Start Your Day With a Strawberry: 15 Micro-Habits for Calmer, Healthier Mornings
Brain dump before going to sleep
Spend two minutes each night sketching out what your tomorrow will look like, either on a notepad or in your Notes app, for more productive mornings, says Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less.
âIt gives your creative subconscious time to think about ideas and problems at night,â he says. Not only does this reduce feelings of overwhelm because youâre not starting from scratch in the morning, âit creates a more stable pace[of work]by making it easier to get started, which makes you more productive.â
Schedule an extra five minutes in bed
If you and your partner often argue during the morning rush hour, setting your alarm five minutes earlier can help you feel more united so you have time for a chat or a cuddle, says Todd Baratz, a psychotherapist and author of How to Love Someone Without Losing Your MindâItâs about creating an intentional moment to connect and get off autopilot,â he says, adding that cuddling also releases the calming hormone oxytocin.
If you have different schedules? âLeave a love note for your partner with your morning coffee. I do this and it makes my husband (and me) feel good,â says Liz Baker Plosser, author of Be the boss of your morning.
Reframe your day as an adventure
âIn medical school, I started using a productivity technique where you identify your most important task for the day, to help you focus,â says Ali Abdala physician and the author of Feel Good Productivity. âBut after a while, it started to get tough.â Now, he makes it a ritual to ask himself every morning, âWhatâs todayâs adventure?â reframing his most important task as something fun to explore rather than something to chew on. Simply working from a new coffee shop instead of at your desk or walking a different route to the office will energize you, he says. âInjecting a sense of discovery, no matter how small, will help you feel more positive and avoid procrastination.â
Make your shower colder
Donât underestimate the power of your shower: Ending your morning shower with two minutes of cold water constricts your blood vessels and releases feel-good endorphins in your brain, which can help reduce muscle inflammation and stress. âStart with 30 seconds and work your way up to a minuteâthe first dip is the hardest,â says Moody.
See sunlight as soon as possible
Incorporate a five to 15 minute walk into your routine during the day to wake up a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. This regulates the circadian rhythm, which has a positive effect on hormones, bowel movements, immune system and sleep quality. “Do it just before you wake up, to âRestore your circadian rhythm as soon as possible,â says Liz Moody, author of 100 Ways to Change Your LifeShe adds that if it is still dark, it is good to get out of breath at the first sign of daylight.
âLight increases serotonin levels, which improves your mood and triggers your brain to realize itâs time to be alert,â says neuroscientist Nicole Vignola. Getting outside early can be especially helpful if youâve had a few too many glasses of wine the night before. Neuropsychopharmacologist David Nutt says, âAlcohol disrupts sleep patterns, so morning light can help you sleep better the next night.â
Make your first drink of the daycaffeinated
âGood brain function depends on electrolyte balance, which is disrupted by dehydration,â says Vignola, who recommends starting the day with water instead of an espresso. âWe are more dehydrated than normal after sleeping, and caffeine can further impair (hydration).â
Enjoy the ceremony of making yourself a cup of coffee first? Then go decaf. âMany clients feel better switching to decaf if theyâre having trouble sleeping or feeling anxious,â says nutritionist Sophie Trotman.
Do a micro training
A minute of jumping jacks, a sun salutation or 20 squats can keep the drowsiness at bay for the rest of the day. “You don’t have to jump out of bed and work out for an hour,” says MoodyâEven 60 seconds of exercise can help increase alertness and creativity and reduce the effects of sedentary behavior.â
Serve your breakfast with a portion of vegetables
Adding an extra serving of colorful fruits or vegetables to your breakfast each morning can improve your mood and gut health, says Tamara Green, nutritionist and co-author of Good food, good mood. And if you find yourself hungry quickly after breakfast or experiencing an energy slump in the afternoon? Green recommends adding an extra source of protein. Greek yogurt and cottage cheese make easy side dishes, or you can mix protein powders, hemp seeds, and flax seeds into porridge and smoothies. âJust 20g to 40g[of protein]helps stabilize blood sugar and keep you feeling fuller longer,â says Green.
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Do You Work At A Desk? Do This Stretch Every Day
Get on all fours with your palms under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Slowly extend one arm and the opposite leg at a time for eight seconds, then return them to the floor and repeat on the other side. This is âbird dogâ: a full-body stretch that combines balance, stability, mobility and strength work â and it counteracts the hunching, rounding of your shoulder blades. âIt warms up your core,â says Plosser, âmimicking the stabilization needed to move your limbs, which is what you do all day.â
De-stress with a mini meditation
Turn any moment of stillnessâlike drying off after a showerâinto a moment of mindfulness to help you refocus amid the morning chaos. âTake a few minutes to notice how your muscles, joints, and internal sensations feel,â advises Amelia Nagoski, coauthor of Burnout: Break Your Stress Cycle, to recognize and release tension in the body. Physiotherapist Dr. Leada Malek recommends a few rounds of diaphragmatic breathing to help you relax and improve your focus: âPlace one hand on your stomach and one on your chest, inhale through your nose as your stomach rises, then exhale slowly through your mouth.â
Ban phones before breakfast
Checking your emails after you turn off your alarm may feel like second nature, but itâs one of the worst things you can do in the morning. âPhones are designed to give you bursts of dopamine that you crave all day long,â Moody says. She explains that exposure to an early spike makes you more likely to experience a crash later, causing you to reach for more dopamine inducers, like your phone, alcohol, or processed snacks. Abdaal uses the Opal App Blocker to prevent your phone from accessing YouTube, Instagram, X, and Reddit until 10 a.m. If youâre struggling to keep teens off screens, make app blockers a household rule in the morning.
Let the little ones brush their teeth in the kitchen
âFor our younger children, everything âThe space needed for the school day is downstairs,â says âThe Unmotherly MotherâSarah Turner, author of On the edge. âWe lay out the clothes on the counter the night before so we donât have to run upstairs to find lost socks.â Put what you needâmedication, sunscreenâin a basket and keep it in one place. The kitchen may feel like a locker room, but Iben Sandahlauthor of The Danish Way of Parenting, says it’s better to âfocus on the big picture rather than the small detailsâ: âIt doesn’t matter if you brush your teeth in the kitchen, as long as you brush them.â
Ask your teens to tell you when to get up
It may sound counterintuitive, but make it a habit to quickly check in with your teens in the evening and ask them if they want to do something fun. them telling you their schedule can help reduce âitâs time to get upâ arguments in the morning. âShow them that you trust their ability to get up and start the day right,â Sand advises.
Plosser says, âGiving kids the freedom to make their own choices â within reason, of course, and when possible â without micromanaging them helps them feel independent and reduces tension and arguments.â She suggests scheduling check-ins for dinner instead of bedtime â that way, any issues with lost gym gear can be resolved long before itâs time to go to sleep.
Use your coffee maker as a stopwatch
Donât mindlessly scroll while you wait for the kettle to boil: Use it as a timer to race against. Can you clear out last nightâs mess from the living room? Empty the dishwasher? Moody suggests keeping kettlebells in your kitchen so you can get a micro-workout in while you make your morning coffee. â[My son]practices his spelling at the last minute while heâs waiting for the bread to come out,â Turner says.
Hydrate like a beautician
Anna Seynaeve, co-founder of Facestellar, recommends that the frustrated among us give ourselves a quick facial massage, following the path of our lymphatic vessels as we cleanse and hydrate. âScoop your fingers from under the cheekbones to the ear. Then from the chin to the ear. And then from the ear to the collarbone,â she says. âFacial massage releases tension in the face and jaw, and helps relax all the muscles in the body because they are interconnected. It can help with headaches, which can be brought on by lack of sleep â and it also reduces puffiness.â