6 Things to STOP Doing Every Morning

Listen on Apple Podcasts / Listen on Spotify

Mornings can be such a precious time in our day. They set the tone—but because of that, they can also said a tone of chaos, overwhelming, & rushing!

From what I’ve seen working with clients and from what I’ve seen in my own life, there are certain things that we should avoid doing when we start our day because they do nothing but Set the wrong tone for the day. That's not what any of us want! So let's talk about What we need to STOP doing every morning to set ourselves up for success, start our morning strong, and help have as amazing of a day as possible.

01. stop checking social media

This should come as no surprise to anybody! really, starting your day with anything on your phone isn't the best idea.

I'm not one to rag on social media. I do think it has a lot of benefits and it has added to my life in so many ways. Heck I've met great people on social media! But, that being said, social some drawbacks when it's the way you start your day.

You could start responding to dm's that really aren't worth your time, get lost in a social media scrolling rabbit hole that waste your entire morning, or just see things that sets the wrong tone and the wrong mood for your day. Whenever I spend too long on Instagram in the morning, I inevitably regret it. It never adds to my day in the way I want it to, and never sets me up for success when it comes to starting my day. if anything it just takes away from how I want my day to start And that's why I think we need to avoid social media…

Heck, I'd say a best practice is to not check your phone or at least the first hour of your day. let yourself wake up Read a book, meditate, whatever, but don't start your day on your phone. Similar to that, let’s look at tip #2…

02. stop checking email

This is another one of those that might seem obvious, but how many of us still do it? Checking email first thing in the morning is never a good idea. I've heard it said that your inbox is a convenient collection place for other people's priorities And do you really want to start your day with other people's priorities?

I know somebody will inevitably say that it's an important part of their job, and that they might have a fire that they need to take care of or put out. But what I would say to that is this: don't you deserve 60 to 90 minutes in the morning to just focus on yourself before you start putting out fires for other people?

Our mornings have gotten too easily monopolized by other people, by work, and not by us. In my opinion, your mornings are the best and most important time that you should be dedicating to number one: you! Don’t let other people, including work and clients and fires, pull you away from that. This is your time!

They get you for the rest of the day. Let your mornings be for you.

03. stop drinking coffee right away

I will admit that if you told me this one to me years ago, I probably would have ignored you. But the more I learn about your natural melatonin production—our natural melatonin production— the more I realize that having coffee right in the morning is actually not a good thing.

We naturally produce melatonin on a certain schedule, which is called a circadian rhythm—I know, fancy science words. What that means is that our body has natural means for waking up in the morning. If we immediately default to drinking coffee, we disrupt those normal pieces of hormone production. They likely still happen, but they just won't happen as well.

I personally found, that if I save my coffee for later in the day, I wake up more easily in the morning and I go to bed more easily at night because I haven't jacked up my body's natural hormone production. Plus, I drink less coffee over the course of the day. It's a win-win.

And trust me when I say I love coffee I love the taste of it I love drinking it It makes me happy. But drinking less of it has made a big difference in my life.

04. stop hitting snooze

I know how hard it is to not snooze your alarm in the morning, but instead of consistently snoozing our alarm, we should take that data for what it is. What do I mean by that? I mean that the need to snooze your alarm in the morning means that you are not getting enough sleep. I know. You're probably one of those people that thinks that they don't need a lot of sleep, but you do. People who naturally need less sleep are few and far between, and I'd be willing to bet you a lot of money that if you actually had your sleep assessed you probably have a serious sleep debt.

So, if you constantly feel the need to snooze in the morning, try one important thing: go to bed earlier. I'm not talking dramatically earlier either. I'm just talking maybe 30 minutes earlier. What your alarm clock probably did is it interrupted a REM cycle. That's why it's so hard for you to get out of bed! But if you go to bed just 30 minutes earlier you're probably gonna be able to complete that REM cycle before you wake up, making your mornings even easier.

So, in a nutshell, don't snooze! Instead, use what your body is telling you and make subtle adjustments to your sleep routines so that you are completing your REM cycles before you wake up and making sure you get enough sleep.

05. stop skipping breakfast

If you feel tired over the course of the day, this actually might be contributing to that more than your sleep. It actually might be the food that you're consuming and when you're consuming it. Our blood sugar impacts our energy levels, and when we don't eat for extended periods of time, like skipping breakfast, our blood sugar crashes.

This is just a personal opinion, but, to me, I think it's really important to be at your best and to have sustainable energy. There is 1000% conflicting evidence on this, meaning some studies have found that skipping breakfast is just fine, while other studies have found that skipping breakfast is harmful. There is no scientific agreement on this, I will admit that. However, what I found in myself and in my clients is that my energy levels, and therefore my focus, are more sustainable when I feed myself consistently, and that starts by eating breakfast.

My breakfast recommendations? Overnight oats. Avocado toast with eggs. A breakfast burrito. Something that sustains me and keeps me full is my go-to.

06. stop turning on the TV or Music

My final tip is to stop turning on the TV or music as soon as you wake up. The reason for this is because of something called sensory rest. Sensory rest is a form of rest that frankly a lot of us really struggle to get in. And just like so much of that I talk about, getting that sensory rest in it in the morning might be the only time when it actually happens.

The rest of the day you might have people needing you, phone calls coming in, conversations happening, kids asking for you, whatever. There's going to be few moments for silence and sensory rest over the course of the day. That’s why it's so important to get that silent and that sensory rest in at the start of your day.

Relish that early morning peace and calm, so you can set up your day with less overwhelm, less chaos, and more and more calm and slow down. For me personally? I read and meditate in the morning. Highly recommended!

Those are my 6 top things to STOP doing in the morning!

Do you have anything to add?
Drop a comment below…