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An effective 5-minute morning routine that can benefit your entire day

To be happy and productive, don't have to add any more time or energy to your current morning routine.

By obafemi samuelPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Many of the behaviors that can help you get your day started can be completed in less than five minutes.

Most of the good habits we uncovered on Quora came from the "What 5 minutes a day can I do to improve my complete day?" questions. and "How can I be more productive in the morning?"

For example, here are a few basic morning routines that can help you start the day feeling refreshed and ready to face whatever life's obstacles you're facing.

Take three long, deep breaths

This is from the Department of Justice Setlodi. Respiratory therapist Michael Breus advised us to begin each day by inhaling deeply to wake up the respiratory system.

image credit: istockphotos

Meditate

According to scientific research, meditation is said to have numerous health benefits, including aiding you in dealing with stress and bad emotions, enhancing your memory, and improving your immune system.

However, meditation doesn't always require sitting still for lengthy periods. Sitting for five minutes to detach from the contents of your mind will have a significant impact on your day, as mentioned by Ariel Banayan.

To begin, the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center offers five-minute introductory guided meditations.

Maintain an immaculate appearance

Raviteja Chirala said that he looks forward to returning home to a made bed.

While getting your bed made has been shown to promote productivity for the rest of the day, investigative journalist Charles Duhigg in his book "The Power of Habit" explains that making your bed can boost productivity for the rest of the day. It's a "keystone habit" that helps other good habits take hold since it "may ignite chain reactions that help other habits take hold."

Be thankful for three things

Nela Canovic, an active Quora user, suggests starting your day by writing down three things you're thankful for.

Consider all the good things that already exist in your life, she notes. There is more to life than just possessions (such as a car or computer). You might thank your friends, family, or education, for example.

Like the "three good things" exercise advocated by University of Pennsylvania professor Martin Seligman, who is one of the founders of the positive psychology movement, this method is just like that.

Seligman and colleagues suggest that individuals journal each evening for three consecutive nights and jot down three recent occurrences followed by an explanation for why they occurred. While this exercise is designed for use at night, you may simply adjust it to fit your morning routine. When you first wake up, think about three things you're grateful for in general.

Exercise

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After you wake up, Minh Killy Le recommends doing five minutes of exercise. He likes push-ups, but his favorite is planking, which is a bit like a push-up.

Although the workouts in these studies lasted an hour, or until the participants had expended 400 calories, research indicates that working out before breakfast helps to lose weight and increase energy levels.

Even if you prefer to exercise for a long time, make sure to warm up before help prepares your muscles for the workout.

Consider what today may be fantastic about

To provide you an alternative to acting as if today will be a good day, Canovic proposes writing one line about anything that, if it were to happen, would give you a feeling of positivity, productivity, and uniqueness.

She claims you don't have to go to bed before midnight or engage in something you hate to get a good night's sleep.

The first step to doing something, in whatever area of your life, is understanding what you truly want and desire.

Listen to music while working.

image credit: istockphotos

The Swedish activist and former politician Elias Edgren has confessed that his alarm clock is set to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now." An eccentric neuroscientist described a certain song as one of the most "feel-good" tunes in the history of music.

Take some time during the morning to listen to your favorite music, and see if it makes you feel better like it does for Edgren. At any rate, it's best to avoid listening to it while you're at work.

Prioritize

Additionally, establishing a to-do list can help you attain your goals for the day. You will know exactly what has to be done and may proceed in an organized fashion for the following few hours.

Travis Bradberry, a psychologist, believes planning in advance might help you achieve your goals. Setting daily goals following your mindfulness practice is something he likes to do.

Take time to plan the rest of the day

Harrison Thorne advises visualizing your long-term and short-term goals each morning: "Simply envision your goals and reinforce your talents to achieve them."

An approach similar to this was described in Duhigg's second book, "Smarter Faster Better," in which he encourages readers to imagine what their day would be like before it ever begins.

[The researcher] looks at the productive employees at a company that recruits new employees, and he finds that they are, in fact, deeply obsessed with explaining the universe to themselves and their colleagues while they're getting their jobs done. In the example above, coworkers may be asked to provide examples of conversations and pitching meetings they've had in the future so that they would be more prepared when these things happen.

He suggests incorporating this routine into your daily routine by developing a habit of telling yourself a comprehensive story about the rest of the day during your morning commute.

Don't pay attention to your phone

This is not a typical activity. Pick up your smartphone before you've got the chance to determine your objectives for the day, suggests Matt Sandrini.

Email checking starts the day off right, according to Julie Morgenstern, author of the book "Never Check Email in the Morning." As she said to The Huffington Post, "then you'll never fully recover."

There is no end to the demands, interruptions, surprises, and distractions she will experience during her day.

She advises waiting an hour. It is impossible to find a task that cannot wait 59 minutes or more.

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obafemi samuel

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