It’s so important to start every morning with a positive attitude and a good energy vibe. This helps to set a positive tone for the day as well as motivates us to make the most of the next 24 hours.

Often times most of us wake up, crawl out of bed, and just start our day. The start of our day may include very simple things such as doing necessary hygiene, doing a quick workout, eating breakfast, etc.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. However, lately I have been doing one-minute activities as soon as I wake up to kickstart my day and so far, it has been life changing.

This is literally a simple activity that I will engage in for no longer than a minute just to get my blood circulating, to help wake up my body, as well as my brain. Once I have done this, then I proceed to start my day by engaging in my daily morning routine.

Doing a simple one-minute activity before starting your morning routine can help improve your life immensely. You may find that you experience more motivation, you’re more productive during the day, and you may find yourself eliminating bad habits.

I have also found that these one-minute morning activities have naturally helped me stay on track with my health and wellness goals, by motivating me to keep the momentum going.

There are literally tons of things that you can do in the morning to help yourself get in a positive and motivating mindset. Here are some things you can do in the morning to start off your day.

Daily one-minute morning activities

1. Squats

I love doing squats! It is one of my favorite exercises and honestly, I do at least 20 of them every single day. When I do squats as my one-minute activity it motivates me to push myself even further when I exercise for the day.

Squats are a great exercise to strengthen your legs, thighs, and of course the booty! What I like to do is have a 10-pound kettle bell by my bed. That when I wake up in the morning, I’m able to knock out some squats with a little bit of extra weight before officially starting my morning routine.

2. Meditate

I love meditating. Meditation has so many positive health benefits. Meditation is great for reducing stress and anxiety, increasing self-awareness, improving your attention span, fighting against memory loss, and so much more.

Usually this is part of my morning routine to help me feel a lot less stressed during the day, and more productive with my morning. When I’m not able to meditate as part of my morning routine I meditate for one-minute the second I wake up. This meditation process usually involves me manifesting my present and future goals, checking in with myself emotionally, and engaging in quick breath work.

3. Sit-ups

Another great activity to do in the morning is sit-ups. Sit-ups are good for strengthening your core and getting your heart rate up. However, this activity does require you to put in some effort to focus on the activity you’re doing.

This includes paying attention to your form, your breathing, and just having the energy to be able stay in an up and down motion. However, by the time that minute is up you’ll be awake and your energy levels will slowly be increasing. A perfect set-up to a productive day.

4. Don’t look at your phone

The first thing a lot of us may do when we wake up in the morning is look at our phones. I use to be so guilty of this. However, I’m encouraging you not to.

When this becomes the first thing, we do in the morning we get distracted so easily. This can easily set you back for the day by having your mindlessly linger in bed longer than you may have liked to. Instead of checking my phone in the morning I like to just lay there in silence and notice everything around me.

That’s right I just lay in silence and listen for the birds, the silent breathing of my dog, the cars passing by, and whatever else may be alive in the environment. Then I get up and start my morning routine.

5. Stretch

There is nothing better than stretching in the morning. This helps to loosen your limbs and joints, get your blood circulating, and your body feeling right. I love stretching and honestly if I was more flexible, I would stretch all day.

Stretching is a great one-minute activity to do in the morning. You won’t feel as stiff when starting your day and will be able to get through your morning routine with ease.

The best part about is that you don’t necessarily have to stretch the whole body. You can focus on your legs, your arms, your torso, or whatever. Simply choose 1-3 different stretching positions and stretch for about 20-30 seconds per position.

6. Run/jog in place

Another one-minute activity you can do in the morning is a quick jog in place. I’ll admit, this is something that I don’t do all that often mainly because I just hate running ha-ha. However, when I do, do this activity I love it.

Yes, I’m completely out of breath by the of a minute, but my heart rate is also up like crazy. This means that I’m awake and ready to restore my body by drinking some water. Plus, I’ve started my cardio for the day while also building upon my very poor endurance.

7. Do stretches in the bed

Basically, stretch in bed. This is very much like getting up and stretching in the morning expect with this activity you don’t even have to get out of your bed to do it!

This is something that I’ll usually do at night right before bed if I don’t stretch at all during the day (and it happens). My experience with doing this at night is that it helps me go to bed feeling relaxed and not tensed.

Doing this in the morning helps me wake up my body by basically moving my body to alert it that it’s time to start moving. Plus, it just feels really good to stretch my body after remaining in one position throughout the whole night (I’m not a crazy sleeper most nights).

8. Drink some water

Water is your friend especially in the morning as soon as you wake up. I try to do this every single morning, not just as a one-minute activity. Drinking water as soon as you wake up in the morning helps to get your digestion and immune system working.

This can help encourage you to use the bathroom in the morning to avoid stomach pains, and speed up the digestion process in the morning while you’re eating breakfast. Be mindful to not drink water non-stop for a solid minute. Instead, spend a minute taking sips of water as necessary.

9. Stand in cold water

If you’re the type of person who likes to immediately hop in the shower when you wake up then you have to try this. Instead of turning on the warm water, only turn on the cold water. Then stand under the cold water for a minute.

Sounds super crazy trust me I know because who wants to take a cold shower? Well, believe it or not a cold shower can help to reduce stress levels, make you become more alert in the morning, send a response to your immune system to wake up, increase blood circulation, promote healthy skin, and can even help with weight loss.

10. Do some light reading

I know the last thing you’d want to do in the morning is read but you guys it’ll help wake up the brain. All you have to do is read quick messages or short paragraphs. This can be a paragraph in the bible, a paragraph in your current book, or positive quotes on your phone.

While I do try to avoid looking at my phone in the morning if I don’t have a book near me, I will immediately go to saved photos of positive quotes on my phone to read. This helps to put me in a positive mindset to start my day.

Sometimes I’ll also just look at my French notes (I’m currently teaching myself French) and repeat words and phrases that I learned the day before for one-minute.

11. Brain dump

Super simple easy thing to do that really requires very little effort. As someone who experiences high levels of anxiety my mind is always cluttered with a lot of random thoughts. This can make it hard for me to concentrate on things.

Brain dumping is exactly as it sounds. Just writing out or jotting down anything and everything that is on your mind. You’re just simply setting free the thoughts that are currently floating around in your head.

Even if it’s something as silly as “I’m really hungry this morning”. This can help you start your day with an open mind and encourage you to focus on the task at hand as you move through your morning routine.

12. Create a to-do list

Last but certainly not least, create a to-do list. I like to create weekly lists but sometimes my schedule changes and I need to add or remove responsibilities for the day. Some mornings I will look at my planner and see what I had written for the day and make any adjustments as needed.

Spending one-minute creating a to-do list in the morning can help you put into perspective what’s important to accomplish for the day. This can also help you create the habit of getting into a routine.

Conclusion

As mentioned, there are tons of things that you can do for your one-minute morning activity. What I like to do is plan what I’m going to do the night before, set my alarm clock to wake me up in the morning, followed by a timer for on-minute to help me keep track of my activity.

While these are things that you don’t have to do, I personally have found them to be very helpful.

I like to keep these activities at a minute mainly because they are not a part of my morning routine. These are just activities to help me wake up and jump start my day before I actually start my day.

Doing these one-minute activities has improved my life in so many small ways. This includes improving my eating habits because I’m not mindlessly eating in the morning, and increasing my water intake because after a quick workout I need water before I can move on to the next step.

Do you do any one-minute activities in the morning? If so, what are they and how have they improved your life?

-Xo

Kimora

Daily Morning Habits That Will Improve Your Life