Quite a lot of time in our daily lives, the first activities we embark on as we wake up in the morning go a long way in shaping the rest of our day. As someone who is a morning person, how I go about doing things when I wake up has proven to be very crucial in not only how my day pans out but how I approach other things too.
Many people often ask what the first thing to do after waking up is. Thing is, there’s not just one thing to do when you wake up. There are quite a few things that can be carried out the moment you rise from sleep to ensure daily productivity and success.
The first things you do each day can have a huge effect on the rest of your day. That’s why some questions that’ll shed more light and add meaning to the main topic will be discussed in this article. Read on to find out the important first things to do when you wake up.
What Happens When You First Wake Up?
To begin with, an increased volume is added to your breathing which causes its speed to become faster. Your blood pressure also experiences a hike and rises, leading to increased circulation.
The brain produces different brain waves and then your body also responds to external stimuli as you slowly become aware of what’s happening around you.
The cells on your skin slowly send information to your body through several stimuli. From your bedsheets, the hair on your body to the temperature around you, your skin looks for several signs of life. All these happen without the control of your consciousness though.
Should You Get Up As Soon As You Wake Up?
Several questions plague one’s mind as soon their eyes open from sleep. I, as a person, used to find it hard to decide on what to do once my body is fully awake.
However, with time I was able to block out some unnecessary thoughts and devise a system that allowed me to make more productive use of my time.
Some people find themselves deliberating whether it’s okay to sleep back and wondering what to do when they arise. This begs the question: should you get up as soon as you wake up?
There isn’t a precise answer to this question as different approaches work for different people. For individuals who carry certain responsibilities such as family or career, so as to get on with their activities as soon as possible, find it important to get up as soon as they wake up.
Studies have shown that if you wake up early on just a few hours of sleep, it’s important to try and get some more shut-eye.
Mayo Clinic’s professor of medicine and former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Timothy Morgenthaler, MD, who’s also board certified in the field of sleep medicine, suggests that before deciding on the best course of action, you need to ask yourself an obvious, yet important, question:
“Am I done sleeping?”
One of the easy ways to provide an answer to this question is to figure out whether you’ve had enough hours of sleep. A duration of seven or eight hours of sleep a day is what’s required by the average adult, and there’s no way of getting around that, according to the National Institute of Health.
If you’ve gotten in enough shut-eye, then waking up early is simply the natural reaction of your body to two interacting systems that control “the overall drive to sleep or stay asleep,” said Morgenthaler.
The first is called sleep homeostasis, a basic principle that motivates you to get a longer amount of sleep if you haven’t slept enough. Your circadian rhythm, also known as your internal biological clock, which is responsible for the reason we start to feel tired in the evening, in comparison to the morning or afternoon, is the second.
While the homeostatic mechanism in your body keeps a regulation on your sleep intensity, your circadian clock regulates the time of day your body begins and stops craving sleep.
If you get up early, you’re not only robbing yourself of sleep but also letting your body lose a majority of the REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the stage of sleep that, according to the National Sleep Foundation:
- Supplies the brain and body with energy
- Provides support for daytime performance
- The period for brain activeness and the occurrence of dreams.
Generally, the time range at which many of us get our REM is between the hours of 3 a.m to 7 a.m. So if you get up early between those hours and seven hours of shut-eye haven’t been completed by you, that might explain why you feel exhausted as the day goes on.
In all, you need at least seven hours of sleep as an adult. So it’s important to consider this when you plan to get up the moment you wake up.
What Is The First Thing You Should Put In Your Body In The Morning?
There are quite a lot of suggestions when it comes to this topic. Several nutritionists have provided different answers to these questions and given solid reasons to back them.
What you decide to do moments after waking up takes a crucial impact in shaping the rest of your day, hence the gravity of the decision on what you put in your body. Food or drinks alike, play a major role in your approach to your day, your health, and also your well-being.
After comparing the suggestions of a lot of experts, water takes the lead on the beverage of choice to take when one wakes up. For reasons attributed to rehydration of the body after a night of sleep, water carries a lot of nutrients needed for the body to gain energy and also adequately fills you with hydration throughout the day.
A registered dietician nutritionist, Vicki Shanta Retelny explains that although you might not feel thirsty when you wake up in the morning, drinking water is a healthy habit that should be adopted to assist you in correctly hydrating yourself through different times of the day.
Other forms of beverages include tea, coffee, juice, or water spiced with some form of additives such as lemon, apple cider, cinnamon, or even honey. All these infuse the water with some form of vitamins that helps with immune and metabolism-boosting, weight loss or even lowering of blood sugar.
What Are Healthy Things To Do In The Morning?
As several studies have proven, what you embark upon moments after you rise up in the morning determines how the rest of your day would pan out. Your morning routine takes a very major role in setting the mood for the rest of your day.
I have personally found out that taking an early jog when I get up each morning does a lot of good to my overall day performance. It makes me more active, calms my nerves, and sets my body system in the right motion.
However, as the saying goes, there are different strokes for different folks. So, while I would fancy jogging, other folks might opt for other activities that are generally upbuilding and healthy.
You need to understand that there are several challenges and tasks you face daily that can take a toll on your well-being. This is why it is important to form a healthy early morning habit that will go a long way in improving your daily performance for years to come.
Fortunately, there are a plethora of healthy things to do in the morning that’ll make your day go well. Here, I’ll be taking you through a couple of these things.
1. Drink A Glass Of Water As Soon As You Wake Up
As previously stated, one of the most advisable things to do the moment you wake up is drinking water. Whether you are thirsty or not, drinking water is a healthy habit that should be cultivated.
Essentially, your body hibernates when you sleep so it gives room for dehydration overnight. Drinking water will prepare you with daily nutrients to start your day.
Also providing an easier digestive flow, drinking water will ease your metabolism and make it comfortable for other parts of your body to open up for their work.
If you choose to supplement your water with fruits or honey, it becomes even more effective. Fruits contain vitamins that will boost your immune system and nutrients that will help some functions of the body such as improved speech, weight loss, low blood sugar, pressure, and improved skin. So it’s also advisable to spice up your water with this.
Dehydration is strongly connected to decreased mental performance such as difficulty in learning or memorizing new things and completing certain tasks.
Research also expresses that mild dehydration adding up to 1–2% of body weight can affect alertness, concentration, short-term memory, and physical performance in a negative way. Hence, the arguments some make that to stay active at what you do, it’s important to drink a glass of water upon waking up is not lost.
2. Avoid Your Phone For The First Hour
In a world where most of our lives revolve around technology, it can be quite difficult not to think about reaching for our phones the moment our eyes open in the morning.
Quite a lot of us sleep at night thinking about the mail we never replied to or chats we didn’t send a response to. It’s only natural to think about getting on them as soon as we wake up. But once you remember these things will always be around, you would be able to put certain things into perspective and make clearer decisions.
This way, you can approach some of your thoughts and decisions with a better sense of clarity. You also have a hold on your emotions and make them devoid of any influences.
This social media world on our phones can carry both negative and positive energy, in equal amounts. One which can go on to affect your emotions and how you approach your day. With this habit, you have the power of choice on certain elements you consume, and be sure of how they’ll affect you.
Also, you can influence other forms of technology such as what you watch, like movies on Netflix or morning news on the television, and what you listen to, like music or podcasts. Oftentimes, these forms of technology set the grounds for the mood you’ll start your day with.
I, as a person, have discovered that on days I begin by listening to music, watching shows I like or even positive affirmations, I find myself approaching the day with a smile on my face and an unusual burst of energy. So it would be best if you could adopt a similar habit.
3. Exercise
Studies have shown us how much activeness your body gets once you start with some movement. No matter what you plan to do for the rest of your day, workouts give room for your body to find strength in natural ways.
Quite a lot of television shows include workout segments. Some mobile applications are also made for this purpose so this makes it more comfortable to get on some exercises to be included in your morning routine.
I’m sure the idea of exercises can come off as time and energy consuming but in this case, a few stretches can pass off too as this helps in loosening some muscles and joints.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to exercises which makes it pretty solid for different individuals to take on anyone that suits them. What matters is getting the body to move and finding some sort of life to get on for the rest of the day.
These exercises highlight the fact you’re determined to prioritize healthy habits and also mean distractions aren’t a problem for you. It also takes your mind off other things that are prone to negative impacts such as reaching out for technology as soon as you wake up. This way too, you focus on some other healthy options to embark on.
It also helps to boost energy, reduce any form of fatigue and improve your focus and concentration on other activities during the day.
Furthermore, there’s a feel-good emotion physical activity gives one which helps to relieve stress and provides a distraction from thoughts that stem from anxiety. That way too, you feel a sense of accomplishment which provides you with a sense of optimism for the day ahead.
4. Consuming A Healthy Breakfast
Food is the fuel of the body. That means the food you choose to start your day with is of utmost importance. A healthy breakfast molds an opportunity for the body to begin with energy to get on certain activities of the day, until lunchtime.
Also, the body is still pretty empty from a night of sleep so what you give to it matters for your health and wellbeing. This shows how it’s beneficial to not skip breakfast.
People who do not take their breakfast may not meet their daily recommendations on the intake of vitamins, fiber, and minerals.
Breakfast replaces your glucose supply to increase the levels of your concentration and alertness, while also giving other essential nutrients needed for good health to the body.
A healthy breakfast also improves your brainpower as it gives back your body the glucose it needs which is necessary to reawaken your ability to focus on things and commit certain things to memory.
The risk of illness is reduced when one makes breakfast a daily habit. You get to consume foods that are rich in nutrients which in turn helps the body in different ways.
Also, people who take on breakfast as an important diet have a healthy overall diet. It makes them avoid sugary foods or snacks which are bad to consume in the morning. If there’s a chance you skip breakfast, try eating fresh fruits, yogurt, or a wholemeal sandwich to help you get through the day without getting hungry.
5. Plan Ahead
Making a quick and swift plan ahead of the day gives room for productivity. Whether it’s a workday or a day off, to ensure you don’t miss any activities throughout the day and accomplish them, it’s important to make a plan and stick to it.
To avoid feeling rushed, fan out a mental picture of your day to also know what to expect. Don’t also pressure yourself into expecting a perfect day and open your mind to expecting some sort of unplanned things that might disrupt your day.
Nevertheless, do your best to stick to the plan. If you are wondering on how to properly plan a productive day you can check out this article, it was written as a proper guide in outlining a successful and productive day.
6. Work On Saying Positive Affirmations
To live your daily life, positive affirmations are healthy ways to wake up in the morning. Fill yourself with good thoughts about life. As important as self-appreciation is, motivational mantras are of more assistance.
Find different things that you like about yourself and say them aloud to yourself. I have some positive affirmations articles, motivational mantras that can spur you up for the day. Feel free to check them out.
These days, there are several ways to go about positive affirmations. One is features made on several phones to daily remind you of good things about yourself. Our phones are things that we find ourselves not doing without.
From applications to following several pages that promote this on different social media platforms, one gets to see and read these words and possibly, feel good and grow a positive approach to the day.
Other creative ways include customized calendars for this, wearing outfits that promote this, and also seeing the beauty in different parts of life like nature and people.
You can follow us on Instagram we share a host of inspirational and motivational mantras/affirmations that will spice up your day with positivity.
7. Reading
Whether it’s a self-help book you love, poetry, quotes, or the news, literature has been proven to help you gain a positive and good approach to life.
Literature also improves your mood by filling your brain with words that stir up good imaginations and helps you escape reality sometimes.
In fact, these works make you see life differently and also help you get more clarity about it too. Don’t hesitate to include something to feed your eyes and brain into your daily routine to ensure it happens.
8. Mediation
As this might not be a common practice by many, it has quite a few useful benefits. Keeping the brain quiet is a good way to be in touch with one’s creative side better. More so, it helps in finding some inner peace to get on with certain activities.
An energy increase might not be one of the things gotten from meditation but this doesn’t underemphasize its importance in effective and efficient thinking, one which can go on to give rise to a more productive day.
Activities such as journaling or drawing can possess a similar effect as meditation. Engaging in these activities can calm you down and help you focus your thinking on a creative side.
9. Get Some Fresh Air
Morning walks have always been a good form of exercise. It can improve creativity in the brain which is a good way to begin a day.
Nature does a lot in helping one relax and generate a positive outlook on life. Take a stroll and find ways to inhale the fresh air, breathe and let these activities soothe your mind.
10. Practice Being Present In The Moment
There’s a certain connection being present in the moment provides. When you see a reflection of yourself in life, it presents a special type of wisdom.
From sitting by the window soaking in the morning sun to admiring beautiful flowers, finding time to give appreciation to the environment around you can also be inspiring and create a form of excitement needed to begin the day.
Conclusion
From the points expressed above, it can be deduced that there are several things you can do when you wake up each morning that will not only boost your productivity but also provide you with the right mentality to begin and complete your day.
Carefully study these vital tips recommended and decide on which of them to adopt. With time, you’ll come to see more efficiency in your activities and your daily routine will take on more meaning.
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