10 morning ritual for a productive start to the day

This article can not only read, but also listen. If you prefer - turn on a podcast.

Every morning - a clean sheet. This is an opportunity to change the one your day better. And from the days of our lives and develops. If you want to achieve your goals, ask yourself the question: what do you do after you wake up and feel like yourself?

1. Do not reset the alarm clock

We used to hate the sound of an alarm clock, so click on the reset button, or put it on pause: we are well, get out I do not want out of the warm bed. While 10 extra minutes of sleep feel worse.

Evolution - a slow process, and humanity as a species is not accustomed to waking up from an artificially created noise. So we simply ignore it.

When we wake up, our body begins to produce dopamine - a chemical that overwhelming feeling sleepiness. Its effect is comparable to drinking a cup of coffee or energy. When we sleep, is produced serotonin - the hormone of pleasure.

After resetting the alarm starts to produce simultaneously two hormones with the opposite effect. Because of this stress on the body, we wake up disoriented and inhibited.

2. Take into account not only award

To motivate yourself for a certain action, such as waking up early in the morning and go to the shower, we use reward. But, as the author of the book "The force of habit" Charles Duhigg (Charles Duhigg), awards are not enough to entrenched habit.

It is necessary to identify a signal that leads to undesirable behavior, and replace it. For example, instead of pressing the button on the alarm clock curfew and again fall asleep, you can reward yourself with a cup of coffee. The signal for this action can serve as the smell of coffee in the room. If you live with someone, ask them to brew a drink every time you wake up.

3. Follow the appropriate strategy

The average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep, but some get enough sleep for 6 hours, and the other is small and 10. To cheer up, one person needed a shower, and the other is enough to drink a cup of coffee. Decide which category do you feel about people, and it will be easier to make your own strategy and understand how to follow the advice.

Gretchen Rubin (Gretchen Rubin) in the book "Better than before" says that all people can be divided into four groups depending on how they motivate award:

• Adherents of rules and orders: always follow the rules - both external (the command set) and internal (that they come up with themselves).
• Related promises: only work well under pressure and authority when they feel justified obligations to others.
• Seeking in all common sense: for each case they need intrinsic motivation, some meaning for themselves, if they find it - do the work.
• rebels: any job gives them a desire to do the opposite.

4. Wake up from the natural light

In one experiment a group of adult men suffering from insomniaA week was sent to a camping trip. In just a few days without artificial illumination of the experiment, participants not only became faster to fall asleep, but also easy to get up in the morning. Almost completely disappeared sleep inertia.

The organizer of the study, Kenneth Wright (Kenneth Wright) came to the following conclusion: in order to sleep soundly at night and easy to wake up early in the morning to get up with the sun.

Do it in a city is quite real: sleep in a room with a window, or better put the bed closer to the window, so that in the morning to get the maximum amount of light.

5. meditate

Meditation for everyone. At the same time, it should occur each in their own way. There are dozens of varieties of it - conscious, transcendental, yogic. But no one person can not say for certain what kind is right for you.

But the benefits of meditation are quite obvious: reduced anxiety levels, increases productivity, improves memory.

For example, the MRI scientists found decreased activity of beta waves in the brain after a 20-minute meditation sessionSalming The Mind.. This means that during meditation, the brain ceases to process the distracting information, so we are complacent.

If you do not know where to start, try one of the fast techniques Headspace or use the application.

6. Minimize decision making

We are all susceptible to fatigue from decision-making. This process takes our strength, so in the future it becomes increasingly difficult to make a choice.

As you can see, I wear only gray and blue suits. So I try to make fewer decisions. I do not want to expend energy and think about what I eat or what to wear. Because I have too many other things to be solved.

Barack Obama

To simplify the process, Obama enjoys a special note, which are divided on his desk on the three stacks, "agree", "disagree" and "let's talk". This method is many times faster feedback cycle, therefore, the case shall be brought to an end quickly.

To productively spend your morning, think about what decisions you can take every day automatically. Here are a few simple steps that will help you: choose a dress before going to sleep, eat breakfast at one and the same, to get up early to avoid traffic jams.

7. eat a frog

Brian Tracy psychologist, in his book "Eat the frog! 21 way to learn how to keep up, "says that each of us has a frog - the largest and most important task, on which we prokrastiniruem.

If in the morning to eat a frog, the remainder of the day is going to be wonderful, because the worst is over for today.

Mark Twain, writer

So the first thing in the morning to eat his biggest frog, even if you do not want. Our reserves will limited, so you need to start the day with an important matter, as long as power is still there.

In addition, the higher level of creativity in the morning. This is confirmed by the study: after waking up in people there is increased activity in the prefrontal cortex - part of the brain is responsible for creativity.

8. Do one important thing

Psychologist Kevin Cruz (Kevin Kruse), studying the habits of millionaires, Olympic champions and entrepreneurs, found that none of them did not mention the list.

We maintain a list of cases there are a few drawbacks:

• Not taken into account the time. When a person sees a long list, it proceeds to tasks that take less time. Therefore, requiring a consistent, long task and remain unfinished (about 41% of the entire list of tasks, according to company iDoneThis).
• There is no difference between urgent and important matters. Again, succumbing to impulse, we rush to do an urgent and ignore important.
• Increases stress levels. List provokes known in psychology Zeigarnik effect: Due nezavershonnnyh objectives in mind there are uncontrollable intrusive thoughts. So the whole day we feel tired, and at night hardly sleep.

Instead, the task list, select only one thing that you have to finish today. After running it, you will feel the satisfaction and easily will understand the remaining less important tasks.

9. Prepare the night before

Your well-being during waking and throughout the day will depend on how well you slept.

Numerous studies have shown that electronic devices contribute to disruption of sleep cycles. If you are regularly experiencing problems, try disabling all Soup for 2-3 hours before bedtime (this also applies to e-books).

Cold glow of the screens hinders the production of melatonin - a hormone that coordinates the work of our internal clock.

In the evening, it is necessary not only to sleep, but also to decide how to spend the next day.

McKeon Greg (Greg McKeown), author of "Escentsializm. The path to simplicity, "recommends that you write down in a diary, how was your date before planning the next day. If you have not figured that done today is right and what is wrong, you will not be able to make a productive plan of action for tomorrow.

How to plan a business? We have already mentioned that successful people rarely use the to-do list. However, Cruz noticed that almost all of them use the calendar.

Method of planning tasks in the calendar is devoid of all the drawbacks of the list of cases that we talked about earlier:

• you can manage your time;
• you can schedule the most important things to do at the beginning of the day, when you still have reserves of willpower;
• you will avoid over-voltage, so as you can include in the calendar scheduled breaks.

10. Take a shower to wake up

Nucor, or awakening souls - is a ritual practiced by the Japanese samurai. Every morning they poured it on his head a bucket of cold water.

Misogi domestic analogue - a contrast shower, when we alternate flows of hot and cold water.

Studies show that this hydrotherapy has a positive effect on health: reduced stress, strengthens the immune system, the body begins to burn fat better and more efficiently fights depression.

If you decide to try a douche for yourself, follow this order:

1. First, in the shower wash at ambient temperature. Then turn the faucet handle so that the water became ice. Stand under a cold shower for 30 seconds.
2. Now turn the faucet to water has become very hot. Under this shower disclosed capillaries, improves blood circulation. Stand under it for 30 seconds.
3. And switch back to the cold water, under which wait another 30 seconds.

It seems that everything is very simple, but at the beginning you can experience a real shock.

---

Every morning, Benjamin Franklin asked himself the question: "What good can I do today?". Before I get into the workplace, you need to recuperate and prepare for a new day. The only way you can do something significant.

Everyone will have their perfect start to the morning. Someone who likes to listen to music in the morning, someone has to read and check the schedule. Make your perfect routine. We hope our recommendations will help you with this.