The morning sets the tone for the day ahead. Establishing a morning routine can propel you to a successful, productive day. Unfortunately, many people allow unhealthy habits to wreck their potential for the best outcome. Let’s look at 10 harmful habits that could sidetrack you from having your best day.

1. Oversleeping – Negative consequences from sleeping too much include weight gain, body aches, depression and an increase in heart disease. Optimal sleep ranges from 7-9 hours each night. To optimize your morning, create nighttime routines that contribute to consistent bed time so that you will sleep well and wake refreshed.
2. Wasting Peak Energy in the Early Morning – Harnessing your burst of energy in the early morning by planning more intense or even difficult activities will lead to the greatest sense of accomplishment.
3. Starting Without Reading Your Bible – The daily habit of reading a chapter in Proverbs or another part of God’s Word will set you on the path to wisdom and guidance for the day ahead. Taking in God’s Word each day will build spiritual maturity.
4. Starting Without Gratitude – Name five things or more that you are grateful for first thing in the morning. Establishing a heart posture of gratefulness will start the morning off with a happy heart.
5. Starting Without a Plan – If you start out not knowing where you are going, you might wander aimlessly without a clear plan for accomplishing your goals
6. Not Drinking Water – This bad habit can cause you to have wrinkled skin, cramps, stomach issues and other mysterious pains resulting from dehydration. Other drinks such as coffee (which I love), tea and sodas might actually cause more dehydration due to salt and acid content.
7. Not Making Your Bed – This is a given. Making your bed as soon as you jump out of bed in the morning leads to early productivity. Success is underway when you can already look at an accomplishment.
8. Not Soaking Up Early Morning Sunshine – This is really a wonderful discovery for me. I have always loved being out in the early morning sun. The happy endorphins and just general loveliness found in the beginning and ending of each day is euphoric. Look up the studies that speak to mental, emotional and physical health that comes from early morning sunshine exposure. Recently curious about the hype I have been hearing about early morning sun exposure, I did a deep dive, as I am prone to do, on the validity of this assertion. It seems that as little as 15-20 minutes of early morning sun. Consistently, studies show that early morning sun stimulates Vitamin D, circulates cortisol, lifts mood, increases endocrine and even is suspected to provide a strong dopamine hit.
9. Skipping Breakfast – As I can only write a few words about this, I would say that volumes have been written about the value of a protein, nutritionally balanced, fresh breakfasts offers a superman start to any day. Skipping breakfast sends you into the day in starvation mode. It is liking asking your vehicle to accelerate without properly gassing it up. Do the research. Consider creating a few power breakfasts that meet your taste buds and work with your budget and schedule.
10. Eating Sugar and Carbohydrates instead of Protein – Again, this choice can send you to the crazy high quickly only to drop you like a heavy, wet towel just as fast. This is very challenging to unravel because the American diet and the most easily acquired food is sugar and carbohydrates. In truth, many social settings, regardless of time of day, only present items from these two groups. Our taste buds might behind this sabotage.

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This list of 10 potential morning sabotages is by no means exhaustive. Your personal contributions would be greatly welcomed. As we explore what can be done in the embrace of our everyday to impact the whole of our lives, creating intentional morning habits determines much of our more visual progress.

When I am plagued by fatigue and weariness with the temptation to slip into one of these sabotaging habits, I embrace the strength gained through self propelling habits

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Join a conversation with Tim on Embrace Your Everyday podcast.

More on personal care:

10 Minute Face

Nighttime Routines

Hope and Forgiveness

Books on Amazon:

Hum of the Home: Routines and Rhythms of Homemaking

Nurturing My Nest: Intentional Homebuilding and Custom Built Education