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The perfect morning routine

Writer's picture: CrisCris


How many of you have heard about the importance of breakfast, sleeping at least 8 hours/night or having a coffee in the morning?

Although some of these are important (in a slightly different way than we're aware of), others have just no research behind them. Let's see what our morning routine should look like basing every choice on scientific papers, experiments and studies. Be careful that this post doesn't want and is not supposed to replace your doctor or dietician. I'm just presenting the best routine you can embrace in line with many scientists and researchers in the field by explaining what I've devised through the years in light of scientific papers and research.

I wrote down the time slots for completeness, but I believe the timing is very subjective. Therefore, shifting everything half an hour before or after is not a big deal.

  • 6.30 am: ALARM RINGS 1) Don't delay the alarm. Instead, immediately go out of bed with the tinies action you've to do in mind. If I have to go to the gym, I never think: "Oh sh*t, I have the leg session today". The sentence I always say is: "Ok, let's just wear the trainers, then I'll decide if going to the gym or not". Moreover, trying to sleep again for another 5 or 10 minutes does not make sense since many studies confirm you need at least 45 minutes of sleep after waking up to benefit from the extra nap. 2) no phone until 7.30. I realised that nobody would miss me if I reply the messages half an hour later (not even my mom 😕). I instead use this window to focus on the day ahead. 3) no emails until noon. Batching tasks like reading emails together saves you a lot of time. Again, it's hard to hear, but nobody will feel your absence. 4) drink at least a big glass of water. It wakes up your intestine, and it helps to start many processes helping you wake up

  • 7.00 am: GO OUTSIDE "Light viewing early in the day is the most powerful stimulus for wakefulness throughout the day and it has a powerful, positive impact on your ability to fall and stay asleep at night" - Andrew Huberman. It's incredible how true it's. I walk at least 15-20 minutes every morning (if you want to know how to be such consistent, buy a dog and reply to me later), and it's one of my favourite parts of the day.

  • 7.30 am: COFFEE TIME Do not drink coffee just after waking up, but wait at least 30 minutes. Caffeine stops the effect of adenosine, a chemical that turns on the nervous system. For this reason, we need to allow adenosine to clear out before drinking coffee (you can find more details here).

  • 7.45 am: MEDITATION You should know why by now. If not, you can find the post here.

  • 8.00 am: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Once the nervous system is ready, we need the body to get ready too. I go to the gym five times a week for an intense (though short) weightlifting session (I would also add a small cardio session afterwards, but I'm not a fan of it).

  • 9.00 am: COLD SHOWER The benefits of deliberate exposure to low temperatures are countless: improved circulation and boost to the immune system, faster muscle recovery, and so many others. The reason I particularly love this habit, though, is that it makes me feel different from the others. I feel like I can do what 95% of people cannot. And if I can do what the others cannot, I can knuckle down any problem I'll face during the day. Curious fact: Did you know many people quit cocaine dependence (yes, cocaine) thanks to ice baths? If you don't trust me, the paper "Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures" has shown that having a cold shower could release more dopamine than taking cocaine.

  • 9.15 am: THE DAY CAN START. At this point, I usually work in "hyperfocus" mode for one hour or more (often in commuting mode) before having breakfast (I'll write soon about the reason for this very late breakfast).

Why don't you try something similar in the next two weeks? In the worst case... nothing, in the worst case, nothing will happen!



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