I’m a morning person. My most productive time is in the morning, so I try to accomplish as many things as I can before lunch. It took me a while to find my morning routine with trials and errors. Today, I’m gonna share with you my morning routines.

Making your bed

This is the first thing you should do. I got this advice from Tim Ferriss on his channel on Youtube. You can check it out here. He explained that

Accomplishing one thing at the beginning of the day no matter what happens with unforeseen variables for the rest of day.

You will return to a made bed at the end of the day. As a bookmark beginning an end, it sets you up psychologically to be more productive.

If you work at home, an external mess creates an internal mess.

Awake nervous system

The next thing you should do is that awake your nervous system.

I got this advice from Huberman (an American neuroscientist) in his article. Blue light from sunlight early in the morning can block melatonin, a hormone made in the body to regulate night and day cycles or sleep-wake cycles. It is similar to an alarm that wakes you up in the morning and makes you sleepy in the evening.

If seeing the blue light is not enough for you, light exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, or a few minutes of cardio will help. It can increase your heartbeat, increase your blood oxygen level, and put you in an alert state.

Stay focused

Sometimes, you feel alert in the morning but your mind is wandering so you cannot focus on anything. These tips below bring my mind back, so I hope it works for you.

Tim Ferriss introduced me to this technique. You can read anything that excites you. Just wrap a book or a magazine. This technique is effective because it traps your monkey mind on paper so you can get on with your day. I often look at my daily plan and read it out loud.

By starting a meditation practice and tuning into your breath and body when you first wake up, you become more aware of your thoughts–and that monkey mind. Some thoughts might make sense while other thoughts seem to come out of nowhere. Especially, when you’re wake up after a nightmare.

Breakfast

Some people avoid sugar and think it makes them fat. That’s a myth. A little sugar (below 3 grams) is just fine. If your brain doesn’t have enough “sugar”, you will start to crave sweet foods. By saying “sugar”, I mean you should provide enough energy for your brain in the morning. Energy can come from a lot of sources. I highly recommend people to have whole foods with high carbs or high proteins or a mix with both of them.

Keep your mouth clean

Some people are very busy or lazy so they don’t even put a few minutes to clean their mouths. Early meetings make people feel annoyed because of bad breath. Keeping your mouth clean is not only a personal norm but a SOCIAL norm.

An article in healthlin.com show that

Waiting 30 minutes to an hour after eating to brush your teeth is the best way to ensure that you’re protecting your teeth and not tampering with your enamel. The American Dental Association recommends you wait 60 minutes after eating before you brush, especially after having acidic foods.