Are you searching around for early morning routine ideas, structure, how to wake up early? You keep coming across the "lavish lifestyle" of waking up early... Yet, you are left tired, groggy, and unable to see the big fuss?
I understand completely.
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I’ll walk you through the common mistakes in morning routines that leave you feeling groggy and unbalanced, and then show you the proven strategies to wake up energized and reset your nervous system.
This post is all about early morning routine mistakes.
Early Morning Routine Mistakes
Top Proven Mistakes
I have to say, I am not perfect and these tend to get me... We most likely will ebb and flow with a morning routine. Especially waking up early. It can be extremely challenging to keep in touch with, though, totally worth it!
Here are the three top mistakes that are keeping you secretly exhausted:
1. Hitting Snooze
Do you also have those mornings where your alarm goes off and immediately your mind says, "It's okay just a little longer." And you listen to that voice in your head and press the snooze? Or is that just me?
And how many times do you hit that snooze button? I won't even tell you how many times I hit snooze sometimes...
Studies have shown us that hitting snooze fragments the last hours of our sleep. The study showed more arousals and less efficient sleep in the snooze condition versus allowing the normal wake time.
What does this mean? Basically, if you press snooze your sleep can become less productive and your grogginess can last for up to 1-2 hours after waking!
To understand this fully, we have to understand sleep inertia. It impairs cognitive abilities, decision making, alertness, memory, and more.
Do you ever wake up early and feel like you can't think or do any tasks. Your husband asks you to do something, and you can't even comprehend what the heck he said!
So what to do about it?
I know it is painful, but get up immediately after your alarm goes off. The trick here is set your alarm at the right time. You know, if you go to sleep at 12pm, don't go setting your alarm for 4am (women I'm talking to you!)
Instead, set your alarm for 8 or more hours of sleep so when you rise you will feel actually rested!
2. Ignoring Structure
Ohhhh yes, this one is serious! And goes right into the snooze button... The early morning routine mistake that is secretly keeping you out of balance is your avoidance of structure. Now, you might be wondering what I mean by that.
Ask yourself, what time did you go to sleep last night? What time did you wake up? Then, ask yourself what time did you go to sleep the night before? What time did you wake up yesterday?
Do you see a pattern?
The CRITICAL concept to having a successful early morning routine is to create structure for yourself by aligning your circadian rhythm. Go to sleep at the same time, and wake up at roughly the same time everyday.
Now, that might not be enough to get you interested in balancing your sleep, so let's look at the data.
This study shows that regular sleep patterns are tightly correlated with higher cognitive performance.
That tells us that not only does the number of hours you sleep matter, but a regular circadian rhythm matters just as much.
Alternatively, a study done shows that having a consistent sleep schedule, keyword is consistent here, actually helps reduce sleepiness in the morning and during the day.
I have to say, this one (having a consistent sleep schedule) is probably the most challenging and annoying aspect of a good morning routine... Life will life and it can be so challenging to stay consistent.
But, we can strive for relative consistency. We don't need to be perfect to the minute! Though, if you are anything like me, I need to let that go and understand relative consistency is OK.
3. Checking Your Phone Immediately
You might be aware that using your phone, or watching TV, before you go to sleep affects your overall sleep quality. The blue light, the stimulation, etc can all reduce your sleep quality.
Though, do you ever check your phone immediately after waking up? And with that, what do you experience?
If I wake up and immediately check my phone, go on social media, or read the news, by the time I am eating breakfast I am EXHAUSTED. My mind is already running a mile a minute, and I find it terribly hard to focus on anything productive or be creative.
It is as though my day, my mind, and my creativity get robbed point blank from me!
I started to wonder if there is something here. There HAS to be research about this phenomenon! And, I found some: As mentioned above about sleep inertia, that same goes for checking your phone in the morning...
If you overstimulate your mind in the vulnerable minutes of waking up (by flooding it with information, social media feeds, texts, etc) your mind gets bombarded before it is fully prepared to receive all that stimulus!
Is this making sense?
A psychologist explains that phone usage right when you wake up can actually lead to mental fatigue and lower focus throughout the day.
I didn't say that, the experts did!!
So, how do we stop this disastrous cycle?
Do not check your phone for at least 20-30 minutes after waking up. In fact, I would go as far to say, do not check your phone for 1 hour after waking up (depends how brutal your habit is).
Though, check below for what to do instead of these cyclical mistakes...
What to do Instead (for a Seamless Morning Routine)
That is the greatest goal, right? A seamless early morning routine. Imagine waking up 2 minutes before your alarm, take a deep breath and realize you are actually *awake*.
You roll over to rest until your alarm, but something clicks and you realize this morning is *different*. It's 5AM, you are rested, you get up, your mind is actually clear, you feel invisible. You go through your morning routine checklist...
Then, your day is nothing short of efficient, productive, and joyous. Honestly, what could be better than that?!
Instead of waking up dreading the day, pressing snooze, then when you do wake up going immediately on your phone... Try a morning routine checklist!
A morning routine can help with the second early morning routine mistake... Ignoring structure. Here are some early morning routine ideas to start building your morning out based on your priorities.
Honestly, it seems so silly to have a structure (especially in this day and age!), but trust me, it can transform your life into one of bliss, joy, purpose, and balance.
When I was younger, in my hayday of drinking, I had ZERO structure and man could I feel it. My relationships were out of wack, my drinking was out of control, I was constantly anxious, I mean the list goes on.
A healthy morning routine, with beneficial rituals, can shift your life into one of balance and alignment quicker than you think. It is only the initial hurdle of actually showing up for yourself that is the challenge.
Though, once you get it, it's a pure state of bliss!