How to Have 36 Hours in a Day: Part 5 Morning Routine
By: Max Yampolsky
Tags: Lifestyle, Productivity, Mental Health, Morning Routines, Time Management

1. Snoozing

9 out of 10 people wake up using an alarm clock on their phone. Every morning when we hear that buzzing sound, we have two options:

Hit Snooze Hit Stop and get up

This first choice of our day had proven to be extremely important. The consequences of Snoozing can deafen our productivity for the next 16 hours.

By hitting the Snooze button, we’re interfering with our body’s natural wake mechanisms, which actually sets us up for more exhaustion during the day ahead.

Simply said, we are tricking our brain into thinking that it’s going back into a sleep-mode. Whereas in reality, it will be wakened up once more in a few minutes.

When our alarm goes off again, our body and brain are confused, resulting in that foggy feeling called sleep inertia.

Although we went snoozing just for 10 minutes more, this feeling can stay with us for the rest of the day.

So no matter how tempting the thought of getting a few minutes of extra sleep can be, do not hit the Snooze.

The same way as an oversleeping does, snoozing can turn our body into a dormant mode for the whole day. And even 5 cups of coffee won’t help to regain control.

How to fix this?

Snoozing is a waste that comes from the problem of inefficient sleep. If we get enough natural sleep, we are no longer going to have a desire to snooze.

By working on organizing your sleep habits, you can remove the waste of morning snooze from your routine.

2. Early Morning Smartphone Check

The second biggest mistake we can make after waking up is to get exposed to our phone notifications.

Photo by Retha Ferguson from Pexels

I must say that I have a habit of checking my phone after waking up for new messages, news, and whatnot. But every time I do that, I feel nothing but regret.

There are a few reasons why it is not efficient to stick your eyes into the smartphone while in bed:

Low Processing Power. Your brain is still not fully awake and can’t process information very effectively. Pressure. Starting a day by pouring all the new emails and to-dos over yourself can cause a feeling of stress and anxiety. Moreover, it can demotivate and restrain self-confidence. Disorientation. You put your mind into the “work” state from the beginning. It can cause perplexity when there are other morning activities ahead (exercise, breakfast, shower, etc.) Low Performance. You will be far more efficient on your work PC when doing the same stuff. Deferment. In most cases, you still will not be able to handle all the issues from your bed and get some of them postponed for later.

Why is it happening?

It mostly comes from how smartphones interact with the human brain.

At the moment we turn off the phone alarm bell, our mind already subconsciously starts looking for all sorts of information “food”. And conveniently, all the news and entertainment are usually just two taps away. A few moments later, we find ourselves looking at new emails, Slack messages, and other sorts of stuff we are not supposed to be watching while still in bed.

How to fix this?

Unlike other habits, this one is pretty easy to control. Just make yourself a rule that no phones, tablets, TV’s are allowed until you at least get out of bed. And remember that by ignoring phone notifications early on, you will be saving time for more critical activities.