8 Morning Habits To Kick To The Curb

Dec 11, 2018

Old habits can be hard to quit and often become mindless autopilot actions over time. Mornings are especially prone to such autopilot maneuvers since there’s usually little time to spare and most of us wake up groggy from not getting enough sleep. It all may seem perfectly rational and harmless, such as having a cup of coffee or milk and cereal every single morning, but many of your morning habits may not be so benign.

Want a better morning to start your day off right? Then consider kicking these eight habits you do every single day out of your life:

You wake up and go straight to your phone to check it, but you don’t put it down when nothing urgent went unseen. Instead, you stay on it checking emails, texts, and favorite apps. The big-time leech is social media. Social media is one of the most common things people check first thing in the morning, and some people spend their entire morning reading comments and posts about the lives of others. What you’re missing doing this is listening to creativity-inspiring music, cooking a nutritious breakfast, showering, and having a meaningful conversation with a loved one.

A shower is a big part of starting your day off right. The insurgent water signals to your body that it’s time for action. You’re faced with an array of professional and personal decisions and questions throughout the day. Harvard research has shown that showering activates the brain, lessens distractions, and allows new ideas and unusual idea processes to take place, which all in turn make decisions and questions easier to come by during the day?

While hot showers do nothing but dry out your skin and make you want to get back in the bed, a cold shower helps you wake up refreshed, energized, and ready to get to the action part of the day. Colder showers have also been shown to stimulate the immune system and have brain power boosting effects. 

If you find yourself looking at your closet and wondering what to wear or trying on multiple outfits each morning, you’re losing a lot of precious time and wasting a lot of mental energy before you even start the day. Have you ever wondered why Steve Jobs always wore the same old jeans and black t-shirt combo each day? It wasn’t for a lack of money. It was because he valued his time. Simplify and decrease the variety in your closet, separate your wardrobe by its function and season, and get rid of unwearable and unusable items to break this habit and make your morning time valuable and meaningful.

It’s in the name of being neat and tidy, right? But, did you know that you’re creating a dust mite paradise by immediately making your bed? All the natural moisture your body has left behind on the sheets can’t evaporate under the covers. So, instead of making your bed up, pull those blankets back/off and let the moisture evaporate.

Chelsey Amer, a renowned dietician, said it’s actually healthier to eat a slice of pizza for breakfast than it is to eat cereal. Why? Cereal has on average at least 4 tbsp of sugar in a serving size. Adding milk, fruit, or yogurt boosts that sugar count even more. Early morning sugar causes an infusion of insulin in the blood that gives you a huge boost of energy, but it soon wears off to leave you feeling extremely tired and lethargic. Go for breakfasts with proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates, such as eggs, cottage cheese, and even a single slice of breakfast pizza.

Coffee is best drank three to four hours after you wake. Why? It raises your cortisol levels, which leads to nervousness and anxiety. On an empty stomach, coffee also creates the perfect storm for gastritis. If you simply must have that coffee first thing, then be sure to add a little milk or cream to reduce the harsh effects on the tummy.

Tooth enamel is particularly vulnerable after eating, especially when those foods are sugary or acidic. Fruits, sodas, coffees, and so forth contain acids and sugars that soften the enamel, and then you brush the softened enamel and do more harm than good. So, don’t brush immediately after breakfast. Instead, gargle with some water and floss food bits away. After 30 minutes, come back and thoroughly brush your teeth.

Which bad morning habits do you need to quit? Do you know some more bad morning habits you want others to quit? Let us know in the comments and don't forget to pass on this information!

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!