Stop Checking Your Phone First Thing
The first ten minutes set the tone for the entire day.
The one habit I see myself do the most in the past was picking up the phone as soon as I wake up to turn off my alarm and then go onto social media scrolling for hours on end. I’m glad I mentioned I used to do that because after stopping it, I saw changes in my sleep and my day to day life.
My daily routine used to be; wake up, scroll, get ready, open up the stock market. But now instead of going on the phone straight away I give myself time to make my morning...well mine. And that is by avoiding the phone for the first hour i’m awake. Of course there is no harm checking your phone, but straight away doom scrolling is definitely a problem - it gives you constant dopamine hits and it keeps you scrolling for the whole day and before you know it your day is wasted.
From the scientific side, when you first wake up your brain is still coming out of slow-wave sleep patterns - the kind linked to grogginess and lower alertness, not full focus, so you’re already a bit foggy before you’ve even touched your phone.¹ On top of that, your body naturally releases a burst of cortisol in the first 30-45 minutes after waking, regardless of what you do.² That’s just how mornings work biologically, your body ramping itself up on its own. But if you load stressful content into that same window - emails, bad news, comparison-bait on social media - you’re stacking extra stress on top of a system that’s already ramping up by itself. so instead of easing into the day, you’re doubling down on it before you’ve even gotten out of bed.
And from a creative point of view - a lot of people find their best ideas show up in those half-awake minutes, right when they wake up or right before they fall asleep. Reach for the phone first and that window’s gone before you’ve even noticed it was there.
If you want to fix this, you need to simply avoid going on your phone for the first 10 mins waking up. I beg of you. You will feel much more refreshed doing this and you can avoid the above negatives I mentioned earlier. If you want a more practical tip; you can get one of those physical alarm clocks so that you can avoid going on your phone first thing in the morning whilst you’re still in bed.
Hope it helps and if you have any tips that have helped you, then please share them in the comments section.
Misbah 🤍
References
Marzano, C., Ferrara, M., Moroni, F., & De Gennaro, L. (2011). Electroencephalographic sleep inertia of the awakening brain. Neuroscience, 176, 308–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.12.014
Clow, A., Hucklebridge, F., Stalder, T., Evans, P., & Thorn, L. (2010). The cortisol awakening response: More than a measure of HPA axis function. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(1), 97–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.12.011