5 Bad Morning Habits that Are Destroying Your Productivity

Introduction

A great morning often leads to a great day. I've written before about How to Create a Morning Routine that Honors Christ, but sometimes we sabotage our morning routine before we even throw off the covers. I've found that on the mornings when I avoid these five bad habits my day has a much higher probability of success.

1. Checking Your Phone

Most of us sleep with our phones near us, usually charging. Of course, we have our reasons for this. We have a ready flashlight in case we need to get up in the night, or if there’s an emergency call we are more likely to hear the phone ring, and our phones often double as our alarm clock, too. But leaving your phone on the nightstand also tends to lead to this bad morning habit.

Studies have shown that 80% of smartphone users check their phones within 15 minutes of waking up. That’s a problem. It essentially means you are starting your day asking to be overwhelmed. Whether it’s social media, text, email, or whatever it is you’re eager to check, it’s more than likely going to add stress, distract you from your morning routine, or otherwise take you down a rabbit hole of time-wasting.

So, skip checking your phone first thing. Better yet, charge it somewhere far away from you so you don’t have to face a temptation the second you wake up each morning.

2. Hitting Snooze

Waking up on time is essential for a good morning routine. I'm a big fan of waking up early and thankfully have made my bedtime and waketime consistent enough that I no longer need an alarm clock. But when I do have to use an alarm clock, I avoid the snooze button like the plague. Those five extra minutes come at a hefty price.

Hitting snooze means beginning your day with failure. That sounds harsh, but it’s true. You wanted to wake up at 6:30 but your flesh said, “No, thanks” and you gave in. That’s not a great way to start off a successful day.

If you need more sleep, set your alarm later, or go to bed earlier. But I think it’s very unwise to train yourself to not get up when you intended to.

3. Skipping Time with God

The most productive thing you can do in the morning is to open the Word of God and take time in prayer. It reorients your priorities, calms your heart, and begins your day with honoring and fellowshipping with the God you love.

It is a mistake, therefore, to skip this noble routine. And from experience, I can tell you checking your phone and hitting the snooze button are often the culprits for making sure I “don’t have enough time” to read the Word. So, prioritize it and don't let other things push it to the side.

4. Forgetting to Hydrate

This is just plain practical. God designed our brains and bodies to need water to function optimally. And we lose a massive amount of water while we sleep. So one of the best things to do when you first wake up is down a glass of water or two.

When we skip this step, our brains are foggier and we are less likely to exercise as well. For me, drinking a tall glass of water is the very first thing I do when I wake up.

5. Not Planning Your Day

Imagine you’re part of a football team. The quarterback calls you and the rest of the team over for a huddle. You ask, “What’s the play?” And the QB responds with, “Eh, I think let’s just wing this one.”

How successful do you think that down would be?

Well many of us effectively do the same thing with our days. We begin the day with no plan whatsoever. We don’t have a desired outcome or a set of tasks we want to accomplish. Then when we end our days feeling unproductive we wonder why we feel that way.

Those days when I feel like my day was just so unproductive, more often than not I look back and find that I never made a plan for the day. Just taking 10 minutes to look ahead at your calendar, write down one or two things you need to get done, or just having a goal for the day will do wonders for making your days more successful.