Starting the day in the right mood isn’t always easy. Learn how to set yourself up for a More Positive Day by following some of Caroline’s tips below.

If you’re not exactly a “morning” person, then you might have a hard time jumping straight into action the moment your alarm goes off each day. However, just because you prefer the silence and comfort of the evening to the vibrancy of the morning, doesn’t mean that you can’t take steps to make a More Positive Day.

In fact, those initial moments when you’re preparing yourself for the rest of the day can be crucial to ensuring that you tackle the rest of your schedule with the right attitude. Used correctly, your morning can be a crucial part of your day. In fact, research shows that morning people are typically more productive and positive than night owls.

The question is, how can you use your morning to set yourself up for a more productive day?

1.   Wake Up on Time (Stop Using the Snooze Button)

When you’re half-lost in dreamland first thing in a morning, it can be tempting to simply hit the snooze button on your alarm and snuggle up to the covers for another five minutes. You tell yourself that those extra moments won’t mean much in the long run, but then you keep hitting the same button until suddenly you have about twenty minutes left to eat breakfast, shower, get dressed, and get to work.

Pushing yourself to wake up on time each morning, no matter how comfortable your bed feels, ensures that you don’t place yourself into a mood of chaos and panic when you’re just working up. While you might begrudge your alarm at first, you’ll soon start to appreciate it when you realize how much easier it is to get ready when you’re up on time.

2.   Stretch out your Muscles and Get Active

Some morning people swear by the benefits of fitting an entire workout into their schedule each morning. However, some of us simply won’t have the time or energy to get an entire workout into our morning routines – particularly if you start work early. Since it’s important to make exercise as enjoyable as possible, you shouldn’t have to force a workout first thing.

However, it’s worth taking some time to stretch out your muscles and shake yourself loose before you hit the shower or start making breakfast. Not only will stretching help to improve your flexibility, but it will help to wake your muscles up, so you feel more energetic and alert too.

3.   Drink Plenty of Water

You probably don’t need a doctor or scientist to tell you how beneficial drinking plenty of water can be. However, studies do show that drinking water first thing in a morning can have wonderful effects on your body. After all those hours asleep, a glass of water helps to rehydrate your body and give your mind the wake-up call it needs.

Water rids your body of any toxins that you might have built up over the night before, and it also improves your metabolism too, setting you up for some healthy weight loss. If you’re trying to trim down for any reason, starting your day with a glass of water could be a great first step. You can even try warming up some water with a little lemon juice to boost your digestion.

4.   Grab a Cup of Coffee, and Organize your Thoughts

There’s always been some debate about whether coffee is good for you or not. However, countless studies show that a cup of coffee can fill your body full of antioxidants, give you the extra caffeine you need to tackle the day, and even protect you against diseases like diabetes. As long as you avoid the artificial creamers and sugars, you should be fine. Pour yourself a cup of freshly-ground coffee, to get the best results. Pre-ground beans lose a lot of their benefits.

As you’re sipping your coffee, you’ll have some time to start mentally organizing your thoughts. Think about what you’re going to do today, which tasks you need to approach first, and which you might be able to hold off until a later date. If you know exactly what you need to do from the moment you’ve arrived in the office, you’ll feel more confident about the rest of the day.

5.   Tune into Something Positive

If you want to use your morning positively to set yourself up for a good day, then you shouldn’t be rushing madly from one task to another. Instead, make sure that there’s plenty of time for a little relaxation in your morning routine. Sit down for a few moments on your favorite chair and read a positive news story that makes you smile.

If you don’t want to read something, you can always put the television on and look for something happy to make you laugh or boost your mood for the rest of the day. You can even think about playing some soothing music or dancing around to your favorite tunes.

6.   Grab a Cold Shower

Finally, before you head out to tackle the world, make sure that you look and feel your best with a nice refreshing shower. Although you might be tempted to turn the water up as hot as it will go – particularly on colder winter days – it’s much more beneficial to grab a cold shower when you can handle it. It doesn’t have to be icy cold, but lukewarm water has a lot of great benefits that you’ll appreciate when you’re trying to start your day on the right note.

Cold water has a great ability to snap you out of any lingering feelings of drowsiness – which you may have noticed if you’ve had cold showers in the past. Additionally, it’s been proven that cold showers can actually boost your mood and help you to think more positively too. Some scientists have even begun to explore the benefits of cold showers for treating depression.

Start Positive and Stay Positive

Some people have an easier time starting the day on a positive note than others. If you’re the kind of person who suffers from stress, anxiety or depression, then it’s going to be particularly difficult to push yourself into a good mood when you’re still waking up. The best thing you can do is be kind to yourself. Be patient and give yourself some time to get used to your new routine.

The tips above will help you to begin your day more positively but remember that it might take some time before you start seeing a real difference. Big changes often require patience.

Bio: Caroline is a positive-thinker and a writer who loves exploring the possibilities of mental wellbeing and improved emotional health. When she’s not writing, Caroline likes to work on her own wellness through meditation, regular exercise, and positive moments with friends.

What do you do to start your day off and make it a More Positive Day? I do a 15 minutes of Qi Gong (Try Qi Gong)  and read something for 5 minutes that is positive and motivating.