Top Ways to Upgrade Your Morning Routine

That's a really good idea that probably wouldn't occur to most people (it hadn't to me until I read this). I find myself puttering around in the mornings, too, rather than just doing what needs to be done and getting to work.

Of course, rather than having time in the morning and starting to do other things that make you late, you could just leave for work earlier so you finish and get home earlier... That's how I do things. I try to get up at the same time every day and whenever I'm done with shower, breakfast etc... I head to work. It tends to mean I'm one of the first people in the office which lets me get one or two important tasks done before people start asking me for things. I think too many people think of their work days as running between particular times rather than for a period of time. If you have the flexibility to get in half an hour early and consequently leave half an hour earlier than normal, why not give yourself and extra half hour chill time in the evening (and possibly be travelling outside rush hour for even more free time).

Best thing I ever did, bar none, was investing in a light lamp. Solved my night owl tendencies, my inability to get to sleep at night and wake up in the morning in one fell swoop. Of course, now I have to remember to actually use the damn thing.

Interesting. I have absolutely never heard this before. What is your source?

The only time I have heard that is when talking about people with high blood pressure and heart disease . For those without such issues or risk factors no studies seem to exist which support your conclusions.

I could swear I've seen the BBC's Horizon doing a program on times of day where the most people die. Something about your blood being thicker in the morning between 7 - 10am and it's linked to a higher rate of heart attacks. Also recall something about 2pm - 4pm being the deadliest time to be driving with the post-lunch slowdown and the largest number of hazards on the roads combining to result in statistics that show more road deaths at this time than any other. Can I find this any info on this programme using google?! hell no... and i've scoured! Pretty damn sure it was Horizon... but I guess I could be confusing it with a Discovery channel programme.

I would also like to know the source of this, I workout every morning and find it is absolutely the best way to be firing on all cylinders in the morning (only if I've had 6 hrs+ sleep, though).

I've actually heard this before too, although the source escapes me. What I've come to understand is that stretching is the best thing for you in the morning, not exercise. I read about a 7o-something year old russian scientist who came to work with more energy than any of his 20-something grad students because he spent around 2 hours stretching each morning. Some people also recommend yoga.

Thanks for putting up the links. I am surprised how many responses this comment has garnered. I am not a health expert but, was just speaking from a few news articles I had read. (unable to relocate) I just wanted to add to the conversation, not take a stand against exercising in the morning. To re- focus my comment, I believe the strain on your heart is a real thing to consider but, it's not an absolute. Like it was pointed out above, if you have a pre existing condition it may very well expose that. Based off the the articles shared, I would say that if you had a choice to work out when you first woke up or an hour or so later, it would probably be healthier to go with the latter, regardless of existing health conditions. However if it's your only chance to exercise for the day, the benefits would probably out weigh any sort of speculative negative affects. In summary, I would say that in the span of the day, if there was a vulnerable time for your body, it would be when you first wake up. Thanks Gawker for providing the people with great content that spark great conversation!

Wake up on the dot by waking up at the same time every day. Yes, even on the weekends. Go to sleep quickly by first taking the hottest shower you can stand and then immediately getting into bed. As your body cools from the shower, you will get sleepy. Works for me.

another big thing is not to lay in bed until it is time to go to sleep. Over time your body will get reprogrammed to the idea bed = sleep.

Your mileage will probably vary, but as a grad student I can tell you that dense and insanely boring non-fiction puts me to sleep on the dot no matter what the time of day. If I'm at home, I can't read for my dissertation without a cup of coffee or a nap beforehand, so I often take my reading to the gym and just pedal along at 60-70% of capacity while marking up whatever I'm reading to make sure I can go back and find all the info I need later. Did I just go completely off topic...?

Have you tried taking any melatonin before going to bed? I don't know your body type, but 3mg is a nice middle ground for most people. I'd suggest, however, starting at 1mg and work in 1mg increments, to a max of 5mg, until you find a good dose for yourself. I once took a 10mg dose, knowing this was high and wanting to see what would happen. A dead-man trigger I rigged up indicated that I fell asleep within 5-6 minutes. Suffice to say, I'm only taking a 3mg dose of the stuff when I have 3+ consecutive, sleepless nights.

I definitely agree on the waking up at the same time idea. I used to work out 3-4 days a week, so I'd get up early on those days and later on rest days. I always had trouble waking up early after waking up later the day before. Now that I workout 6 days a week it's actually easier to wake up at the same time. In fact, I'm usually awake before the alarm. I have to disagree about the hot shower, may work for you, but I recall reading a report recently about working out at night. People who work out at night tend to have a harder time getting to sleep because when your body goes into sleep mode, your core temperature drops. Working out brings your core temperature up, so working out at night makes it harder to go to sleep because you have to wait until your core temp goes down. Headclone, I'd advise the opposite of Dave, I'd try taking a colder shower at night, and in the summer, crank the AC and close off your bedroom so that the room cools down considerably. For me, I need cold to sleep, I have the worst trouble getting to sleep in the summer.

I second getting up at the same time everyday, i get up at 6h30 every morning and if i leave my shutter open and don't set my alarm clock i get up just a bit later

After a cold shower, blood will flow to the skin surface and your body starts working to raise your body temp. After a hot shower, your body cools. The key, though, is to cool off in the bed, not while walking around.

Some things I've seen multiple on times on LH and elsewhere: - Spend a few minutes near your bedtime clearing your head of any work you need to get done, perhaps leave a notepad on your nightstand so you can write down any errant thoughts. - I also leave things like picking up the house, cleaning dishes, and ironing the next day's clothes until late in the evening so I can end the day with work accomplished. Stick to tasks that don't require your body to get 'adrenalized'. - If the 'shower' methods suggested in the other responses don't do it for you, try a yoga DVD. I've never worked it into a daily routine, but when I use relaxation yoga I crash hard.

When I had trouble falling asleep, I ended up making it my mental time. Try going to bed earlier, with the intention of reading, listening to calm music like Enya, Sade, classical or jazz, or just use that time to meditatively think about the events of the day and plan for the next. After turning that can't-fall-asleep time into time-for-me time, I have a much better time going down for the night.

well in my region the southern Mediterranean it is common to eat dinner late in the evening after 9 and especially in the summer month.

I'm betting timgray is in the US though, and you in the med are also having a sieasa and are staying up til midnight or later easily, and generally it was still to warm/lively to go to bed @ 9pm anyway!

While I agree that you shouldn't keep snacking up until you go to bed, the distinction should be made that snacking frequently doesn't "disrupt" your digestion, as the digestive process requires no "rest phase" in which food shouldn't be consumed. It is also a myth that eating before bed can keep you awake (assuming the food does not contain high concentrations of stimulants or sugars and does not cause nausea/heartburn), as the digestive process works just as well during sleep and does not interrupt the transition from wakefulness to sleep.

Same here. I work from home and could set my own hours, if I worked and slept according to my natural schedule that is. However, I keep roughly the same schedule as my wife who has a regular 9-5 deal... I would never see her otherwise.

I'm the same as you, except I have class at 8:15 every morning. I was never able to change my habits so during the week I'm constantly running on 6 hours, or less, of sleep.

I've always thought being a night person was normal... but it really isn't. My thing was it was the only time for myself to browse the web & play games I could manage through my entire day was at night... when my family was asleep. I am a college student, too, so I started falling in line with my friends who do the same. Y'know, up late chatting on AIM/Twitter. Since moving out of my family's house (thank God), I've decided I can get that alone time easily during the day, thus the night should be held for either reading or sleeping; or some combination of the two. Don't know if that's your logic, but I feel that once I found some satisfying time to myself during the day, the night should be reserved for rejuvenating my body. 8 hours and waking up feeling awesome is probably the BEST thing I can do for my health I'm finding so far.

Foods such as turkey have never been proven to directly influence "sleepiness'. I quote wikipedia on this: "although turkey is reputed to cause sleepiness, holiday dinners are commonly large meals served with carbohydrates, fats, and alcohol in a relaxed atmosphere, all of which are bigger contributors to post-meal sleepiness than the tryptophan in turkey" The chemical (Tryptophan) in turkey is found in approximately the same amounts in most animals flesh, so if it were to have any effect on an individuals alertness, you'd think that you'd feel tired after eating any kind of meat (pork, chicken, etc).

The push up routine really helps in the morning. A little exercise in the morning gets me ready for the rest of the day. Also, eating a healthy breakfast really perks me up. Stay away from the heavily sweetened morning coffees as they quickly ruin your entire morning and afternoon.

"Seems sacriligious, but if you asked your boss or clients which was more important, their answer might not surprise you." Should be 'sacrilegious'.

Agreed, I've seemed to swing over the years, meeting the needs of school or a job. I currently stay up very late doing course work for grad school, but I'd much rather be going to bed at 10 and getting up at 5 get a jump on the day and get centered...

Well, I've been waking up at 4:30 for a year and a half now for my job and if I didn't have an alarm clock, there is no way I would come anywhere close to waking up when I need to. Everyone says "your body will get used to it", but mine does not seem to want to get used to it.

Wrong answer! There absolutely are individual preferences, though one of the wonders of humankind is our ability to adapt to other schedules. It is easier for some than others. I can personally attest to this. Nothing in my background should have made me a night person (unless being born a 9:30 pm counts—and maybe it does). My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents were "early to bed, early to risers," though probably by necessity and habit, rather than "nature." In the open structure of college, I discovered that a nocturnal schedule was best for me—8 am classes became after-dinner fare. Party started at 11 pm—perfect and still going strong at 4 am. Saw just about every sunrise and many sunsets, after a noon-ish to 6-ish sleep. It was comfortable, healthy, and glorious—for me and a few others. Since, I've mostly been in a structured, daytime work force, except for one brief, happy period working in night court. Would that I could recapture those days. Mornings are too brash for the beginning of one's day, though they make a good, positive start for the last quarter of a nocturnal schedule.