Morning routines are more powerful than we expect. A morning routine can have a great impact on the tone for the rest of the day. A solid morning routine can improve your health, especially if you’re setting it up to exercise and eat a good breakfast.  Not to mention, it can also boost your confidence, depending on the tasks you tackle in the morning. We’ve compiled some of the best ideas from across the web so that you can tackle your morning routine!

Don’t Look at Your Phone

We’re making this the first tip because we know this is really hard in the digital age. It’s tempting to roll right out of bed and open social media to see what crazy things you’ve missed overnight. A study has shown that waking up to social media can leave you feeling stressed and overwhelmed. There’s a direct correlation between high social media and depression. Looking at your phone also puts you in a more reactive frame of mind. Instead of focusing on your own goals, your positioning yourself to react to what’s going on in other people’s lives.

Drink Water

Firstly, you should be doing this regardless of what time of day it is. However, drinking a glass (or two!) of water in the morning helps rehydrate your body. It also helps you get alert for the day. It clears toxins out of your body, which helps you fight sicknesses by clearing out the bad stuff right away.  It also helps fire up your metabolism and your brain (which is made up of 73% water, by the way)!

Exercise a Little

This sounds like a drag, we know, but exercise has many benefits, and it’s a great addition to your morning routine. The best part is you only really need 10 minutes of solid exercise to make a difference in your day. Exercise is proven to improve your memory, thinking and increase your attention span. We’re not saying you need to start lifting heavy weights every day, but definitely get your body moving in the morning. From an aesthetic perspective, if you’re looking to burn more fat, exercising in the morning burns more fat than exercising at any other time of day.

Meditation

Meditation deserves a blog post all on its own, but meditation helps you stay grounded, increase your self-awareness, boost creativity, and help manage stress. Starting your day with some meditation can really help you ground yourself before you go out and about. There are various types of meditation, and you can really customize your practice to fit your needs. There are also plenty of apps that can help guide you through meditation if you’re a beginner. It’s important to note that meditation takes a lot of practice, so don’t get discouraged.

Morning Pages or Journaling

This might seem like a more time-consuming option but the author of the book “The Artist’s Way” suggests writing out 3 pages, longhand. There’s really no wrong way to do this as it’s just to be a way of getting your stream of consciousness going. You write whatever comes to mind, and it doesn’t matter if the writing on the page makes sense. It’s essentially one large brain dump to clear your head to start the day. If you don’t want to commit to the method outlined in the book “The Artists’ Way,” you can definitely look at just journaling what you want your day to look like.  A journal that many people swear by is the 5 Minute Journal, which provides you with prompts to set you up for a positive morning.

Make Your Bed

Making your bed may seem like a small feat or annoying to do, considering you’ll be climbing back in at the end of the day. However, making your bed is known to set you up for success for your day as well. It’s the first task of the day, and making your bed will make you feel like you can accomplish any other task you may have for the day. Having a made bed is also supposed to encourage you to keep your room clean, reducing your stress.

Having a solid morning routine can really alter how you perceive the world around you and how you problem solve throughout the day. What does your morning routine look like? Let us know in the comments!