What's the best morning habit/routine you were able to adopt?

It took about a decade to undo the conditioning I gained in college and grad school to wake up every day at noon. Now, ten years later in my early 40s, I’m able to wake up at 10 am.
- Some people have different sleep phases, sounds like you have a good understanding of yours. Has it butt up against employment issues in the past?

First thing in the morning I chug a tall glass of water. Somehow that's actually made a healthy difference.
- First thing I do in the morning is dread life itself and my parents choice to have me, then I wish i would die for 5 min, and then I take a glass of water. Also works
  
  Same without the water
- Any general effects you've noticed?
  
  Not the previous commenter but I do the same thing and I find it makes me feel less foggy in the first couple hours of waking up and helps me want to eat breakfast.
  
  My skin doesn't dry as easily. I no longer feel the need to lotion my hands all the time. Obviously, I drink water during the day but this was the change that started that.
  Everything just felt healthier. I woke up more easily for my 6am start at work.
  Before I started doing that, it sometimes felt like staying hydrated was constant catching up. Now, it's more just maintaining.

- I tried the alarm on the other side of the room thing and it consistently ruined my day. Put me in a frustrated and pissed off mood from the start. Now I just force myself to get out of bed immediately when the alarm goes off, no excuses and no snoozing allowed. It sucks, but I’m never late.
  All bets are off on the weekend, alarms are only for a damn good reason.
- I did something similar during Covid while working from home. I bought a pack of NFC tags and stuck one on the other side of my room. When my alarm went off I had to open the app on my phone to scan the tag to switch it off, worked well the majority of the time.
  
  There's an app that uses a QR code system for something similar that's available for free for those interested.
  QRAlarm
  https://f-droid.org/packages/com.sweak.qralarm/
- I did this too. Eventually I set the alarm for earlier so I could get out of bed to shut it off and still have time to get back to sleep.

After I walk the kids to school I just keep walking. Sometimes it's ten minutes, sometimes it's an hour. I come home with a clear head and ready to be productive.
- "...sometimes it's whole months. I take the battery out of the phone and just walk into the desert, ready to embrace the wilderness."

I have a set of stretches I've been doing every morning (or 95% of mornings) upon getting out of bed, for over 30 years. The only thing that's different these days is that I have to go pee first.
- Have been starting this type of routine too, to help with back problems.
  I do 2 stretches & 20 bridges while in bed, then 90sec total of plank & side-planks (30s each side), shower, then 2 stretches per leg after.
  In total, it's less than 5mins, and it's already made a significant difference for the pain.

This one's more for the ones with ADHD but I keep a drink bottle and my ritalin next to my bed. When my alarm goes off I take the ritalin and chug the water (or something like juice if I really need the novelty). I don't have much of a chance of falling back asleep and wasting my morning after that and it means I can actually spend the morning doing whatever I need to. We're in autumn here in Aus so I keep a blanket by the bed that I throw over myself for the walk to the bathroom in the morning because I'm such a wimp about the cold. Also, not morning, but morning related: I leave my wallet and outfit I want to wear tomorrow in the bathroom over night so it's there when I go to shower in the morning, and I'll sometimes prepare breakfast the night before, which both make my mornings so much easier.
I really struggle with functioning at the same times as most other people (DSPS) and I'm bad with time management so any little things like that help vastly.
- My partner sets two alarms, one an hour earlier when they take the adhd medicine and go back to sleep. It has sped up their bed -> outside time significantly.
  
  That’s what I do too. Works really well for me. Might add in the drinking more water part though, I could definitely use some more hydration in my life.

No one seems to have said it yet, but consistency. Waking up at the same time every day including weekends. Eventually, you just wake up early naturally. I get up at 5:30 am every day on the dot with zero alarm just because it's when I wake up. And I'm never groggy, because I've adapted to it. It's not early anymore it's just when I wake up
I think the second half to this is that it can't be a chore. You have to want to wake up. If you wake up and think about how much you hate being awake it will be all the harder
- What time do you go to bed?
  
  Between 9 and 10pm most nights
- what about winter
  
  Winter is the same, although it can be noticeably more difficult to recover if your pattern gets disrupted for any reason. So for that I use a light that simulates sunrise

I don't know if it's the best (what defines that?) but it's what I do.
I wake up, my dog notices and jumps around in excitement. I greet him, pet him, then take my phone, do the daily NYT Mini Crossword and browse around for a few minutes while he lies down again, waiting patiently. I stand up, go pee, then I take my dog out for a walk. Afterwards I prepare my oatmeal, then prepare my dog's food (it needs to soak a few minutes), go open all windows to get fresh air in, start the work computer and quickly check my mails, then we both eat our breakfast while I check my RSS feeds.
- RSS <3
  
  What’s RSS?

I have my alarm clock require solving 5 arithmetic problems before it cancels (e.g (16*8 +10-6)/6) . It makes me alert way quicker and now I'm pretty quick at mental math.
- that sounds insane hahah, probably mostly because im terrible at math...
- Is that an android app? If so, could you name it?
  
  Sleep as android

Love my current routine and it's doing wonders for my health, both phisically and mentally (or at least I believe it is, it might be a placebo):
waking up every day at the same time
bathroom (toilet, teeth, washing face)
glass of water with a multivitamin and omega-3 (I'm vegan and this is so much easier than finding food that has all that)
playing with the cat (I have no coice in this, she says it must be so, it is, therefore, so)
~15min of yoga
~10min of meditation
And then it's coffee and work time. I've been on this routine for about 2 years now and I feel amazing since starting with it.
- So... What you're saying is, I need a cat.
  
  I certainly hope that's a rhetorical question.
  Best regards, The cat.
- This sounds great! And yes; obviously we must bend the knee to all Cats, they are our overlords afterall! :D

Biggest one for me was swapping from setting the alarm as late as possible and then rushing to get out of the house, to setting it an hour earlier and using that to read, do a little qi gong and have a leisurely breakfast.
- Absolutely agree. It's counterintuitive, but waking up earlier than you need to and start your day slowly actually makes you feel more rested and calm (provided you've still slept sufficiently)

Sleeping later, instead of waking up early (not late, but 7 instead of 5:30) improved my health; sex every morning is the way we wake up (well, it's the first thing I do, husband does like to wake earlier so he lets the dogs out and has coffee while I am sleeping still), for about 8 years now, that has been really great too.
So no alarm, wake later but not late, and sex.
- So when do you sleep and wake up.
  
  11 to 7. I try to wait until sleepy to go to bed so sometimes it's 11:30 but I try to be in bed by 11 and usually can fall asleep pretty fast, not immediately but quickly.

One cup of coffee on the balcony every morning. Just sitting there, enjoying the atmosphere, watching people walk by (I live near a park), maybe meditating a bit.

Commuted to work by bicycle.
it's a 10 minute ride.
flash forward 25 minute ride...just commuting
flash forward 45 minute ride...still just commuting
ended up at 1hr 25 minutes, then alternated with running in the winter & swimming on my lunch break in the summer (I was at a small university).
Turns out my brain is super gullible and is easily fooled by...my brain.
- Wow, you got slower and slower. Usually people get better the more they do something.
  /s
- I'm glad it works for you, but I always hated getting to work very sweaty and then being smelly for the rest of the day when I biked.
  
  Well, I had uniforms to change into, plus locker room facilities.
  The point, really, was that you can fool yourself into getting a routine/exercise.
  
  Real shower if you can, French shower if you can't. Wet wipe the pits and butt, air dry, brush hair, deodorant, and some pleasant parfum. Bring a change of clothes.
  Or you could just bike slowly and not get all nasty but who wants to do that.

As part of my fitness training earlier in my life, I got used to getting up early (somewhere between 5am and 6am). I'm nowhere near as fit as I used to be, but I still get up early.

Finding a job that works with my night owl behavior. It's not laziness if I sleep the same amount you do.

I think taking the time in the morning to enjoy myself. I WFH these days so it's a easier (yet sometimes harder) to do that, but when I was commuting, I'd wake up early enough to get ready of course, but also take sometime to have a cup of coffee and read some news and such. Maybe even have a breakfast sandwich or something. Because for many years, I did the whole wake up the last minute, get ready, and get out the door ASAP thing. I always felt like I was in a panic.
I can't say it led me to be more productive or whatever. But it just felt nicer. To not be so rushed. And that's worth something.

Bowel movements
- my brother

Flossing. I'm too tired to do it at night.

Waking up at 4:30 to hit the gym before work. Took some getting used to, just commit to waking up when your alarm goes off and go through the motions, you will feel good once you start actually exercising. Then eating a nice breakfast after, the best.

No alarm. I go to bed on time and my body gets it somehow what a good wake up time is.
Also related is that when I wake up at night I take the time to think things through. Often a few hours, and then sleep again.
- I wish I could do that. It sounds so risky, though lol. But all the power to you. That's amazing.
  
  You can still set it when needed. But you wake up before.

taking a shower first thing (well, second-- first is a cigarette) while listening to a general news podcast. not only does it wake me up, but it keeps me updated on the general goings-on in the world while getting my brain going. it also keeps me on time rather than dilly-dallying in the shower. 15 minutes in enough time to wash and do some minor stretching in the shower. then a second podcast (usually one on a specific story-of-the-day) while i shave and brush my teeth.
- So, before #1?
  
  no, the morning pee/poo happens while i wait for the shower to get hot. gives me a few minutes on lemmy before i dive into the podcast/ablutions/stretching time.

Thc

Having coffee and cake for breakfast every day, while also not consuming them at any other time of day.

Wake up at the same time (6am)
Chill for 10 minutes in bed
Make a coffee top go
Walk for 30 minutes.
Work from home

Sleeping in.

I have this one KILLER technique for getting rid of morning problems. Been using it for years.
 
I'm an second shifty. :P
 
 
⁽^In ^all ^seriousness^, ^consistency ^is ^a ^good ^tactic^. ^Even ^on ^your ^off ^days^, ^try ^to ^get ^up ^at ^about ^the ^same ^time ^roughly^. ^Makes ^it ^easier ^to ^get ^up ^at ^that ^time ^on ^your ^on ^days^.⁾

Sleeping in.

Getting out of work at 6am.

Every morning I take the dog outside for her morning walk, start the coffee, make the bed, and get her fed and settled. Then I’m at my desk and I do the Wordle, NYT mini crossword and connections puzzles (and send them to the family group chat). Then I play one game of online chess, losing very badly and analyzing my mistakes afterward. Now that I’m totally awake and having my coffee, I spend time with my spiritual routine, then start answering my emails around 9 (I’m a web developer and work from home).

Keeping my pre-workout drink at my bedside table. It made more of a difference than I expected.

I stay in bed as long as possible with my SO looking at stupid memes or talking and just snuggling sometimes more. I wouldn’t change the closeness for the world, puts me in a good mood to start the day. Reminds me that the love is what matters, not work bs.

Not eating breakfast. Seriously. Breakfast is to blame for a lot of obesity. The idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day is an invention.
- I came to post always eating breakfast. I prepare overnight oats and eat it when I wake up and its helped a lot with concentration. There's definitely something to be said about a lot of marketed greasy or sugary breakfasts
- Unhealthy US* breakfast doesn't help with obesity. Just don't eat shit food

Oil pulling