Remote Staff Remote Staff Remote Staff Remote Staff
  • Home
  • Jobs
  • Our Services
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Testimonials
  • FAQ
  • Sign Up
  • Log in
Remote Staff Remote Staff
  • Home
  • Jobs
  • Our Services
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Testimonials
  • FAQ
  • Sign Up
  • Log in
Sep 03
Five Things You Should Avoid Doing Upon Waking Up (And Five Things to Do Instead)

Five Things You Should Avoid Doing Upon Waking Up (And Five Things to Do Instead)

  • September 3, 2020
  • Serena Estrella
  • No Comments
  • Personal Health

“The early bird gets the worm.” “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

We get it, getting up early is the bees’ knees if you want to be a productive member of society. (As a bona fide night owl, I can’t say I agree entirely, but that’s for another article.)

Getting up early is half the battle, sure. The other half is what you do upon waking. Apparently, what you do right after you open your eyes can determine what kind of day you’re going to have. If you start off on the wrong foot, you’re likely to end up grumpy, unfocused, and ultimately, unproductive. Alternatively, there are some things you can do to take back control of your day and ultimately come out more energized, more focused, and more satisfied.

So, as a public service to all of our dear readers, here are five things you shouldn’t do once you wake up and what to do instead:

1. Hit the Snooze Button.

Hit-the-Snooze-Button

Aren’t we all guilty of this? I know I certainly am. Five, ten more minutes of sleep is always tempting, no?

Unfortunately, that bit of extra sleep does more harm than good. It won’t be restorative at all, but can make you even groggier. According to Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Reena Mehra, the latter part of our sleep cycle consists of REM or dream sleep. This is the restorative sleep state.

Thus, hitting the snooze button in the morning just disrupts your REM sleep in the long run.

What to Do Instead: Go to bed earlier. This will increase the chances of you feeling refreshed and restored rather than groggy when your alarm goes off.

If you manage to get seven to eight hours of quality sleep, you might even wake up before your alarm.

2. Check Your Phone.

Check-Your-Phone

If, like many others, you use your phone as an alarm clock, this can be unavoidable. Once you turn off your alarm, you’ll see all your emails, messages, and alerts on the screen. It’s only natural that you check all of them, right?

Maybe so, but checking your emails and messages first thing in the morning can prematurely raise your stress levels too. The point is, you need to give yourself time to wake up properly before you reach for your phone. So long as you get up at a reasonable time, you don’t need to act on all your notifications at once anyway.

Furthermore, the less you check your phone throughout the day, the happier and more in control you’ll feel.

What to Do Instead: Get an alarm clock. Yep, an old-fashioned one. This way, you can put your phone farther away from your bed at night so it won’t be the first thing you reach for in the morning.

3. Stay Curled Up in a Ball.

Stay-Curled-Up-in-a-Ball

Comforting as it might be to sleep in a fetal position, it’s not the best for instilling confidence as you face a new day. A sleep study from Harvard concluded that people who woke up and remained curled up often have lower confidence levels.

Plus, this position isn’t good for your back in the long run.

What to Do Instead: Stretch out wide and tall as soon as you get up. This will ready your limbs and also awaken your senses gradually, setting you up for the day.

4. Drink Coffee.

Sounds counterintuitive, right? Heck, I know some people who can’t even form sentences before they’re had their caffeine fix.

This isn’t to say that you should swear off your cup of joe. (Put down your pitchforks, please.) Rather, you just need to wait a while before you start brewing.

Why? This is because caffeine can interfere with your body’s cortisol production. This hormone is released as a stress response, and you typically experience three natural spikes each day. Chugging coffee before 10 AM could interfere with this, so it’s best to postpone the consumption till after the early morning hours.

What to Do Instead: Drink a bottle of water. If you really must consume something upon waking, cold water is great for waking you up. If that’s too much for your empty stomach, lukewarm water will do just fine.

As a bonus, drinking water upon waking helps rev up your metabolism and digestion. This is great if you’re working towards a trim figure.

5. Linger in Bed.

Linger-in-Bed

Ideally, your bed should be used only for sleep (and one other thing I’m not supposed to mention on a family-friendly blog). Lingering there as you check your feed, mull over your tasks for the day, and so on could lead to your brain linking your bed to being awake and active.

That would spell disaster for your sleeping patterns. And trust me, it’s hard to be all chipper and productive when you’ve had far too many rough nights.

What to Do Instead: Make the bed. This signals to your brain that your day is officially starting, and reduces the temptation to climb back in.

Furthermore, once you’ve made your bed, you’ve ticked off one item on your to-do list. This will give you momentum for the other items and sets you up for greater productivity later on.

Lastly, if nothing else, a nicely-made bed is always great to come home regardless of how your day turned out.

They say success all boils down to several seemingly small good habits done consistently. When better to get started than when you wake up, right?

Facebook Comments

Disclaimer: The above article was written according to the information available as of press time.
All opinions and beliefs expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Remote Staff's, its employees, subcontractors, clients, and affiliates.


  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • E-Mail

About The Author

Serena has been working remotely and writing content for the better part of the last decade. To date, she's written for Pepper.ph and Mabuhay Magazine, among others, and has churned out more than a thousand articles on everything from The Basics of Stock Market Investing to How to Make Milk Tea-Flavored Taho at home. Hermits, aspiring hermits, and non-hermits with interesting project propositions may email her at serena.estrella10@gmail.com.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

20 − 11 =

Recent Posts

  • 6 Reasons Why Employees Don’t Take Vacations
  • 5 Tips to Help You Adjust to Working in Different Time Zones
  • Here are 10 Small Saving Habits That Can Save You More Money.
  • 7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Cyber Clutter
  • 7 Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Remote Working Routine

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020

What's Trending

  • Want to Become in-demand in an Online ASP Job? Here’s How.
  • How to Register to SSS, PAGIBIG, and Philhealth as a Remote Worker
  • What’s the Best Computer Specs for Work-from-home and Remote Working?
  • Ultimate Guide: How to File Your Taxes as a Freelancer or Remote Worker in the Philippines
  • Got No Internet? Here are 5 Pocket Wifi Options You Can Use As Back-Up
  • Honesty is the Best Policy: Examples of Lying in Job Interviews and Why they’re a Bad Idea.
  • 45 High-Paying Online Jobs You Can Apply For to Earn at Home in the Philippines
  • Equality for All: Some of the Laws Concerning PWD Employment in the Philippines
  • Ultimate Guide: Comprehensive List of Benefits you can get from SSS as a Remote worker or Freelancer
  • Why You Need to Complete Your Remote Staff Profile (Plus a Step-by-Step Video On How to Do It)
  • Contact Us

    info@remotestaff.ph

    Office headquarters

    Remote Staff, Inc.
    Level 29 Joy Nostalg Centre
    17 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Centre
    Pasig City, 1600
    Philippines

    Links

    • Home
    • Blog
    • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Jobs
    • Privacy Policy
    • Fair Equitable Contracting Policy
    © Copyright Remote Staff - 2023