This Morning Routine Will Help You Sleep Better

MORNING ROUTINE FOR BETTER SLEEP

 

Rise and shine, surprising as it sounds it's morning time again!

That wonderful sounding alarm clock has just gently - or maybe not so gently - stirred you awake from your peaceful slumber and it's time to get the day started.

The morning is an integral part of how well you sleep during the night. It can play an integral part in health and wellness, creating mindfulness and quality of your sleep each night. You don't have to be a morning person to try your hand at these sleep habit tips! Here are some things you need to take care of when you wake up so you can have a good night’s sleep:

5 HEALTHY WAYS TO START YOUR DAY

Morning Routine #1: Pick a wake-up time and stick to it

Having a wake-up time is essential for excellent sleep during the day. This allows you to align your bio-clock. It’s highly recommended that you stick to this wake-up time even on weekends and holidays.

And note that some people benefit from getting up earlier while others love to sleep in. It doesn’t mean that you absolutely must wake up at 5 am to get the most out of your day. Different people have different needs.

Morning Routine #2: Don't Hit the Snooze Button

If you had a time set up the previous night when you want to wake up stick to it. If you hit the snooze button, during that additional snooze time you won’t be able to get another REM sleep cycle, so it’s basically wasted time.

It can be quite hard not to hit the snooze button.

Pro Tip: put your alarm clock away from your bed so you must get up in order to press the snooze button.

Morning Routine #3: Drink A Large Glass of Water

Your body is quite dehydrated in the morning which only makes it mor6e appealing to press the snooze button. Once you are up, drink a large glass of water and you’ll see how you don’t really want to keep on sleeping anymore.

Morning Routine #4: Eat A Healthy Breakfast

Some people swear by breakfast while some always skip it. Consider eating at least a small healthy breakfast without any carbonated drinks or heavily processed foods.

Eating 2 eggs every day is a great breakfast routine. They provide the necessary nutrients to your brain to form healthy neuron connections and to help you focus more.

Morning Routine #5: Write A To-Do List

Write a to-do list of things you want to accomplish during the day. It’s important to understand that you cannot accomplish anything, so prioritize.

Do only what you think is really important. And, put as many things on your to-do list as you can accomplish during the day, not more. That way you’ll ensure that by bedtime you’ll have done everything so you can sleep a bit more soundly.

Morning Routine #6: Get 7+ Hours Of Sleep

Sleep is essential for recovery and repair. Rebuilding muscles, the maintenance of good skin, and keeping senses sharp are all part of a good night’s rest. The body needs that time to properly allow the brain to rest so that functions like performance and cognition can be at their best. Without sleep, our mental, emotional, and physical well-being would be greatly affected. At night, a hormone called melatonin (you might have heard of the pill that helps with sleep) is put in force to help you sleep. 

Morning Routine #7: Get Some Sunshine

Exposure to sunlight (don’t forget to put sunscreen on!) is a great way to encourage the generation of vitamin D, which helps build strong bones. Other benefits include lowered blood pressure, disease prevention, and the promotion of good mental health. It is also believed that sunlight can encourage the brain’s release of the hormone serotonin. This hormone is considered a natural mood stabilizer. Getting anywhere from 5-15 minutes of sun a day 2-3 times a week is enough to drastically improve mood according to WHO (1).

Morning Routine #8: Input Positive Ideas

This can come in different ways. For some, starting off your day with positivity can set your day off right. Speaking kind and compassionate words to yourself. For others, optimizing your bedroom space to encourage relaxation and comfort to improve sleep can input a feeling of positivity and organization to deload subconscious stress.

Some ways to improve your bedroom space:

  1. Scent
    • Lighting a candle, using a wallflower, connecting your diffuser (aromatherapy), or cleaning your room to improve the smells in your room that relax you best!
  2. Clean up
    • For some people, having a clean and organized space devoid of copious amounts of clutter can help reduce underlying stress. It varies for each person, but “cleaning up” could mean putting away that pile of clean clothes that have been lying on the chair in the corner of the room for weeks while for others it could mean a thorough deep clean of the bedroom!
  3. Cozy-up your space
    • My personal favorite thing to cozy up my bedroom is a mixture of all these points along with fuzzy, soft blankets and pillows (and the temperature just right) so that I can burrow like a rabbit in bed. For others, it might be freshly washed and dried bedding, a clean room, or a loved one to welcome them to bed. 

Morning Routine #9: Exercise

For the busy individual, getting in your exercise in the morning before work can set the rest of the day with productive intentions. Exercise can provide you that boost of energy to motivate your workday so that when you come home, you’re ready to unwind and relax for bed. Early morning exercise can improve sleep rhythms and cause your body to produce melatonin earlier in the evening (and therefore help encourage sleep). 

Morning Routine #10: Gratitude

Starting off the day with gratitude can improve mood by encouraging a healthy, positive mindset. Methods like guided meditation and journaling can help to channel a mindset of gratitude. Looking at the positive rather than the negative can cultivate a grateful mentality and dim the effects of stress. 

Morning Routine #11: Journaling

Write down what’s on your mind. Find prompts that engage your mind, it can truly expose what’s bothering you (underlying stress) which can affect sleep patterns. If you don’t know what to write about, you can easily find journaling prompts online. Journaling can help build and maintain a grateful mindset (and therefore improve sleep). 

The Dangers Of Blue Light Before Bed

Blue light affects your circadian rhythm and the secretion of melatonin, a hormone essential for sleep. Late-night habits like scrolling through social media and watching Netflix every night are examples of exposure to blue light. There are apps and filters on your electronic devices that can help reduce the affects of blue light at night. Check your screen time as well to measure time spent exposed to blue light. Watching out for overexposure to blue light before bed can improve quality of sleep! 

Conclusion

You'll find that once these morning and bedtime routines become habits, your days will become much more nutritious and productive which will lead to weight loss success & better night’s sleep. Each of these helpful and healthy habits can improve quality of sleep, while simultaneously aiding in a better perspective on life through positivity and a mindset of gratitude. Take it one day at a time, until the next day you are doing it habitually. Once you start, you’ll notice your sleep quality and quality of life changing for the better!

Sources-

  1. https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/radiation-the-known-health-effects-of-ultraviolet-radiation