4 Things Early Risers Should Avoid After Waking Up

Transitioning from being a late riser to being an early riser takes some getting used to. It is a process and it will take you some time to adjust to your new reality. Old habits will need to die and new ones will need to take their place. But don’t fret. Just a couple of weeks of doing this is enough to rewire your brain to actually prefer waking up early. Also, no matter whether you are still in transition or have already become an early riser, you should avoid doing certain things as soon as you wake up.

This will prevent you from falling back into the old routine and help you become ever more productive. Let’s take a look at four such things that you should avoid at all costs.

1 | Hitting The Snooze Button

When you are all warm and comfy under the covers in the morning and your alarm goes off, you obviously won’t feel like getting up. During that time, even 5 more minutes of sleep seems like heaven. And so, you might find yourself hitting that snooze button again and again. But doing so is as pointless as it is dangerous. Remember the famous idiom - ‘you snooze, you lose!’ Well, there is some truth to that.

Experts have clearly stated that trying to sleep after snoozing your alarm multiple times can actually mess up with your brain hormones. It destroys the natural circadian rhythm of your body and leaves you groggier than you would have been if you had just woken up in the first place. As I said - pointless and dangerous!

If sleep is something you struggle with, check out my popular article 10 Ways to Get Better Sleep, or my book notes on Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD. so you are getting the most out of every snore!

2 | Checking Social Media

This is something that most people are guilty of. Even before they can fully open their eyes in the morning, they find themselves reaching for their phone and opening a series of social media apps. Before they know it, half an hour passes and they find themselves scrambling to do their morning routine. If you’re an early riser or trying to be, you should avoid doing so at all costs. This is your brain’s way of getting cheap dopamine hits and when you reward your brain with them it starts your day off terribly.

There is another reason for this. Social media may contain all sorts of posts and you don’t know what you’ll see. It could be something positive or something negative. The first things that you take in through your senses in the morning tend to stick with you throughout your day. So, it’s better to do some actual positive things (like meditation) that will give your day a good start.

3 | Avoid Drinking Coffee Straight Away

Reaching for a cup of coffee is as common as reaching for phones in the morning for many. Most people can’t even walk a single step forward without taking their morning espresso shot to the face first. But according to experts, you should avoid doing so. The reason is that the body produces higher amounts of a hormone called Cortisol between 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. This hormone regulates energy levels and helps us stay alert.

If you drink coffee as soon as you wake up, it may decrease Cortisol levels in your body or inhibit its production. The best time to have coffee is thus after 9:30 a.m. You get the boost you need and it doesn’t hurt the Cortisol levels.

4 | Doing Too Much

One common mistake that most beginner early risers can make is trying to do too much. It’s understandable to an extent. You suddenly have more time in your hands and the initial motivation can make you want to do as much as possible before your previous waking time.

But doing too much may make you feel tired even before your actual day begins. So, you should reserve the earlier hours for activities that boost your mental and physical energies, not diminish them.

To Wrap Up

Becoming an early riser takes some getting used to. You need to make changes in your habits and so it might take some time. To make the transition smoother and easier, you should avoid doing certain activities after you wake up in the morning. If you indulge in them, your transition will become a lot more frustrating than it needs to be. 

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