11 things consistently positive people never do in the morning 

Many people believe that the way you start your morning will influence your whole day.

The big question is, what’s the best way to get your day started?

What are the best things to do to energize and motivate yourself, and what sorts of things should you avoid doing in the morning?

In this article, we’re going to look at 11 things consistently positive people never do in the morning because they can really ruin your routine.

These are definitely the things to avoid if you want to start your day the right way!

1) Snoozing

Here’s how sleep works.

The average human goes through several sleep cycles each night. In a sleep cycle, your body and brain go through different stages of progressively deeper sleep.

On average, these cycles last 90 minutes. And at the end of a cycle, you either wake up or start again with light sleep.

Ideally, then, you should sleep in multiples of 1.5 hours and wake up naturally at the end of a sleep cycle feeling refreshed and alert.

If you wake up at another point in a sleep cycle, especially in the deeper stages of sleep, you’ll feel groggy, disoriented, and generally poor.

If you wake up at the wrong point in a sleep cycle, can’t you just hit snooze on your alarm a few times?

Nope.

All this does is prolong the grogginess as your brain tries to pull you back into a new sleep cycle. You might think you’re getting extra minutes of rest, but the fact is that you’re doing more damage by confusing your brain.

You may even end up inadvertently turning off your alarm and oversleeping, which will definitely blow your schedule.

The bottom line is that if you actually want a good sleep, you need to go to bed early enough to get the amount you need.

When you get the rest you need, you’ll be able to wake up without an alarm anyway, so you won’t even be tempted to snooze.

2) Going straight to your phone

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up (besides hitting the snooze – we covered that already!)?

For so many of us these days, our first instinct is to reach for our phone. It’s probably the alarm clock you’re using anyway, so it feels natural to grab it to turn the alarm off and then…

Checking messages.

Social media.

Before you know it, you’re lost down a rabbit hole, and you’ve probably made yourself late.

Great – now you have to rush!

But worse than that, you’ve missed out on the experience of waking up and enjoying a positive start to your day. 

Instead, you’ve put pressure on yourself to answer messages and get down to business. You’ve probably also made yourself jealous by looking at all those Insta model pics as well.

And if you’ve interacted with your phone in the morning before you’ve even spoken to your partner, you’re doing things wrong.

This isn’t how positive people start their days!

3) Not making your bed 

People who are consistently positive aren’t just working magic.

They’re actually doing things that make themselves positive.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to tick accomplishments off your list, and what’s a faster or easier accomplishment than making your bed?

It takes at least a minute, so make sure you plan ahead!

If you’re one of those people who believes the bed should air out (I agree!), then just leave it for a bit while you do other things like shower or exercise.

But do get it done.

It’s a tiny little act but one that gives you an immediate feeling of satisfaction.

And then it looks good when you come back to it that night.

4) Staying in the dark

Sleep researchers agree that we should sleep in total darkness.

In fact, we need darkness before we go to sleep to help our bodies release melatonin, the hormone that relaxes our bodies and prepares us for sleep.

But when we wake up, we need to get out of the darkness and into the light.

Throw open the curtains, raise the blinds, or better still, go outside. 

Look, the sky is blue, and we’ve adapted to find blue light stimulating. It tells us to be alert and active as it’s daytime.

So, if you want to get things going and shake out the cobwebs, don’t keep yourself in the dark.

5) Drinking coffee on an empty stomach

I must be the only person in the world who doesn’t drink coffee, but I certainly understand why people do.

The caffeine in it stimulates your mind and body, which is something many of us need in the morning.

But don’t forget that coffee is an acidic drink that could cause heartburn or otherwise make you feel unwell.

If this is something you deal with, try to pair your morning coffee with a snack or a full breakfast to ease up on the acidity.

6) Skipping breakfast when you’re hungry

The jury’s still out on whether or not breakfast is essential.

On the one hand, you have the advocates of breakfast as the most important meal of the day.

On the other, you’ve got people who are into intermittent fasting who suggest you should limit your eating hours.

But people who are consistently positive figure out what works best for themselves.

And they certainly don’t skip breakfast if that leads them to be hungry and feel tired and lethargic for the rest of the morning.

7) Eating too many carbs for breakfast

If you do eat breakfast, what are the best and worst foods you can start your day with?

Carbs, especially sugar, are going to give you lots of energy in the morning, but the big problem with these foods is that they cause your blood sugar to spike.

You’ll get energy for sure, but then it will burn off quickly, and you’ll end up feeling tired even before you reach lunchtime.

That’s not to mention the other negative aspects of eating lots of sugar.

So what should you have for breaky instead of piles of pancakes and sugary cereals?

Protein.

Eating lots of protein at breakfast is linked to muscle health and even weight loss by helping you burn more energy, regulating your blood glucose, and making you feel fuller longer.

8) Not hydrating properly

Think about this.

You’ve just woken up from sleeping for seven to eight hours, and in that time, you’ve been breathing out moisture, and your bladder’s full and ready to be emptied.

It should seem obvious that the first thing you should put back into your body is water.

However, many people either wait to drink water or drink other things.

If your first beverage in the morning is juice, coffee, or (yikes!) soda, be aware that caffeine and sugar are diuretics that make your body pee more.

So, if you think you’re hydrating with these drinks, think again.

There’s a reason why it’s called ‘hydrating’ and not ‘coffee-ating’!

9) Brushing right after eating

I have a secret obsession to admit to.

I know I talked about the dangers of drinking coffee on an empty stomach earlier, but I still love my sour foods.

Give me a plate of pineapple or a sour orange anytime.

There’s nothing wrong with eating sour, acidic foods as long as they’re controlled by something basic or neutral to reduce acid reflux.

But you shouldn’t brush your teeth right after having acidic foods or drinks.

My dentist asked me one day, “Do you eat a lot of sour foods?”

“Mmrrrmpgh,” I answered.

“And do you brush your teeth right afterward?”

“Ungh-huhngh.”

How did she know!?

It turns out that acidic foods temporarily soften your tooth enamel. If you brush right after eating them, you’re basically abrading your teeth rather than cleaning them.

10) Not stretching or exercising

Consistently positive people never forget to stretch or exercise in the morning.

These activities get your heart pumping and your blood circulating. They’re great for your muscular-skeletal system and get you energized and ready to face the day.

They also help to motivate you – once you’ve achieved your morning workout, you’ll feel positive and ready to achieve even more.

11) Not starting your morning routine the night before

Most positive people don’t forget to start their mornings the night before by planning and preparing.

They might lay out their clothes for the next day or even prep the morning meal.

They also turn out the lights and get to sleep on time so that they’ll feel refreshed in the morning.

This way, they don’t need to rush and can enjoy the beauty of a slow, relaxed morning.

Conclusion

These 11 things consistently positive people never do in the morning are habits you should think of breaking, too.

If you can replace some of these bad habits with good ones, you’ll find you have more positivity in your mornings and in your whole life.