The Perfect Morning Routine
Consider the following statistics from Leaders.com: 92% of highly successful people have a solid morning routine.
From Andrew Hubermans morning routine to the 5 am club, the internet is full of advice on how we should wake up to win at life. But does it matter, and is there a ‘perfect’ way to wake up? Let’s find out.
Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash
WHAT IS A MORNING ROUTINE
A morning routine is a set of habits you commit to complete every morning to set yourself up for a successful day. While these routines differ from person to person, they are essentially structured and repeated behaviors that provide organization and predictability to daily life. You could do anything from exercising and journaling to reading and meditating. Or, alternatively, you could hit snooze five times, sleep until noon, and scroll through Instagram for 30 minutes.
These examples are part of a morning routine. It’s a revelation for many to discover that they already have a morning routine, even if they’ve never heard of the phrase before. This realization can be a powerful tool for self-awareness and personal growth, inspiring you to make positive changes. However, many say they are not a ‘morning person’ and stumble into the day without much thought. So, let’s see if it is worth changing our routines into something more productive.
SCIENTIFIC BENEFITS OF A SET MORNING ROUTINE
Andrew Huberman, a famous neuroscientist, emphasizes the importance of setting a healthy circadian rhythm by going to sleep and getting up roughly at the same time. He has said that the best thing you can do for your sleep, energy, mood, wakefulness, and metabolism is to get natural light in your eyes early in the day. This is grounded in the core of our physiology. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of quality peer-reviewed papers showing that light viewing early in the day is the most powerful stimulus for wakefulness throughout the day and has a powerful, positive impact on your ability to fall and stay asleep at night. So, this is the foundational power tool for ensuring a great night's sleep and for feeling more awake during the day.
New research suggests that night owls may be more likely to develop heart disease or diabetes than early birds. People who get up early in the morning seem to burn more fat as an energy source and are often more active than those who stay up late. Steven Malin, a professor at Rutgers who led the study on ‘night owls’ compared to ‘early risers,’ told The Guardian that his team had yet to decode why the two groups of people had a metabolism that worked differently. He said it could be a “mismatch” between the time people go to bed and wake up and their natural circadian rhythms.
“Night owls are reported to have a higher rate of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease when compared to early birds,” he said. “A potential explanation is they become misaligned with their circadian rhythm for various reasons, but most notably among adults who work.”
The importance of the body clock!
As our circadian rhythm is naturally linked with the level of daylight we perceive, it makes sense that the window of time between 10 pm and 4 am is considered optimal for resting. Many scientists believe we naturally evolved to rest in hours of darkness as we are much less functional at this time, due to lack of sight.
According to Dr. Matt Walker, head of the Neuroimaging and Sleep Lab at the University of California, our sleep schedule switches in the early hours, favoring lighter, REM-based sleep over deep sleep. This means that if you were to fall asleep at 3 or 4 am, the brain is naturally inclined to remain in lighter sleep phases, even if you get a full 8 hours. In cases such as this, a person would feel fatigued and unwell throughout the following day. For people who regularly sleep at unconventional times (e.g. night shift workers), this can lead up to serious health problems.
According to research published in the European Heart Journal, going to sleep between 10 pm and 11 pm is linked to a lower risk of heart and circulatory disease.
The study used data from over 88,000 UK Biobank participants aged 43-74, who were monitored weekly. They answered questions about their lifestyle and wore a wrist tracker recording the time they fell asleep and woke up. Over the next six years, 3,172 of them developed heart and circulatory disease.
Making our mornings more productive and creating a consistent circadian rhythm with the nature around us can improve our productivity throughout the day and keep our minds and bodies healthier. However, over 60% of Americans hardly ever wake up feeling energized or rested, according to a 2020 survey conducted by RestoreZ. So, my question to you is…do you want to be like nearly 2/3 of the masses of stand out.
HOW TO CREATE A PERFECT MORNING ROUTINE
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.
The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
CONSISTENCY
Not everyone can or wants to wake up at 5 a.m. to go sit in a cold plunge. However, we do need to create a consistent and sustainable wake-up routine to improve our sleep and day-to-day productivity. One study that looked at more than 60 Harvard students for one month found that the students with the most consistent wake-up hours “performed better” compared to those who chose to mix it up, even though they were getting the same amount of sleep in general.
The study also found that this consistency helps to set a steady rhythm for our body’s internal clock. Basically, it has a huge number of positive effects on our metabolism (i.e., how our body uses energy), hormone regulation (so, those little chemical messengers that play a huge part in our mood, appetite, sleep, etc.), and the general feeling of well-being.
The time itself doesn’t need to be exact or early. It just needs to be roughly the same every day.
2. MAKE SURE YOU GET ENOUGH SLEEP
7.5-9 hours a night is ideal, according to most research. Sleep matters for everyone — but getting sleep right is crucial for adolescents. Their brains are still developing, and their hormones are changing, too. Sleep regulates many hormones, which regulate much of what the body does. He gives the example of cortisol, the primary stress hormone. Inadequate sleep can ramp up cortisol, which can elevate blood sugar levels and increase the risk of diabetes. “Then we’re more likely to be obese and have hypertension and all kinds of other things because we’re not getting enough sleep,” wrote Blake L. Jones, an associate professor of developmental psychology.
Additionally, he said the parasympathetic nervous system — the so-called “rest and digest” nervous system — is “really engaged” during sleep. That’s when it does much of its repair work, mending damaged tissue and healing injuries. It’s also when a great deal of digestion and metabolism regulation takes place. And sleep is vital for brain development.
This should not mean that you go to sleep at 3 a.m. and wake up at 12 p.m. According to research, our bodies work in harmony with nature. Teenagers who engage in social media, hang out with their friends, or watch TV late at night sacrifice many of the benefits of a good night’s sleep.
3. MOVE YOUR BODY
Engage in some form of physical activity, such as jogging or lifting weights, yoga, or even stretching, to help improve overall fitness and energy levels. Incorporating some high-intensity interval training (HIIT) into the exercise routine helps improve cardiovascular health and metabolism. If you’re not a ‘working out’ person, now might be a time to change that and find something you enjoy. YouTube has a lot of different exercise videos to follow. Honestly, even just walking outside is highly beneficial for waking you up and preparing you for a successful day. It will also allow you to be exposed to natural sunlight, which is integral to any morning routine.
4. EAT AND HYDRATE
You’re fasting the entire time you’re asleep — often, for a few hours before sleep. Fasting means that you aren’t eating or drinking anything. So your stomach is empty, and you’re dehydrated when you first wake up. Drink water as soon as possible after waking up to help rehydrate the body and improve digestion.
13% of school-aged kids skip breakfast. This number jumps to more than 27%, on average, for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years. Females start skipping breakfast earlier than males and skip more regularly. However, a 2019 review of studies in the journal Nutrients found that children and adolescents who don't eat breakfast are more likely to be or become overweight or obese. Eating breakfast gets your metabolism going. This means your body starts to burn calories.
Studies have also shown that eating breakfast positively affects school performance. They have better concentration and more energy, with improved memory, attention, and test scores.
While there are many fasting fads out there, it is essential as an adolescent to fuel your body for the day ahead. A healthy breakfast is an integral part of Huberman’s morning routine. He suggests consuming a meal rich in protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates to help provide sustained energy throughout the day. If you wake up earlier, you can make yourself a nutritious breakfast. You can even find videos on social media about preparing it the night before (think overnight oats, etc).
5. CHOOSE A TALENT/SKILL THAT REQUIRES YOU TO WAKE UP EARLIER
I doubt that in my youth, I woke up later than 9 am. Neither did my sisters, my friends, or my now husband. Why? Because we had a talent or a skill we had to work on. My sister was a ballet dancer, my other sister and I were professional tennis players, and my oldest sister wanted to enter the military academy. Our parents made sure we went to bed at a decent time to be able to wake up for lessons. Yes, even on the weekends. What are you into? Who do you want to be? Even if you don’t want to become a pro basketball player, creating a routine and learning how to work for something, even if you don’t want to, will immensely benefit your future. You can even join a local running club that trains in the morning. Maybe take online classes in the field you're interested in, or meet with people that you admire.
6. SET DAILY GOALS
You can do this in the morning or the night before. Setting daily goals is a way to stay focused and motivated throughout the day. Set both short-term and long-term goals and write them down in a planner or journal. Review your goals at the end of the day to reflect on progress and identify areas for improvement. They can be as easy as making your bed, moving your body, helping your parents with chores, and working on your long-term goals and desired achievements.
There you have it. Science and research have spoken. Don’t sleep until noon anymore and scroll for an hour on your phone. Go to bed at a regular time, wake up earlier, and take care of your body and mind. Become a successful person in the talent and skill you’re developing in your youth, or use that discipline to achieve incredible things later in life. I believe these six steps are enough to get you going and achieve a sustainable morning routine that can benefit your future. Don’t waste your precious youth. It is the only period in our lives that we have the luxury of time for ourselves and our goals.
