Try these tips for feeling more energised in the morning.
We all have mornings where it’s difficult to get going. We might have got to bed a bit late the night before, or noisy neighbours kept us up. But when you find yourself sluggish and lacking energy morning after morning it might be time to consider a few tweaks to your daily routine.
It’s well documented that dehydration can leave you feeling physically drained, and mentally lacking motivation and oomph. A night’s sleep will leave you without any water intake for at least 8 hours, so it’s likely you’re waking up dehydrated, which could be contributing to morning tiredness. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids with breakfast to make sure dehydration isn’t slowing you down.
It may seem counterintuitive, but regular exercise will give you more energy! Try going for a 15-minute walk before you start the day or try scheduling some light exercise to coincide with the time of day you normally find yourself flagging. If that’s not possible, exercising at any time during the day will still give you the same benefits. Start with a few minutes of light exercise a day and build it up slowly.
A nice healthy breakfast should keep you pepped up and full of energy until lunch time, but around a third of us usually skip breakfast. Try some porridge with fresh fruit, or a higher protein option like poached eggs on toast or Greek yoghurt with berries.
If you struggle to eat first thing in the morning, try a light snack like an apple, and take another snack to have on-the-go mid-morning when you find it easier to eat. In fact, the NHS recommends eating smaller meals every 3-4 hours rather than 3 bigger meals to help beat tiredness.
If you struggle to get up straight away when your alarm goes off, try putting it on the other side of the room so you have to get up to turn it off.
Yoga is a great way to improve our energy and boost our mood. Executive function is the fancy word for the cognitive functions that help us get things done, so improving executive function and getting a mood boost along with it could be perfect for helping you to get going in the mornings.
The Pomodoro Technique is a technique you can easily build into your day to help you stay on track and be more productive, even if you’re not feeling full of energy. Try breaking your day into 25-minute working ‘chunks’, each followed by a 5-minute break. After a few working chunks, take a slightly longer 15-20 minute break. (This longer break could be the perfect opportunity to go for a short walk or try out some Hatha yoga.) The idea behind the technique is that the 25-minute ‘deadlines’ give you a sense of urgency, and the frequent breaks stop you feeling burnt out at the end of a long day.
Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day helps our bodies to get into a good sleep-wake rhythm. This means we can get to sleep easier and wake up feeling more refreshed (without being tempted to hit the snooze button). A restful night’s sleep will make sure you start the day refreshed and ready to go.
Having coffee too close to bed can lead to a restless or disrupted night’s sleep, or even leave you lying awake unable to drift off. We’ve already seen how broken sleep can leave you feeling groggy in the morning, so cutting out caffeine later in the day can go a long way to helping you start the day full of energy. Try swapping out coffee for a caffeine-free alternative like a Herbal or Fruit Infusion in the afternoon. You could even try a soothing cup of Ovaltine in the evenings to help you wind down and get ready for a great night’s sleep.
Sometimes it can be draining knowing you have a busy day ahead of you but you’re finding it difficult to get going. An energized morning starts with a great night’s sleep, so following our sleep tips is a great place to start. And small changes to your daily routine can help keep you naturally full of energy, even on those days where you just couldn’t drift off.
