If your morning routine consists of rolling out of bed and starting your day, you might want to consider developing a more productive morning routine. Your morning can really dictate how the rest of your day will go. Dr. Roya J. Hassad is an anti-aging physician, and here are her top five habits to try when you wake up to succeed.
- Wake up early
You’ll be surprised how much extra time you have in the day if you just wake up just one hour early. You get more time for yourself and more time to get things done, including the other items on this list. “Getting your beauty sleep is so important,” says Dr. Roya J. Hassad. “Not getting at least eight hours of sleep a night can speed up aging.”
- Stretch or exercise
The morning hours are one of the best times to exercise. The chemicals exercise creates in your brain make it easier to freshen up and face the day. “You basically get an energy boost,” says Dr. Roya. “The endorphins allow you to jumpstart your work, keeping you stress- and wrinkle-free.”
- Write morning pages
There’s a wellness tradition called morning pages that asks you to wake up and write three stream-of-consciousness pages a day in the morning. This clears your mind of things you don’t need to think about and can psych you up to get things done.
- Meditate
Meditation is a great stress reliever, and Dr. Roya is all for keeping as much stress out of your life as possible. “Stress is bad for your nervous system, and it can really contribute to the aging process,” she says. “Meditation clears your head and calms you down, in turn reducing your stress.”
- Review your daily to-do list
Before you start working, look at your daily to-do list. You’ll be able to plan the day in advance and figure out how to organize your tasks. Dr. Roya recommends taking on the largest, most intimidating task first. Once you get it out of the way, you’ll be much less stressed as the day progresses.
Changing up your morning routine could really have an impact on your life. Dr. Roya J. Hassad has been helping patients with anti-aging, and striving to make our mornings as stress-free as possible.
