Morning Blues? Here’s How To Wake Up To A Better Morning
If you often wake up in the morning throwing tantrums because you feel groggy, lazy and unmotivated to start the day, you’re definitely not alone
Ever since I started a 9 to 5 job, my nights were mostly reserved for Netflix to catch up on the latest shows or doing absolutely nothing. It was what I like to call, my “me-time reward” after using my brain for eight hours continuously.
Despite giving myself some time at night to unwind and relax, I often find myself waking up on the wrong side of the bed the next day. Did I get too comfortable with laziness the night before? Did I not get a good night’s sleep? I started questioning my self-care routine after noticing that my early morning routine of making a healthy breakfast and doing some light stretches was down the drain. Things also didn’t get any better when I started working from home due to the COVID-19 crisis. If anything, it became worse. Soon, I realized that all those Netflix-and-chill nights were indeed backfiring on my mental and physical health.
I decided to reassess my daily routine and pick out some practices that I felt could be improved. Starting from the most basic responsibilities, I worked my way up to incorporating more activities and setting positive habits before I went to bed the night before, and my mornings began to feel better than before. It’s still not great, but at least there were some improvements.
- Start your morning routine the night before
Here’s the deal: Stop procrastinating. From prepping lunch to getting dressed, many of us have a morning routine that’s way too packed to complete in time. Yes, it’s easier said than done. I’ve struggled with procrastination for the longest time ever but at the end of the day, it boils down to self-discipline. Try listing down everything you need to do in the morning and pick some tasks to complete the night before. These can be small things like choosing your outfit, meal prep for your lunch, and setting everything you need to bring to work (laptop, documents, wallet, etc.) aside. This way, you’ll wake up feeling more relaxed and calm because there are lesser tasks to complete.
2. Disconnect yourself from social media after a certain time
We’ve heard this piece of advice a million times but when it comes to actually practicing it, many of us fail to do so after a few tries. For the longest time, I was convinced that I had a good excuse to not practice this because of my job (I work in the news industry). I felt the need to be up to date with everything that’s taking place on social media for the longest time and would never put my phone down unless I really needed to do it. In fact, I’d switch off my room lights in an attempt to go to bed but end up scrolling through Instagram for another hour before actually forcing myself to sleep.
A few months ago, I started using my iPhone’s ‘Downtime’ and ‘App Limits’ functions to restrict my social media usage and it was truly a life-changing practice. My sleep quality was so much better and I stopped struggling with dry eyes. Not to mention, I saw some minor improvements with my migraine issue too.
Update: I recently deleted social media apps on my phone one by one and realised that I’m less dependent on them now. I craved for them in the beginning but now I no longer think about scrolling through them since they no longer serve me anymore. Instead, I’m spending more time on the News app and reading more e-books than ever.
3. Keep your space clean
You’ve had a long day at work and all you want to do after dinner is to get cozy in bed. But what about all the dirty dishes in the sink? Nobody loves doing chores (I absolutely hate it) but the thing about them is that they need to be done at some point and leaving them for another day will only make things even more difficult to manage in the future (Ugh, adulting…). Plus, imagine waking up to a pile of dirty dishes and knowing that they’ll still be there when you get home later too.
Once I started making it a habit to do some light cleaning every night such as sweeping the floor and wiping the countertop even though they didn’t look dirty, I realized it grew on me and now it feels more natural to do them every day. As weird as it sounds, cleaning every day actually makes cleaning so much easier because you don’t have to spend so much energy scrubbing dirt off the counter. I also threw out lots of stuff that were cluttering my table and redecorated it with artistic decors that make me happy — a vase of flowers, potted succulents, organised containers, etc.
4. Start reading
For bookworms, reading is an enjoyable activity they could do all day. For others, reading can be absolutely boring. I know I’m the latter because the last time I was excited about reading a novel was probably in primary school (with an exception of last year when I was totally hooked onto the Crazy Rich Asian trilogy). However, after coming across a long list of benefits about reading, I consulted a friend who’s an absolute bookworm to ask for some recommendations that are easy for beginner readers to digest. After all, I needed a new hobby to fill in the void from limiting my social media usage. I was surprised at how it transformed my night routine and helped me relax. Reading shifts your focus from the stressful reality into a fantasy world that only focuses on one particular story it’s telling and by immersing yourself in the story, you’re slowly disentangling yourself from the dramas and events in life that are bothering you.
5. Practice gratitude journaling
Did you know that expressing gratitude can make you happier? According to a Harvard study, people who write about gratitude are more optimistic and feel better about their lives. Instead of journaling sad and frustrating incidents in your life, try a different approach by writing down three positive things you did. This can be minuscule things like having a delicious dinner or going to the gym. By switching your mindset to think more positively before you end your day, it can greatly affect your mood the next day to feeling more content with life. I hated doing this at the beginning because it felt so cliché and mostly cuz I was slumped in negativity all day. It wasn’t easy to get started but every day, I’d push myself to write something, even if it’s just three simple words. Slowly, it became a habit and that’s when I knew I made the impossible, possible.
