5 Life Hacks to make your everyday Awesome!

When it comes to a topic like Morning routine, a lot of people skip blogs just because they work in evening shifts and they cannot wake up at 8:00 in the morning. This blog is not just about the mornings, It is about things you do after waking up, no matter the time. Before you decide to skip, I want you to know that the key thing about this blog is not just the things you should do before and after bed, I am going to talk about the tricks I have adopted over the time. These tricks will do wonders in turning your morning around.

The goal of this blog is to make your mornings awesome which will eventually make your day awesome.

Morning = Anytime when you wake up. I have had my bad experiences with the uncontrolled morning routines, and it has evolved (for the better) over the years. Here are a few things we are going to talk about. .

1. Before you sleep

2. Right after you open your eyes

3. After getting out of the Room

4. Move it

5. Practice Mindfulness

Conclusion

1) Before you sleep: In the recent research done in Liverpool John Moores University, the author Neil Walsh who is a professor in applied psychology deduced that, sleep quality and quantity are directly linked with respiratory infections and may lead to type 2 diabetes, obesity and other physical medical issues.

While it is proven that compromising on your sleep by restricting it with that one last episode, or one more minute, or one more game, is going to hurt you in the long run.

From today onwards I am not expecting you to tuck yourself in for exact 8 hours of sleep but, do the following to begin with:

• Fix a time you wish to sleep on working days and weekends, If you are disciplined enough you may fix it for everyday as well.
  

• Make sure you make it realistic and don't put your phone aside 5 mins before bed time and expect to get a deep sleep in 5, dont cheat with yourself, make sure you give yourself at least 20 mins to settle in the bed
  

• The one that I personally love the most, and also helps me keep my bed tidy. Don't go inside the bed unless you are sleepy and are absolutely ready to put your phone or laptop on the desk.

• Please note that what you are watching before you sleep, whether it's a horror movie, action thriller or the dirty stuff(LOL) it dictates the quality of your sleep.

So always remember Healthy sleep Habits dictates how your morning is going to be. And it's a cycle something like this: Good/Bad Sleep habits → Good/Bad Morning → Good/Bad Day → Good/Bad Week, Month, year → eventually a Good/Bad life.

But this blog is not about before you sleep it's about after you wake up.

Key takeaway- To define your morning you need to build your nights.

2) Right after you open your eyes:

If you start your day with Social media, News , office emails, you are suffocating the ability to set intentions for your day. This is more of a reactive way of starting a day rather than a proactive way. Tristan Harris Co-Founder & Executive Director of the Center for Humane Technology (CHT) explained it really well, he said : “When I wake up in the morning and turn out phone over to see a list of notifications- it frames the experience of ‘waking up in the morning’ around a menu of all the things I have missed since yesterday”

I am not saying don't touch your phone in the morning at all, but while we are in Sleep Inertia where you are not fully awake and not fully asleep and in a tug of war between the alarm and the pillow. In that situation we find a common ground and that is, stay in bed, wake up and check the phone. That is the worst thing you can do. If you think about it, that post you are going to see about a politician who said something about human rights that you are completely against, or that client email which was written in a very angry mood. Things like these set the tempo of your day and then dictate the actions you take for the rest of the day.

Lets try and understad it by the below graph I made, the moment you wake up is the time 0 and from there everything you do in the next 30 minutes dictates your day, its your choices that decide if you you start from 0, take it into negative -2 or make it more positive and start your day at a +2.

In the above graph you see, in Red, what happens when you work on making sure your mornings good. It gives you a kickstart to do better at the next coming task. In Black, if you start and selectively choose something that makes you feel drained in the morning, not only does it take you to the negative but now you have to struggle to bring it to the 0 and then start again which is going to take a good amount of energy and time. You must be thinking, “Shobhit, I wake up and see good things on my phone as well, that sets my day just right! “ That can happen too, but the question is, how much control do you have on the chances that the good post is going to pop up on your screen at the exact same moment when you open your instagram. Even if it is 50/50 it's not good enough. What I am saying is start your day with ZERO don't look for things to wake and then make your day. That's just too much dependency, Here is what I do and What i suggest:

• Wake up and say hi to yourself : Oh Yes, you heard it right, Mel Robbins Explained this in her book “ The High 5 Habits ” So well.

When we High 5 with anyone including yourself, our motion of putting our Hands up and giving high 5 to yourself releases Oxytocin (also called the “cuddle hormone”).

It is scientifically proven that high five or an equivalent can in fact enhance performance, on the field or in the office, that may be, because it reduces stress. A warm touch seems to set off the release of oxytocin, a hormone that helps create a sensation of trust, and to reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

• Drink a lot of water: Drinking water first thing in the morning helps fuel your brain. Our brain is made up of over 70% water, and continuing to hydrate helps maintain optimal brain activity.
  

• Make your bed: This is the most common at all, all our childhood our parents told us to make our beds. The reason is simple, the writer of “Make your Bed” Admiral McRaven explained it beautifully : “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day,” McRaven told the graduates. “It will give you a small, simple pride and encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. By the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed”.
  

• Go Stand in the balcony / lawn / terrace : Nothing special in this one, just stand there and think nothing or anything that you want to, what you choose to think at that moment is absolutely your choice and is not dictated by the social media post or news you saw first thing in the morning. **** After drinking water I tend to rush to the washroom, I have this sticky note that comes in front of me while I'm looking in the mirror.
  

3) After getting out of the Room : We need to acknowledge the fact that we cannot just naturally expect our mornings to be awesome, as it is highly possible that while you are working on kick-starting your morning in the best way possible, one of your family members woke up on the wrong side of the bed. ***If you are a person who wakes up and goes to the kitchen to work on your breakfast, I’d highly recommend cleaning the kitchen at night before you sleep. Waking up to a messed up kitchen can tick you off in seconds. As I said it is possible that someone else in the house is not having a great start of the day. I fall into this situation often. Since COVID I have been working remotely and I have been living with my mom, who is a government servant and has to go to work early in the morning. Sometimes when she dont get enough quantity or quality sleep, she wakes up a little cranky. I tried asking her “Ma, what is wrong, you look cranky” and this statement of mine will tick her off, I realized, telling a person that “they are off” especially in the morning will work as a spark to a bomb. What works best is, Acknowledging that they are not in a great mood and giving them the space they need, let them be for that 1 hour in the morning is very important.

Here is what I do - I wake up, give my mom a hug and wish her a good morning. This not only makes me feel good, but also sets a good pace for her morning. #gesture_over_Words . Try this and tell me if you find any difference. 4) Move it: It is very important that you get some physical activity after you wake up, It is scientifically proven and highly recommended by medical experts that working out in the morning is not only going to keep you fit, but also going to set the right pace of your mood and highly increase your productivity, increase hormonal functions and can be tied back to improved sleep at night.

In a study it was found that, “After the morning workout, the participants spent more time in deep sleep and experienced fewer nighttime awakenings. It also took them less time to fall asleep.Exercising outside in the morning offers even more sleep-related perks. Light exposure early in the day may help increase melatonin levels at night.” It's not just me, Its proven that morning workout is the key to better and productive days.

5) Practice Mindfulness :

After or before your physical activity, practicing breathing exercises or meditation for 7-15 minutes is a proven game changer. Breathing exercises help you get more oxygen to your brain and improve the overall body and brain function. Practicing Meditation will help you seek control of your thoughts, will get you more focused on the goals of the day and give you the mental stealth you need to win it all.

I enjoy practicing gratitude (which can take 3-5 mins maximum). On some mornings when I know something isn't right. I Just take a couple of minutes and show gratitude for things as simple as the house,family, loved ones, my job and health. These are the basic things that are the prime reason of our survival and victories in life, its nice to take a moment and appreciate that we have them all. “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” – Melody Beattie

Conclusion : I know you are smart and intelligent and you are working on achieving your goals everyday, be proud of the journey you have taken so far, be your own incharge, appreciate all the good things you already have and prepare yourself for the best to come. These tools and practices sometimes may feel vague but this is the preparation you need for the times when life will happen, so stand tall and be ready to deal with everything that comes your way. Your metal health is crucial not onlyfor you but it is crucial for your loved ones and your family. One positive step you take towards the awareness of yourself is one step you are taking on behalf of everyone around you. You are what you do, if you do the right things in your life they will make you feel positive and when you feel positive everything around you starts falling in place. I would love to know what time of the day you are reading this. I want you to go back and think about your morning today, reflect on what all things you did and how it might have steered your day. I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback :)

Go Get em’

BeAwesome_BeYou