Do You Make These Simple Mistakes In Morning?

Sometimes our day starts off on the wrong foot because we make simple mistakes in the morning. Many of these things are common habits or little things that don’t seem particularly important at the time. Unfortunately, it only takes a few simple mistakes to take your morning from great to grueling. Fortunately, since they are simple things, they’re also easy to correct tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and so on!

Here is a list of the seven most common simple mistakes that people make in the morning that derail their day:

Pressing the snooze

The alarm goes off, and you’re still feeling tired. You think “just five more minutes, and I’ll be ready to get up.” Five minutes easily turns into 10 and then 15 – and oops 30 – as you press snooze again and again. Those little snippets of sleep just don’t help you feel more awake. In fact, researchers say you’ll feel groggy longer since you restart your sleep cycle each time. Now, instead of needing a few minutes to feel fully awake, it might take you hours to function optimally.

Stressing out

Whether you’re stressing out over having slept in too long or what the day ahead holds, you need to do your best to stop stressing. When you’re stressing out, it puts your brain in crisis mode which makes thinking rationally difficult at best and sends you into a negative spiral.  Now, where 5 minutes ago you really didn’t have anything to stress about, you might have cause to be stressed! It’s a vicious cycle. No matter how later you’re running or what your day holds, you’ll be better prepared to handle it if you can keep your stress level under control.

Checking your email

Nothing is sitting in your inbox when you wake up that can’t wait until you’re fully awake and ready for the day. (Seriously, who emails about emergencies!) Step away from your phone! Email is like a black hole that can take your morning off-course or put you in a bad mood faster than pretty much anything – unless of course, you’ve just discovered the dog chewed up your favorite pair of shoes – so stay offline as long as you can.

Skipping your workout

If you usually work out first thing in the morning, skipping it can really mess up your morning. Statistics show you’ll feel less calm and less healthy. Even if you’re running a little behind, it’s important to squeeze in a short workout so you can start your day at your best! Plus, skipping it will probably impact your ability to get to sleep that night.

Skimping on sleep

So you read somewhere that all the great leaders get up at 4 or 5 am, and now you’re convinced that you too need to get up before the sun. First of all, that’s just a rumor. Plenty of great leaders and rising entrepreneurial stars get up much later – between 7-10 am. Plus, in case you haven’t heard, getting enough sleep is the new must-have for success – just ask Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

Most people need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night in order to be at their best. So if you really want to get up at 4 am, you need to go to bed at 8 pm. Trying to get by on less than enough sleep will make you easily irritated and more emotionally volatile – even small things will tick you off – and that’s no way to have a great morning.

Skipping breakfast

While you may be tempted in your rush to get out the door or cut calories, skipping breakfast won’t do you any good. Starting your day with a healthy breakfast is key to having the energy you need to make the most of your morning. Keep energy boosting foods that can be eaten on the go or at home hand to make breakfast easy.

Sleeping in to play catch up

While it’s tempting to sleep in to catch up on lost sleep, particularly on the weekend, doing so can wreak havoc on your natural body clock/wake cycle and disrupt your sleep for days. Get up at the same times on weekends as you do on weekdays and opt for a daytime nap to catch up on any sleep you lost during the week.

Armed with this list of simple mistakes you should be all set to make your mornings great now! If addressing these simple things doesn’t help, it’s time to get deeper insights into your sleep. Vitalistics can help! Take our online sleep assessment, which looks at over 30 types of sleep problems to discover what other issues may be keeping you from having great mornings. If the results of the assessment show signs of sleep apnea or another serious sleep disorder, arrange a visit with your physician today and conduct your home-based diagnostic testing with Vitalistics.