How to make your Morning Highly Productive?
Our morning routine affects our entire day in terms of mood, energy, and productivity. If we get up later than the decided time, then we start our day with a feeling of disappointment. Next, we rush to do the stipulated tasks haphazardly. The grumpiness increases as we see the watch and realizes that we are late for the day. Rest is a history that repeats every day.
We can easily change our mindset for the morning routine and increase productivity. Whether we are morning people or night owls, all that we do in the morning is the most important. Managing time and deciding intention for the day start as soon as we get up after our beauty sleep.
Here are the 9 ways to increase productivity and develop a sustainable morning schedule.
-
Ideal Morning Routine
The ideal morning routine sounds like getting up at 5 in the morning, meditating till 5.30, exercising till 6 am, reading till 6.30, getting ready and eating your breakfast by 7, and then starting working on your goals. Well, it seems difficult. However, when we start doing it, then we realized that it is impossible.
You may find this a bold statement but have patience. I will try my best to justify it. There is no ideal morning routine that will suit all individuals. We can develop an ideal morning routine based on our needs, priorities, and convenience.
-
Will of being productive
There is a saying 'if you have a will, then you will find the way.' We can not be productive unless and until we become aware that we are busy in an unfruitful way. After recognizing the need for better management, and the presence of determination to use our time wisely and be more organized, we fail to establish any routine. From spotting the necessity of working on it to correcting it, there is a bridge called willpower. Knowing the problem yet lacking in taking action happens due to the monster of procrastination.
For example, for a year and a half, I was thinking of starting with meditation. But even after getting up at 6 in the morning, I did not take an effort to sit in one place and meditate. Every time I thought let's do it tomorrow and the next day I thought of starting from coming Monday. However, that Monday didn't come any time sooner. I was postponing it for numerous reasons like exercise, work, and other commitments. Eventually, my willingness to meditate won over my procrastination and now my co-hustler meditates every day at least for 30 minutes before we start our work.
-
Plan a Day, Night Before
Many of us even after start getting up super early in the morning don't know what exactly to do and eventually pass our time by doing something ordinary. All the successful people have suggested that plan your day the night before. I have tried this technique several times. Not to make a huge to-do list or arrange all tasks according to necessity, but making a list of achievable things in a day can be our first step. Once we built this habit, then later we can sort them as per importance and urgency. If we already know what we have to do precisely, then it becomes easy to take action. Also, being well-arranged and prolific in the morning keeps us in more or less the same energy throughout the day.
For example, I generally write four major activities which I need to finish the next day, and I start working on them as soon as I get ready in the morning. I try to wrap up a major chunk of those listed activities before I leave for my full-time job. That is how I manage to run my YouTube channel and Blog page.
-
Get up only 15 mins Early and Leave Bed immediately
If we have developed a habit of getting up late in the morning over a while, then it is strenuous to get up directly at 5 am. For the first day, we might try and snooze the alarm every 15 mins. There is a high possibility that we will continue this snoozing schedule for the next 3-4 days. However, after that maximum number of human beings will quit.
Honestly, when I decided to get up at 5 am, it was a nightmare for me. Though I am a morning person getting up at 5 am when it is less than 5 degrees Celsius outside was a battle. However, I did not have any option as my job used to start at 6 am. I started getting up just 5 mins early every morning. I used to make sure that I will go to bed every night so that I should not have any excuses in the morning. After a month or so, it became my habit. And since the past two years, I can get up as early as needed and can remove productive hours in the morning.
-
Drink Water as soon as you Get up
Drinking at least a glass of water in the morning has miraculous health benefits, especially for those who have digestion problems and acid-peptic diseases. During 8 hours of our beauty sleep, our body gets dehydrated and all the toxins get logged. Drinking water instead of tea or coffee in the morning gives way out toxins.
I always advise all my patients to drink 1 liter of water as soon as they get up in the morning. It supports our organs to function harmoniously and resolve our digestion problems. Also, this is helpful in weight loss, renal stones, awakening from a sleepy state, elevating mood and energy levels, and many more.
Drinking water can be at room temperature or lukewarm, can be infused or plain, or can be with added flavors or neutral.
-
Take Cold Shower and Change the Environment
Taking cold showers every day in the morning is the second best thing we can do to make our bodies healthy. We all feel the terror of the cold shower early in the morning, and I am not an exception. This task is the arduous task of the day. I failed to take cold showers for several months. Still could not able to take cold showers during winter. However, I have switched myself to luck warm and for my hair, I use completely cold water. The first shiver in the morning improves our circulation and helps us in awakening. Other than that it resolves many of our skin and hair complaints like itchy skin, dryness of skin, and dandruff, and brings a glow to the skin.
If you feel tired in the morning even after sleeping for 6-8 hours, then cold showers can help you as it reduces muscle soreness and boosts weight loss.
-
Make the First Bite of Food Nutricious
I can go on and on about eating nutritious food. In our demanding schedule, we miss eating healthy food we interrupt the regularity of our meals, and also we forget to eat with mindfulness. Eating the first bite of food always should be nutritious as our stomach is empty and can absorb maximum nutrients after a good rest. Also, drinking tea or coffee empty stomach may lead to acidity in some people, especially in those who tend to develop acid peptic disturbance.
We can easily start our day with a fistful of nuts, fruit, smoothie, or even milk. Practicing at least a few seconds to enjoy and feel grateful for all the enrichment you are receiving. Also, starting the day with healthy food make you feel energetic throughout the day. If we take at least one meal healthy it adds a compound effect on our weekly dietary habits and nutrition score.

-
Stop Consuming Toxicity
While growing up I always observed my parent and other elders reading or watching the news every morning. Maybe in their era, the news was true and up to the mark. However, I feel the news spreading these days are exaggerated and have a slim logic. Also, media is a big-time business and needs to catch the attention of a maximum number of people. If we watch this baseless and exaggerated news in the morning, then they stay for rest of the day with us, consciously or unconsciously.
The second most toxic thing is social media. If we are using social media for motivation or for learning new skills only, then it is acceptable. However, if we are using it to see what other people are doing and start to compare our life with theirs, then this toxicity can ruin our day. Also, spending hours on social media prohibits us from being productive, thinking about new ideas, and appreciating what we have.
-
Write your Goals and Feel Grateful
Starting the day with the feeling of gratefulness is the gift we can offer to ourselves. Feeling thankful motivates us to do more. Appreciating what we have and then setting goals to achieve more is the most fruitful way to live a content life.
Knowing our passion and working on it is not sufficient. Setting goals, marking milestones, and accessing growth as well as pitfalls are equally crucial. If we don't know what exactly we want to achieve, then the chances of us running like headless chickens are strong. Writing goals as soon as we get ready in the morning reminds us in which direction to put our effort. Also, it imbibes those goals into our minds subconsciously. Later this can help in generating innovative ideas to achieve our goals.
Let us know your opinion about the above points.
Further readings:
- https://rewriteandrelive.in/blogs/index.php?post/2022/11/03/What-is-Daily-Journaling
- https://rewriteandrelive.in/blogs/index.php?post/2022/11/03/Using-Object-for-Gratitude-Practice-is-Overrated
- https://rewriteandrelive.in/blogs/index.php?post/2022/11/03/What-is-Gratitude
- https://rewriteandrelive.in/blogs/index.php?post/2022/11/03/Why-I-started-Writing-Journal-Daily
- https://rewriteandrelive.in/blogs/index.php?post/2022/11/03/How-to-change-your-thought-process-in-3-easy-steps
- https://rewriteandrelive.in/blogs/index.php?post/2022/11/03/How-to-enhance-Self-fulfilment
- https://rewriteandrelive.in/blogs/index.php?post/2023/01/12/Can-we-transform-ourselves-with-Epigenetics-Neuroplasticity
About the Author:
Dr. Priyanka Mohol [BHMS, PGDEMS & CC, DDHN, MPH (Scotland)]
Public Health Consultant & Community Nutrition Specialist