Want to make the most out of your morning, no matter how late to work you are? These quick morning habits will set you up for success, whether you’re playing tennis, working, or spending time with the fam. Altogether they’ll just take up five minutes of your time, so you can add them into even the most hectic morning routine.
- Don’t snooze: It’s easier said than done, but trust us, this works. Forgoing the snooze button and getting up as soon as your alarm goes off will help you feel less tired.
How to do it: Set your alarm for the time you want to get up, NOT an earlier time just so you can hit snooze. Then spend a few minutes working on the following four habits.
- Stretch: Feeling groggy? Try waking up your body with a few stretches that will also aid digestion and help you become more flexible (an important aspect of staying injury-free, no matter how active you are).
How to do it: The good news is that you can do these soothing, energizing stretches right in bed to ease you into your morning routine.
- Set an intention: Even the most meditation-averse among us can benefit from thinking positively. No need to spend five minutes trying to concentrate on thinking about nothing (although, if you want to, it works) — a pause to think about what you want to accomplish during the day is all you need to help you start off on the right foot.
How to do it: Use this positive affirmation guide as a starting point for finding a thought and setting an intention.
- Breathe: You can try this while you’re saying your positive affirmations to save time, but whatever you do, start the morning with a few deep breaths from the diaphragm.
How to do it: Use this breathing technique when you’re lying in your bed before you get up:
- Lie on your back on a flat surface — your bed counts!
- Place one hand on your stomach, just above your belly button, and the other hand on your chest.
- Inhale slowly, making sure that your stomach rises a bit.
- Hold your breath for a second.
- Slowly exhale, letting your stomach sink back down.
- Repeat the steps for a few minutes
- Hydrate: The first thing you should think about when you wake up is water. Overnight, your body loses hydration, so replenishing fluids helps wake up your body (and metabolism) while flushing out toxins.
How to do it: Drink an eight- or 16-ounce glass of cold water in the morning as soon as you get out of bed, or opt for a mug of hot water with lemon.
