Morning Habits for Success and Why They Work
Career

Morning Habits for Success and Why They Work

What does your morning routine look like? 🌤️ We hear all the time that forming healthy habits in the morning is the key to starting off our day right. But why is that so? We discuss the most helpful morning habits for success and why they work.   Morning Habits for Success #1 – Ditch […]

October 15th, 2022
*

Abby.

Founder

A search expert making key hires for over twenty years.

What does your morning routine look like? 🌤️

We hear all the time that forming healthy habits in the morning is the key to starting off our day right.

But why is that so?

We discuss the most helpful morning habits for success and why they work.

 

Morning Habits for Success

#1 – Ditch the alarm clock

Our circadian rhythm regulates our sleep cycle, and it is recommended we get 8 hours of sleep every night.

Although alarm clocks help us wake up at a specific time, the abrupt sound of an alarm can cause more harm than good. Being an artificial way of waking up, alarms can disrupt our natural sleeping cycle. Plus, this sudden awakening and sound of an alarm can trigger the release of stress hormones before our day has even started.

How can we get ourselves to wake up naturally? ☀️

Light is an important factor that helps our bodies distinguish between night and day. Therefore, one way of letting your body clock take charge is by having your blinds ajar to allow natural sunlight to shine through each morning. In time, you will notice a pattern start to emerge and your body will begin to wake up at a similar time each morning.

 

#2 – Don’t reach for your phone 📱🚫

With most of us keeping our mobile phones on a bedside table, it is often too easy for us to reach over for it in the morning to update ourselves on what we have missed.

However, if the first thing we do is go through our emails or scroll through Instagram, we are getting ourselves into a negative or anxious mindset by already making social comparisons and reviewing all the tasks we need to get done that day before we’ve even set foot out of bed.

Instead, focus your attention internally.

Use this time to calm and check in with yourself by taking a few deep breaths.

If you find it too tempting to reach for your phone in the morning, make a point of moving it elsewhere in your room to make it more difficult for you to turn to once you wake up. By making desired behaviours easy, and undesired behaviours hard, we can start to optimise our decisions to help us make better choices.

 

#3 – Swap out your morning coffee for water ☕🔁

Is the first drink you reach for a coffee? It may be worth rethinking your choice.

Although some of us may feel that a coffee is what best gets us up and alert in the morning, after 8 hours of sleep, your body is calling out for water – its key nutrient for health and functioning.

Water is what best hydrates us. By having a substantial amount of it in the morning, it can help revitalise us by making us feel more awake, alert, and refreshed. As well as not being as hydrating, drinking caffeinated drinks can elevate your cortisol levels that are already high in the morning.

Why is this?

When we first wake up, we have a peak in cortisol levels that then dip later on in the morning. This is known as the cortisol awakening response. High levels of cortisol increase anxiety. By drinking caffeinated drinks, you can be increasing your cortisol levels even further – elevating any anxiety you may be feeling.

Therefore, to avoid this, save your coffee for later in the day and swap it out for a large glass of water.

  

#4 – Get moving 🚶‍♀️

Exercise improves both our physical and mental health. Not only does exercise makes us feel energised in the morning, the release of dopamine and other chemicals have beneficial impacts on our mood and anxiety levels. As well as these benefits, exercising helps to clear our minds and make us feel mentally ready to take on the day, which can significantly improve our productivity when we start work.

  

#5 – Reduce decision-making 🤔

Another way to improve productivity and reduce morning anxiety is to plan out as much of your morning as you can the night before. This will then reduce the number of decisions you need to make the next day.

For example, you could:

  • Have your bag packed 🎒
  • Decide on what you will wear 👔
  • Decide on what you will have for breakfast 🍴
  • Have your lunch ready and packed 🥪

Decision fatigue is when mental fatigue for decision-making increases as the number of decisions we need to make throughout the day increases. This in turn, then impacts our ability to make further choices as the day goes on. By minimising the number of decisions we need to make in the morning, we can prevent decision fatigue from appearing so early on in the day. 

 

#6 – Make time for self-reflection 💭

In the midst of a busy morning, it can become all too easy to go through each day on autopilot.

Where we can, we should try to make time for morning self-reflection to review where we are and where we want to be. This can help us pick up on anything that may be bothering us or needs our attention.

A good method of self-reflection is by setting our intentions for the day – what do we hope to achieve? 🌟

Reminding ourselves of this will help us lead a day with intention, get ourselves in the right mindset, and get the most out of the day as we can. A simple, but often overlooked morning habit for success.

 

“The secret to your success is found in your daily routine”

– John C. Maxwell

To find out more about how to focus on your brand, get in touch today.
Want to hear about our other articles?
Looking to hire your next superstar?
Keen to explore our latest vacancies?
Yellow Bricks is a female-owned and led executive search firm hiring predominately for software companies with diversity and inclusion at the heart of our offering. To learn more, click here.
Related posts
First Interview Tips: 7 Simple Strategies for Success

First Interview Tips: 7 Simple Strategies for Success

Ace Your First Interview: 7 Proven Tips That Get Results! Improve your Interview Style, with these First Interview Tips: 7 Simple Strategies for Success. Navigating the job interview process can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially when it comes to that all-important first interview. It’s completely understandable to feel a mix of excitement and anxiety as […]
5 career-boosting moves women can make

5 career-boosting moves women can make

As the leader of an independent search firm, I am privileged to witness, influence, and guide the remarkable achievements of women entering and excelling within leadership across diverse industries. The resilience, talent, and dedication I see daily is truly inspiring. Here I share my top 5 Career Growth Strategies for Women.   As we head […]
How the Metaverse will change the Future of Work

How the Metaverse will change the Future of Work

Photo: Microsoft   Bill Gates predicts that within two or three years, virtual meetings will be taking place within the Metaverse. It is clear that changes to how we play, socialise, and work are coming sooner than we think 🎮 💬 💼 With the next decade heavily focused on its development, how will the Metaverse […]
8 Habits That Will Make You a Better Leader

8 Habits That Will Make You a Better Leader

It’s the start of a shiny new year ✨   Your people will be looking to you for guidance and reassurance as we enter more uncertain times.   Building strong foundations by adopting helpful habits will help you to be the best leader you can be.   Here are our top 8 habits that will […]
Managing the School Holidays as a Working Parent

Managing the School Holidays as a Working Parent

When it comes to planning for school holidays, working parents and guardians face the huge task of making arrangements for their little people and deciding how they will go about managing the school holidays. This can be quite a stressful time, causing families to feel often guilty about not being around all of the time. […]
Proposed UK Employment Law Changes and How Employers Can Prepare

Proposed UK Employment Law Changes and How Employers Can Prepare

Following their election in July of this year, the new UK government has pledged to deliver “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”.   A key part of this commitment is the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill, which is expected to be introduced by the end of October 2024. While these changes are not […]
8 Steps to Getting Your Career Back on Track

8 Steps to Getting Your Career Back on Track

We know that a lot of the jobs we like the look of online are over applied to, probably phoney, in reality unsuitable, or were filled months ago with no one bothering to take them down.     In some sectors, the hiring markets are weaker than they have been in decades. Trying to navigate […]
Remote Work: Is a New Norm Starting to Form?

Remote Work: Is a New Norm Starting to Form?

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a seismic shift in the way we work, forcing millions of employees across the UK and around the globe to adapt to remote work practically overnight.   What began as a necessary response to a global health crisis has since evolved into a widespread reassessment of traditional work models, and […]
Remote war rages on. What’s your take?

Remote war rages on. What’s your take?

We are currently witnessing a large-scale social experiment unfold:   Can we be just as effective when working from home?   Are we just as engaged, productive, and happy?   The COVID-19 pandemic forced many workplaces to shut their doors entirely, resulting in millions of workers being required to work from home.   Now, three years […]
5 Ways of Managing Stress as a Leader

5 Ways of Managing Stress as a Leader

As a leader, your people will look to you for guidance in times of challenge and uncertainty.   Trying to manage your team as well as yourself during these times can make you vulnerable to high stress that can become chronic if not dealt with properly.   Currently, 69% of executives are considering quitting due […]

People. Culture. Growth.