January 29th, 2008 in Lifestyle
10 Morning Rituals For The Healthy Entrepreneur
Most personal development and productivity experts suggest mornings as the best time for clear and focused results-driven work. I’ve experienced the same and form my days around just a few hours of work in the morning between 10am and 1pm. I also believe that different people work best at different times, but no matter when you’re productive hours are, it’s important you set up your day for greater wellbeing with some healthy morning rituals. Here are ten ideas:
- Wake up. Don’t hit snooze. Jump out of bed as if someone threw a bucket of cold water on you. Half of your day’s success is actually showing up and being excited. Rest time is over, get out of bed now.
- Drink a pint of water first thing in the morning. If you don’t like water on its own, squeeze some fresh lime into it. Water is great for you - you know that, mom said that and now we’ve got to do it!
- Make yourself a blend of fruits that excite you. I love a carrot-apple-ginger juice and drink it in the morning before eating and wait at least an hour or so before I eat.
- Go out and take in the sunlight. I wake up when I see sun. Its energy, invigoration and excitement is absolutely amazing. Get up and spend a minute outside looking up in the sky taking in the morning light. Wrap up warm if it’s cold, but make sure you do it.
- Spend time in silence. Be grateful for what you have. Mentally or on paper, plan the day out. If you don’t do the previous night, write out your to-do list of the most exciting and important things.
- Cuddle your kids (or find some to cuddle). Kids bring excitement and awe in the way they think and view the world. Spending time around them helps you to cultivate the inner child within you. And doing it from the morning is even better.
- Brush your tongue. Lose the morning breath and start off on a minty note.
- Go for a walk. Or hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes. People who walk in the morning have more energy than those who walk at night after a long day. Use the work to appreciate your surroundings and plan your day. In silence if possible.
- Drink green tea. Instead of coffee, have a cup of green tea. Boosts your energy, provides antioxidants and has been promoted as a great natural healthy option.
- Journal. A list of rituals without journaling in the morning isn’t complete. I find it the most exhilarating thing to be sitting down for a short period and just writing out whatever comes to my head, no matter whether it immediately makes sense to me or not.
What do you do in the morning as part of your “rituals”?
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Kavit Haria
Kavit Haria is the author of a new book, How to Live Healthy in an Unhealthy World which can be downloaded free from his website, Wellness Junction.
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Comments
Anthony says on January 29th, 2008 at 9:39 am
God, why does everything ‘good’ have to be in the morning? I hate morning! I can go to bed now (9:40 am) and sleep till 5am tomorrow morning and still have issues getting up.
Great post, will try some of these starting tomorrow as I try (once again) to reset my biological clock.
Jacki Hollywood Brown says on January 29th, 2008 at 9:52 am
I have a great radio station as my morning alarm. I stay in bed and listen to some great music (and the weather report) before getting out of bed. It puts me in a great mood. Also, if I stay in bed for a few extra minutes the kids come in and give me hugs!
John W says on January 29th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Wake up at 6:00am-ish.
Half an hour to an hour of tai chi.
Half an hour to an hour of working on personal creative projects.
Get ready for work.
Walk to work if time permits.
That way, no matter how the rest of the day turns out, it started out on a high note.
Ryan says on January 29th, 2008 at 10:27 am
On the weekends I exercise first thing in the morning because I have time to, and I agree with what you say about it helping through the rest of the day. I usually listen to a podcast though instead of opting for silence. If I don’t have some noise to listen to then I focus on how much I really don’t want to exercise. And doing it first thing in the morning also means that if I’m a slug and watch TV for the rest of the day, at least I accomplished something.
During the week I can’t though since I have to be out the door by 6am and I really don’t want to wake up any earlier than 5am. So I exercise in the evenings after I get home which still helps me the next day. I can tell by how I feel each day whether I remembered to exercise the night before or not.
Scott says on January 29th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I’m a big fan of the exercise/breakfast/shower routine. It gives me an energy boost and it’s great to know that I’ve gotten the day’s most important activities done before I start to work.
Kavit Haria says on January 29th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Hi all,
Anthony - wow, you sleep a lot. You’ve probably already done this, but realise that you’re sleeping a lot of the 24 hours we have in a day. How can you save more time by sleeping less?
Jacki - I’d love for my kids to do that when I have kids. I don’t at the moment so can only imagine. Music is great for shooting you out of bed to some good feelings.
John, Ryan - I love the plans. I think routine is very important. I enjoy tennis once I get up some days.
- Kavit
Freelancer's Store says on January 29th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Great tips, but I’m about to start working the night shift, 7pm to 7am, three days a week. How would these tips translate to that schedule? Any ideas?
Jonas says on January 29th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Sun? In the morning?
You obviously wrote this for people in the south, not thinking about us poor b*st**rds in Sweden…
Sam says on January 29th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Wow… really? Find children to cuddle? If I started my morning with that ritual I’d probably get thrown in jail.
What you eat in the mornings is super important… I usually start with an 8oz glass of water and a protein shake that is 8oz of water, ice, and 1/2 cup of fruit. The green tea I leave for the evening (otherwise I’d spend the entire morning drinking stuff).
Katie says on January 29th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Eeek, in MN there isn’t sun in the winter sky until 8:00, I’m up long before that, any alternates for that suggestion?!? Thanks!
Clydicus says on January 29th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
“Journaling” is for self-absorbed douchbags.
What does any of this have to do with being an entrepreneur?
NewWorldOrder says on January 29th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Clydicus, I’m totally with you. I mean WTF?!?!
Aurooba says on January 29th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
first you have to get up early enough….
I’m working on it, I still find it hard sometimes. And I just seem to go to bed so late…no matter how early or not so early my intentions are/were. But good list, journaling is definitely good, although it’s easier to type…and I’m looking for a good app, because I’m not keen on journaling online if it were password protected and everything..
Spade says on January 29th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Great article. I agree with every point made up there and do almost all of those every day. However, I think your missing a very important morning ritual.
Just yesterday I posted something similar to this on my blog, only geared more toward item number 1 on this list: making the morning something you look forward to. In my post I referenced an article that I saved for a long time called The Aristocracy of Cardio from the magazine Men’s Health (link to the article is on my blog.)
I highly recommend cardio in the morning because not only does it burn more calories (proof of this is all over bodybuilding.com), but also, as Men’s Health and I testify, it increases your “brain power” for the entirety of the day. Countless CEOs said that their performance has increased since they started going for morning runs, walks, and swims.
There are plenty more benefits of morning cardio/workouts, too many to mention here, but they are easily found on bodybuilding.com. I encourage you to look into it.
Spade says on January 29th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Clydicus: Journaling is a great way to organize your thoughts and just clear your head. If you think it’s stupid and not worth it, you’ve obviously never tried it. Plus, as an entrepreneur, you’ve gotta be able to think clearly all the time.
Aurooba: I’ve been using a locally-installed version of Wordpress as a journal.(Along with a MediaWiki to collect quotes I like, and a spiral-bound notebook for handwritten notes.) It’s really easy to set up and use. Believe it or not, I actually have another post on my blog about using a private Wordpress to collect thoughts.
Those last two comments were total plugs for my blog, but it just so happens that I recently wrote about getting up in the morning and keeping a journal, so I thought I’d spread the love a little
JohnnyBoy says on January 29th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I’d do the brushing your tongue thing before going a-cuddling.
Steph says on January 29th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Thanks for the great post!
I’ve incorporated a lot of these morning habits (I thought I was a night-hawk but things change) and they work like a charm. Not only am I getting things done but stress rarely comes knocking on my door.
I’d just like to add to your water tip: when you get tired of limes, try lemons and then grapefruit. Keeps things fresh.
Sangrail says on January 29th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Kavit,
I think Anthony was saying that no matter how much sleep he gets, he’s tired in the morning, which as he probably knows, sounds more like there’s a problem with his circadian rhythm.
In which case, Anthony, you’ve googled it and done all the standard things like getting a light lamp in the morning, trying melatonin at night, getting quite a bit of exercise earlier in the day and ensured you’ve been practising really good sleep hygiene, right?
And while you’ll probably feel pretty groggy if you get too much sleep, have you actually tried getting ridiculous amounts of sleep (with exercise when you are awake), for a couple of days in a row to see if you’ve got a sleep debt you need to get over?
Best of luck!
(P.S. 5am? Urgh! Yes, I’ve been trying to do these things to have a better morning, but I’m also trying to do it at 7 or 8am instead. ;D )
Anthony says on January 29th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
@Kavit - Sorry, I was trying to say that no matter when I go to sleep I have problems getting up in the morning. My bedtime ranges from 10 pm tp 1am depending on how I feel. I try to go when I’m tired and stay up if I’m not, I get up at 5:30 to get into the office by 7:30.
Getting up that early already makes it have to add much time to the morning.
Anthony says on January 29th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
@Sangrail - I’ve tried just about everything, including keeping the room cold (thermostat set at 53 degrees).
And your correct, my circadian rhythm is off, by about 4 hours. Add to that the fact I don’t sleep all that much to start with and you get a sleep period of about 5-6 hours, usually 2am-8am. When I go on vacation I disable the alarm clock and if I stay up till I’m tired I will consistently get up, without help, between 7:45 and 8:15. It it’s been an exhausting day, mentally physically or whatever and I’m genuinely tired I can go to sleep earlier.
If I’m in my normal sleep pattern I still get up around 8.
Problem is, I need to be in the office around 7:30, not because I’m a diligent worker (which I am) but getting in that early lets me beat traffic into Boston in the morning, and I leave around 4-4:30, missing most of the traffic out in the afternoon. Otherwise it takes me almost 2 hours to get in.
Which means I have to get up at 5:30. There are other factors involved in the 2 hours gap which I won’t go into here.
I’ve been fighting this for *years*!
chuwa says on January 29th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Great post!
I cycle to work in the morning and take a cold shower before starting work. It’s refreshing and good 30mminute cardio work out. The commuting is a side-effect while I’m having fun
I used to drive to work and had problem getting up in time. Since I dumped my car 5 years ago, I’ve been always looking forward to the morning cycling (to work). No problem in getting up early anymore.
Michael Wong says on January 30th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Used to start the day with a cigarette, now I listen to some good music like miles davis - birth of cool.
Tim says on January 30th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I just want to say that coffee offers all of the benefits that you assign to green tea: anti-oxidants, energy (well caffeine) and helps to hydrate; just don’t overdo it. (I hate tea) And yes it is full of carcinogens but i challenge you to find even one case of someone getting cancer from coffee.
Tim says on January 30th, 2008 at 9:36 am
The Tai Chi idea is good, I’m going to see if I can persuade my company to start a morning class.
Emile Petrone says on January 30th, 2008 at 10:01 am
My ritual seems to work fine : wake up, check email, rss, drink 4 cups of coffee…what do you think?
Kavit Haria says on January 30th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Hi all,
@Freelancer’s Store - just use these tips during your awake time. At least you’ll still get good sleep in the day, which is important for a night job.
@Sam - a protein shake is a great way. Wheatgrass juice is also good too. I prefer the tea in the evening too!
@Clydicus and @New World Order,
Journaling is awesome. Try it, clear your head, enjoy a focused day, then let me know. I think it works wonders.
@Spade - thanks for your 2 comments. I LOVE IT!
@JohnnyBoy - good point. Infact, very good point.
@Anthony and @Sangrail,
Thanks for the clarification on your part. Good discussion. Circadian rhythm is some interesting stuff. Remember reading it back at college.
@Michael - I LOVE MILES DAVIS, too. Check out Acoustic Alchemy as well.
@Tim - Tai Chi, tried it a few times, loved it. Don’t do it any more as there’s too much to choose from and I just prefer playing tennis.
@Emile - 4 cups of coffee? Hmm…
Keep up the comments!
- Kavit
Ken says on January 31st, 2008 at 6:58 am
COFFEEEEEEEEEE!
Then running…3 to 7 miles.
If you go really early in the morning and leave your ipod at home you can get some great quiet time. I usually plan my day out and evaluate what I’ve gotten done so far that week.
Dafydd says on February 1st, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Great advice. I am a morning person too, my first ritual is to do stretching and some cardiovascular activity like skipping rope or running.
Do you know about the http://www.YoungEntrepreneurSociety.com? A useful resource for entrepreneurs.
ced says on February 8th, 2008 at 12:14 am
I will try some of this, the first 5, all upcoming mornings.
Thanks for the list.
Healthy says on February 28th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
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armand rousso says on March 4th, 2008 at 7:24 am
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