Mornings are the crucial denominator that predicts the flow of the entire day. You have to plan your mornings perfectly to have a productive day.
One wrong move and you end up in the youtube rabbit hole. I have had many wasteful mornings that led to guilt-fueled procrastination.
You can salvage a bad morning but it's always better to start your day on the right note.
Here are three deadly habits that I avoid every morning for better mental health.
1. Playing with your brain’s capabilities
I am a solopreneur. I relish the fact that I don’t have to answer anyone.
But I am also a reformed procrastinator. I have a deep-rooted fear that I will go back to my old ways and destroy everything I have worked for.
It’s harrowing. So, I used to get to work right after waking up. I would start my day with editing, to disperse my anxiety.
This took a toll on my creativity. I did unfocused work in a sleepy haze.
My fear was destroying my creativity and productivity.
I realized I didn’t need to start working at the crack of dawn and I longed for an anxiety-free morning.
So, I made the sage decision not to start my work for at least one hour after waking up. It was hard, I had to force myself to not work.
Somewhere along the line, I became a workaholic. I was happy about my productivity but it came with a cost to creativity.
Taking it slow in the morning is the best decision I made for better creativity.
Here’s what you can do:-
- Sit in an open space and enjoy your first drink of the day.
- Catch up on your reading.
- Carve some time out for your family.
- Go for a run in the park.
- Take a shower and do your skin routine.
2. Choose your fuel wisely
I am an Indian, we take the first meal of the day pretty seriously.
Most Indian breakfasts are deep-fried, spicy, and heavy dishes that will put you in a coma till evening.
Home-made breakfasts are the same, shallow fried stuffed bread (paratha) is the staple north Indian breakfast. It’s delicious but deadly.
Nothing drops productivity like a deep-fried heavy breakfast. I love these breakfasts but now I only enjoy them on weekends.
On weekdays I need a healthy light breakfast that can get me through my most productive hours without making me sleepy.
A healthy light breakfast is a key to optimal productivity. Eating heavy dishes in the morning is kissing your productivity goodbye.
A fiber-rich breakfast is ideal for both your physical and mental health.
So, learn from the Italians and start your day with a light healthy breakfast.
Here’s what you can do:-
- Always have at least one fruit in your breakfast.
- Sprinkle nuts and seeds on your breakfast toast/smoothie.
- Avoid last night's leftovers.
- Make sure to have your favorite caffeine-rich drink for breakfast.
3. The best way to regulate sleep
I am a night owl and a late riser , so I don’t preach waking up at 5 am and starting your day with a cold shower.
I like to wake at a reasonable hour to a hot piping cup of lemon water.
Recently, I detected a morning pattern that can ruin your productivity.
Waking up later than your usual wake-up can kill your productivity. It shifts your circadian rhythm which in turn makes you lazier.
Waking up daily at the same time is the key to a good night's sleep. You don’t need to set up bedtime, you need to monitor your wake-up time.
Waking up late even on weekends can disrupt your sleep cycle. No matter what time you go to bed make sure you wake up daily at the same time.
A 10–15 minute delay is acceptable. But thirty minutes delay is a problem. So, save your productivity by waking up daily at the same time.
Don’t normalize sleeping in on weekends. Getting enough sleep through the week is a priority, not a privilege.
So, prioritize your sleep by getting up daily at the same time.
Here’s what you can do:-
- Set an alarm.
- Keep your phone on the other side of the bedroom.
- Write your wake-up time daily on a piece of paper.
- Sleep in a dark cold room for better sleep.
Conclusion
These are three-morning habits that have destroyed my productivity in the past.
I put a stop to these three habits at the beginning of this year, which incidentally has been my most productive year on this platform.
I have improved both the quality and quantity of my work. So, follow my example and give up these addictive habits now.