people have is not scheduling their time better. When you open yourself to a more fit lifestyle, it’s more than your body that will be reshaped. Everything from your personal life to your career will be affected. This is done by increasing energy levels and sharpening your mind through healthy practices. Make a few changes in your morning over the course of a few weeks and see how good you feel. It may be more monumental than you realize.
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