In 2018, author Robin Sharma released The 5 am Club, encouraging readers to “Own your morning, elevate your life”. The movement has since achieved a huge following online and among celebrities. Jennifer Aniston, Mark Zuckerberg, Michelle Obama and Gwyneth Paltrow are among its famous devotees.
While these early risers swear to its benefits, there might be easier – and less tiring – habits that you could adopt now. They might even make you happier.
Here are 10 to consider.
Start the day right by developing a healthy morning routine
1. Get Vitamin D early
Quality sleep requires sound routines, aligning your habits with your body’s circadian rhythms.
Natural light first thing in the morning tells your body it’s time to start the day, releasing serotonin to boost your sense of wellbeing. Get outside for a pre-breakfast walk or take a cup of tea into the garden. Even opening the curtains to let the day in will help.
2. Choose your alarm clock wisely
There are plenty of mindfulness and sleep apps on the market to gently lull you into the perfect night’s sleep. Some alarm clocks, though, are designed to provide a rude awakening. Arguably taking their cue from the high-pitched clang of a traditional clock, alarm apps tend to lean towards the loud or jarring.
Some apps will ask you to complete a series of puzzles or correctly answer riddles before the alarm stops. Others might ask you to take a picture of a certain item from around your house.
These apps are designed to get you up and out of bed, bypassing the snooze phase. But is this the best way to wake up?
SAD alarm clocks will slowly increase the light in your room to mimic a gentle sunrise. The Sleep Cycle app, meanwhile, analyses your sleep patterns to wake you up at the optimum time in your sleep cycle. This can help to avoid the shock and disorientation of a sleep-to-waking cliff edge and get your day off to the best possible start.
3. A healthy diet begins with breakfast
Celebrities in the 5 am club might opt for transcendental meditation or a lymph node detox, but you might find it easier to start the day with a healthy breakfast.
Be sure to include plenty of fibre, unsaturated fats, and protein. This might mean incorporating eggs, nuts and berries, while bananas, avocados, and yoghurt should also help to set your body and mind up for the day ahead.
Take time throughout the day to concentrate on yourself
4. Try one-minute mindfulness
Mindfulness and meditation can be as simple as concentrating on your breathing, even for a minute. Breathe slowly and deeply, focusing on your breaths to relieve stress or simply recharge.
In modern life, it’s easy to rush from one task to the next without taking time out. Even five deep breaths in a quiet, calm space could help to relax you through the release of hormones like cortisol.
You should find you’re calmer, better focussed, and more able to concentrate.
5. Play your favourite song
Music can be an incredibly useful tool for releasing endorphins, helping you to feel happy and increasing wellbeing.
If you’re feeling stressed or unhappy, play your favourite song and take a moment to enjoy it. You might even set aside a timeslot each day. This simple habit could make a real difference over time.
6. Set yourself a simple goal
Setting and then achieving goals is a positive experience that can help to reduce stress and encourage wellbeing. Just be sure that your goal is achievable, otherwise trying to reach it could simply cause undue stress.
Make an active decision to run more, walk in nature, take up yoga, or start a new book and then set time aside each day to work towards achieving this goal. Once you’ve accomplished your task, tick it off and reward yourself before you start thinking about the next.
7. Drink plenty of water
Staying hydrated helps your body to flush out toxins. Dehydration, meanwhile, can leave you feeling lethargic or irritable. Monitoring your water intake is a great way to ensure you’re drinking enough. This doesn’t have to be onerous. Simply fill a water bottle before you head to work and count how many times you refill it.
A well-hydrated body functions best so set yourself up for the day by hydrating early, and then be sure to tail off before bedtime. Try to drink your last glass of water around two hours before you intend to sleep, though you can take small sips if your mouth is dry.
Consider your relaxing evening routine
8. Practise gratitude before bed
As you get ready for bed, take time out to reflect on the day, as well as your plans for tomorrow.
Consider making a list of everything you have to be grateful for. Thinking about these things, and then writing them down so they stick in your brain, can help you to drift into a relaxed, comfortable, and mindful sleep.
If you tend to go to bed worrying about the things you haven’t done during the day, write a to-do list at this point too. It should help you regain a sense of control.
9. Take a mindful shower
Mindfulness can be useful for hitting the ground running each morning, for taking time out during a busy day, and for winding down in the evening. Try a bath or a shower before bed and be sure to spend a moment embracing the sensation of the water around you.
Deep breaths and relaxation before bed can help to ensure you get the good quality sleep you need to start the next day rested.
10. Maintain good sleep hygiene
The right amount of good quality sleep is vital for our mental and physical health. That means you’ll need to focus on your sleep hygiene. These are the habits and behaviours you adopt around sleep, from keeping regular patterns to the physical environment in your bedroom.
Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time all week, even on the weekends. Be sure that the room you sleep in is the right temperature, not too light, and too noisy. This won’t always be easy, with many external factors outside of your control.
Look to manage the elements you have control over and you might find that you wake happier.
