Morning Habits to Quit and New Habits to Incorporate

Let’s talk morning habits – they’re like the best kept secret to a fantastic day! Believe it or not, how we kickstart our mornings can have a massive impact on our wellbeing. From our energy levels to our mood and focus, it’s all interconnected. So, are you ready to unlock the power of your mornings and set the stage for an amazing day ahead? Imagine feeling energized, focused, and ready to conquer the day. By identifying and quitting negative morning habits, you can pave the way for increased well-being and productivity.

Shift your focus to the endless possibilities that lie ahead, and with small, intentional steps, you can create a morning filled with self-care, positivity, and purpose.

Morning Habits refers to the routines and behaviors we engage in during the early mornings. Good habits can increase our energy levels, reduce stress and increase our mental clarity, whereas bad habits can leave us feeling fatigued, stressed and all over the place.

Transform Your Mornings

If we embrace productive morning routines, it’s like giving ourselves a head start to conquer the day with a bang! We’ll be stepping into each task with focus, efficiency, and a boatload of confidence.

You know what that means, right? Increased productivity and a feeling of accomplishment that’s sure to put a smile on our faces. This heightened sense of achievement and progress throughout the day creates a positive feedback loop, contributing to elevated levels of happiness and fulfillment.

By deliberately removing negative morning habits and adopting beneficial ones, we can create a holistic and harmonious lifestyle, aligning our physical, mental, and emotional aspects for excellent well-being and personal growth.

Let’s dive into the morning habits that might be secretly messing with your well-being and productivity. I’ll be sharing some awesome insights and practical tips to help you kick these harmful habits to the curb and embrace much healthier ones instead.

7 Toxic Morning Habits to Quit

1. Skipping Breakfast

Now this rule does NOT apply to everyone. If you are intermittent fasting and you normally skip breakfast, that’s totally fine. Continue doing what you’re doing. I do intermittent fasting occasionally and I feel great when I do it.

However, if you don’t fast in the morning and you consume drinks such as coffee with creamer but occasionally forget breakfast because you either woke up late or you’re super busy caring for you children, this is horrible for your stress levels and productivity.

When you’re body isn’t in a fully fasted state (meaning you’re snacking here and there as you move about the house completing tasks, or you’re drinking coffee and went a little heavy on the creamer (because how else would we drink it), your body is no longer in a fasted state.

Your metabolism is now awake and your digestion has started but your body is not getting the fuel it needs to function. This is what leads to us feeling the dreaded “hangry” that kills our focus and makes us feel stressed out and tired.

Those who are intermittent fasting keep their bodies in a fasted state meaning they don’t eat or drink any calories. They only drink water. This has been known to actually increase energy and focus.

So if you’re not intermittent fasting, make sure you prioritize sitting down and eating a meal full of protein, fat and fiber. This will help keep you full that way you can focus on your tasks throughout the day. Some great and easy breakfast ideas include:

• Eggs and Whole Wheat Toast (prep your eggs ahead of time)
• Breakfast Sandwich (egg, cheese, lunch meat and bread)
• Oatmeal with yogurt and fruit
• Peanut Butter Toast w/banana slices
• Avocado Toast

2. Having Coffee As Your First Drink

I for one, struggle with this rule so much! The second I wake up and think about getting out of bed, I’m looking at my husband and wondering if I should ask him to make the coffee.

But the truth of the matter is that coffee really doesn’t help you much if you drink it first thing in the morning. When you first wake up, you experience a cortisol and adrenaline spike. Cortisol and adrenaline are stress hormones which helps wake you up and make you feel alert.

Consuming caffeine during this spike can actually make you feel more stressed as well as decrease the affects of the caffeine. If you wait at least 90 minutes before having your first cup of joe (according to Andrew Huberman Using Caffeine to Optimize Mental & Physical Performance), your cortisol levels will be lower and this will actually give you the most benefit out of your caffeine.

So what should you drink instead? Well the first answer one would gravitate to is water. But if you want a little more oomph in your step, then an electrolyte drink would be the way to go. It will actually make you feel more awake than a cup of coffee first thing in the morning.

3. Checking Devices Immediately After Waking Up

Do you want a way to bombard your brain and feel more distracted? If yes, then pick up your phone and check your notifications as soon as you wake up… Just kidding, please don’t do that!

Not only is doom scrolling just bad for you in general, it’s especially negative if we do it in the morning at a time that our minds generally feel more calm. Checking devices immediately will kick our brain into overdrive increasing distractions and overall feelings of stress. This will only continue and increase as the day goes on.

Instead, keep your devices at a distance so you’re not tempted to check it. You should also set your phone to silent or maybe just disable the notifications until a certain time of day. This will prevent you from hearing the constant pinging of Facebook, Instagram, or your email going off.

4. Neglecting Physical Activity

Exercise is crucial for your health. So why are we neglecting it? Usually, the excuse is that we don’t have enough time. But here’s the kicker! Every single person has the same 24 hours in a day. If they can make time for physical activity, so can you.

And the best time of day to exercise is in the morning. Not only does physical activity wake you up and get your blood pumping, it also reduces stress and increases your focus.

So make a habit to get up, get out and get moving. It doesn’t matter if you want to work out at the gym, go for a run through the neighborhood, or do a quick workout at home. You can do a simple and quick calisthenics workout, a quick jog, or a full body routine. Either way, just do it!

5. Hitting the Snooze button

This is another one I’m super guilty of. The snooze button is my best friend. My husband is the enemy. I will hit the snooze button 20 times if he lets me, but he usually doesn’t. He has perfected the way to annoy me out of bed by wet willies, tickling and you name it!

By hitting snooze you’re conditioning yourself to stay asleep instead of waking up. You’re not getting up when you planned to which is never a good idea. And, by getting up late you’re putting yourself immediately into stress mode.

You’re rushing around trying to get dressed and grab your things as fast as you can. This is not at all fun or good for your mental state. It’s much healthier to get up when you’re supposed to and have plenty of time to accomplish your morning routine with a sense of calm.

Whatever time you want to get up, stick with it. Do not set your alarm to 10 minutes before you plan to wake up so you can hit snooze one time. Just set it to the time you want to wake up, and then get up when it goes off.

6. Not Making Your Bed

Not only does leaving your bed unmade automatically make your room look messy which in turn makes you feel messy and untidy, but it’s also a bad way to start the day.

Instead, make your bed as soon as you get out of it. This will set the tone for the rest of your day making it easier to accomplish your other tasks.

It will also make your room appear more tidy, even if you have baskets of laundry piled in a corner somewhere. The bed is the central focal point of the room. If it looks neat and put together, so will the rest of the room.

7. Staying Inside

Staying inside in the morning is horrible for your circadian rhythm which is a natural cycle your body repeats about every 24 hours or so. If you want to have great sleep and feel awake, energized, and focused throughout the day, then you need to make sure your circadian rhythm is functioning correctly.

Instead of staying indoors, make it a habit to get outside. According to Andrew Huberman (Sleep Toolkit: Tools for Optimizing Sleep & Sleep-Wake Timing), at least 20 minutes of low angle sunlight is recommended to kickstart your circadian rhythm. This way your body and brain know it’s time to be awake.

You can take a morning walk, or simply sit out on your patio and enjoy the sunrise and the sound of the birds singing. Either option is a great way to start your morning.

Overcome the Challenges in Breaking Negative Morning Habits

Now that we’ve identified the 7 Toxic Morning Habits to Quit, it’s time to take action and overcome these challenges. Breaking negative morning habits is no easy feat, but trust me, it’s totally doable with the right mindset and approach!

First, take a moment to reflect on the habits you want to change and why they matter to you. Understanding the “why” behind your goals can fuel your motivation when the going gets tough.

But don’t try to conquer everything at once – set achievable mini-goals along the way. Celebrate those small victories, and remember, progress is progress, no matter how small! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you stumble; it happens to the best of us.

Instead, treat any slip-ups as learning opportunities and get right back on track. Don’t go at it alone – share your journey with friends or family who can cheer you on and keep you accountable.

And finally, keep your eyes on the prize! Visualize the incredible benefits of these new habits – how they’ll improve your mornings and set the tone for an amazing day ahead. With patience, perseverance, and a sprinkle of self-kindness, you’ve got this! Let’s embrace the challenge and create a morning routine that sets you up for success and happiness!

If you found this post helpful or you would like to reference it later, be sure to save this pin to your Self-Care Pinterest board.

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Links mentioned in this post:
Using Caffeine to Optimize Mental & Physical Performance
Sleep Toolkit: Tools for Optimizing Sleep & Sleep-Wake Timing