7 Ways to Make Mornings Effective

1. Move Your Body

Get moving first thing in the morning to immediately boost your energy. The later you push off exercising, the less likely it’s going to happen as your day unfolds. Even if you do some light stretching or yoga, it helps your circulation and heart rate to get going.

Morning stretching or exercise can:

• Increase circulation and flexibility
• Gets your metabolism going
• Help you stick to the habit
• Energize your body

Research shows that working out in the morning can help improve overall sleep, which may lead to weight loss. Make your morning exercise routine an appointment you can’t cancel on yourself. Consider it as important as a standing coffee date with a good friend — if you miss it you’d be disappointed and less energized.

2. Make Your Bed

Now that you’re an adult you probably thought you could get away with not making your bed, huh? Studies actually show your mom was right that making your bed is important to do. According to National Sleep Foundation research, bed makers tend to rest better at night. In fact, 62% of sleepers felt that sleeping in a tidy bedroom helped them feel more relaxed.

Why bed-making matters:

• Starts your day with a sense of accomplishment
• Makes your room more inviting
• This leads to other organized habits

Also, who wants to wrestle with bedsheets and “making” your bed just before climbing in for sleep? When you don’t have a crumpled mess to climb into, it makes it a much more relaxing atmosphere to doze off in.

3. Drink a Glass of Water

Most of us struggle to drink the suggested amount of water daily. Start your day off right by downing a glass as soon as you get up! Have a glass by your nightstand or by your sink in the morning to remind you to start hydrating.

Why your body needs water ASAP in the morning:

• Rehydrate to get your energy levels up
• Can give your metabolism a boost
• Gets bowels moving

4. Be Flexible

Let go of any expectations to develop the perfect routine and perform it perfectly every morning. You are not looking for perfection at all in this new habit, just intentional energy being put toward creating a morning routine that works best for you.

Being flexible means that you can allow yourself to adapt and adjust, finding what works well and being willing to let go of what doesn't work well. Remember that you are developing a morning routine to live more productively and peacefully, not so you can live with even more stress!

5. Start the day with a proactive mindset.

Do you generally believe that you're in control of your own success? People who have a strong internal locus of control believe and expect that they have control over their own destiny. Starting the day with an expectation that what you do matters will give you the best chance of getting off to a productive start.

6. Exercise near the beginning of the day.

Researchers at the University of Bristol have found that people who exercise during the workday report improved moods and an increased ability to deal with the demands of work. Joe Coulson, one of the researchers behind the study, writes, "It's generally well-known now that there are many physical and mental health benefits that can be gained from regular exercise. If people try to fit an active break into their working day, they might also experience the added bonus of their whole day feeling much more productive."

If you already have a regular exercise routine, try moving it to the beginning of the day. Exercising before work can improve your mood, and increase your productivity levels throughout the rest of the day.

7. Write out a to-do list (but keep it short).

Starting your day with a prioritized list of tasks, actions, and goals can help you make more productive decisions throughout the day. In a recent interview, Amy Dalton, researcher behind a goal-setting study titled "Too Much of a Good Thing: The Benefits of Implementation Intentions Depend on the Number of Goals," stresses the importance of keeping your list of goals on the short side: "If you have six things to do today, all high priority, and you sit down and start planning everything out in detail, you quickly realize how difficult it will be to do it all. ... You feel overwhelmed and, because you don't think you can pull it all off, you're less committed. By contrast, people who don't form specific plans are more likely to believe they can achieve it all."

Bonus Tip

Resist the urge to let your email own you.

Most of us are guilty of checking email before our feet have even hit the floor in the morning. The problem is that this often gets us off to a bad start--responding and reacting to other people's agendas rather than setting our own course for the day. Resist the urge to let others dictate your schedule, and wait until you're in the office to check your email and social media accounts.