How to Develop Better Morning Habits
By: Joe Omundson
Tags: Life Lessons, Health, Productivity, Self Improvment, Life

My habit for years was to grab my phone as soon as I woke up. I’d check my notifications and spend a long time browsing Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit.

I became increasingly irritable as I scrolled, my mind going a million directions, thinking about everything except what I wanted to do with my day. I felt out of control. My brain was telling me to stop, but my body wasn’t listening.

I know I’m not alone in this. The red dots reliably lure us in with the promise of a dopamine release.

Recently, I managed to break this habit through the development of a simple morning ritual. For the last month, I’ve felt more productive, less anxious, and I’ve even started going to bed earlier.

Would you like to make a similar change? I have some suggestions for you. Everyone has different needs and requires a unique solution, but I hope you’ll find at least one useful tidbit here.

Think of one easy thing you’d rather do

When I decided to create my morning ritual, I asked my Facebook friends the following question:

Do you have a morning ritual that helps you feel excited about getting out of bed, or puts you in a good frame of mind to start the day? I’m curious what you’ve come up with.

Here are some of the ideas I received:

Check on plants, water and prune as needed, sit with them

Morning meditation, prayer, or devotional

Spend time with pets, walk the dog, play with kittens, feed chickens

Drink tea, coffee, juice, or water; smoke weed or a cigarette

Read the obituaries — if you’re not in them, eat breakfast

Work out, do yoga, walk up a hill

Feel gratitude, say what you’re thankful for out loud

Write in a journal, read a book, or listen to music

Take a shower or bath

Oil massage (Abhyanga)

Check the weather

Listen to a motivational podcast

Meet someone for an early morning activity

Plenty of options there, but if none of them sound appealing, try searching for more ideas online or come up with some yourself.

I suggest you write down several ideas that catch your interest.

Then, choose the easiest one — maybe even something you can do in bed.

Part of what makes social media so attractive first thing in the morning is that it requires no effort. You want the new action to be as easy as possible so it feels like a viable alternative to your phone even when you wake up in a low-energy state. The idea is not to be productive from the second you wake up, but to find some small calming or energizing action to look forward to.

Don’t be afraid to “cheat” by simplifying your choice.

I knew meditation was good for me in the morning, but I thought the proper way to do it was to sit upright for 30 minutes in silence. I couldn’t find the willpower to do that first thing after waking up. It felt like a chore.

To bring it within reach, I decided to listen to short guided meditations while lying in bed. Completing the meditation is as easy as hitting “play” and following the instructions.

I may not reach the pinnacle of enlightenment with this style of meditation, but that’s not the point. What’s important is that it’s easy enough to do consistently and it helps me feel more balanced.

Rather than a full yoga routine, settle for one or two stretches. Don’t run 10 miles, go for a five-minute walk. Grab a banana instead of cooking for an hour.

It should be simple, gentle, and easy; a pleasure, not a burden.

Set up a flow of activities

You’ve identified the first step of your ritual. What’s next? By linking together a few actions, you can gain confidence in your ability to complete tasks.

I have an analogy that describes how this works for me: when I first wake up, it’s like I’m standing at ground level, and ahead of me I can see a stone wall. The wall represents the work I need to do that day. I need to find a way to get up and over it if I want to accomplish my goals, but it towers over me.

We all know someone who is an explosion of energy — a pole vaulter, a rock climber, hungry for a big wall first thing in the morning.

For the rest of us, walls are overwhelming. Sometimes I see the wall and I give up immediately, collapsing on the ground in front of it, or banging my head against it all day.

What I need is a staircase. The morning ritual is my staircase.

I take my first step onto that staircase when I do my meditation.

The second step is putting some water to boil on the stove. That’s always manageable. It takes no thought or foresight, but it gets me on my feet.

While I’m waiting a few minutes for the water to boil, I get a mug out and put a teabag in it. I take an allergy pill. Maybe I put on some music, light some sage, or do a forward fold. A few more steps upward.

When the water is ready, I pour it in my mug, and I check on my plants while it steeps. Then I sit in a chair outside while I drink my tea. I intentionally leave my phone inside for another 15 minutes of peace as I check the sky for clouds, look at trees, and maybe watch some rabbits hop around.

By the time I’m done, I’m usually feeling thoughtful, energetic, and in control — miles ahead of where I would have been if I’d been scrolling social media that whole time.

Suddenly, I’m near the top of the staircase. Getting started on productive work is just one more step onto the top of that wall. Ideas are coming to my mind for what I’d like to do next; from here I have many options.

To find a series of actions that works for you, go back to your list of activities that sounded appealing. After waking up and completing the easiest one, notice which action looks most achievable and interesting to do next. Complete that one, then come back to the list and repeat.

You might only need one or two items, or you might need 10. Play with it and see what works for you. You can always adjust the contents of your ritual and the order in which you do them.

Once you’ve found a good flow and practiced it 5–10 days in a row, it might start to become automatic, and that’s the goal. Hopefully, scrolling on social media starts to seem unappealing compared to the positive boost of your ritual.

Now you’re starting every day stronger without even trying.

Side effects of a morning ritual

When I improved the quality of my first waking moments, it changed the entire course of my day. I had originally hoped to make mornings suck less but it led to a cascade of productive and healthy choices in general. Unexpected, but welcome nonetheless.

Another surprising effect is that I’ve started going to bed and waking up earlier. Now that I have something pleasant to look forward to in the morning, I find it easier to switch my brain off at 10:30 rather than midnight or later.

I’ve also found that there’s a certain relief in getting work done early in the day. It feels better to be ahead of things rather than frantically playing catchup. Putting in a solid effort early on means I can enjoy my relaxation in the afternoon and evening.

In conclusion

The right routine doesn’t take a lot of discipline to maintain — you look forward to it, and it becomes automatic. It’s self-care, self-love, a gentle welcome to the new day.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t align with your vision of what a pure ritual should look like. Go with what works instead.

Maybe this idea still seems out of reach. Maybe you’re depressed or you have other responsibilities in the morning. That’s okay. Sometimes these things only work out when they work out. Perhaps you could look into creating an evening ritual instead.

Keep the idea in mind, though. Someday it might click and you’ll be able to develop some small morning habit that improves your day.