You do it every morning and you don't even know it? These three habits are bad for your mood and performance, experts say
The alarm rings, the hand goes to "snooze" without thinking, the eyes still slide from the pillow to the screen and the first coffee often comes before the first meaningful sentence. An innocent routine at first glance. But it's these little things - a minute here, a minute there - that can subtly sway energy, mood and the ability to focus. And in a surprisingly systematic way.
Morning is a transitional phase in biological terms. The brain is readjusting from sleep to wakefulness, the body is fine-tuning hormone levels and attention. When we repeatedly insert certain habits into this sensitive moment, we may unconsciously be setting ourselves up for a weaker start to the day. This is not some esoteric "magic morning," but an interplay of sleep inertia, light, stressful stimuli, and the timing of stimulation.
Below, you'll find three morning habits that expert sources mention repeatedly - as well as simple ways to modify them without making your life a military regimen.
The snooze button: a few minutes that can cost you more than it gives
Snoozing the alarm is tempting - it makes you feel like you're "stealing" an extra bit of sleep. But those few minutes are a long way from a good night's rest. Most of the time, it's a light doze punctuated by more and more wake-up calls. And it's this sequence of micro-wakings that can prolong the morning fog.
Research from 2022 suggests that using the snooze button may prolong sleep inertia - the period after waking when we are slowed down, less focused and mentally heavy. Repeated forced awakenings actually prevent the brain from smoothly transitioning into wakefulness.
At the same time, it's fair to say that science is not black and white. Some more recent work acknowledges that for some people-for example, evening types ("owls")-a short snooze window may subjectively make it easier to start the day and may not have a major impact on overall sleep quality. In practice, however, it is often not a one-off five minutes, but a chain of snoozes that breaks up the morning into a series of interruptions. And this can already have an impact on energy, mood and concentration.
If you love the snooze button, try taking a smarter approach. Set your alarm for the latest time you really need to get up, and try the "one ring and you're done" principle. Even major medical institutions recommend this simple change as one of the easiest ways to improve your morning wake-up time and reduce fragmented napping between rings. Additionally, if you're exhausted by the shock of waking up, a light alarm clock or a gradual sound amplification setting can help. The goal is the same in both cases - to reduce the jerky "jerks" between sleep and wakefulness and wake up more smoothly and naturally.
Display right after waking up: morning stress on autopilot
The second classic: before you even get out of bed, your brain is already switching to "notifications, emails, world news, comparisons, requests" mode. The phone itself is not the enemy. Timing is crucial. The first minutes after waking up are sensitive to what you fill them with.
There aren't many direct studies like "doomscrolling at 7:03 under the covers". But we do have fairly robust research linking increased smartphone use and certain types of apps to increased stress or mood swings - including data from objectively measured screen time. At the same time, there is work that shows that the relationship between screen time and mental health is not always straightforward; sometimes a statistically significant association is not shown, especially when sleep quality and overall daily functioning are taken into account.
It is this ambivalence that is important. It's not that your phone will automatically "ruin your mental health". Rather, it's that it sets the tone for the day in the morning - and certain types of content (conflicting messages, work communications, social networking) can trigger stress activation very quickly. When it's the first stimulus of the day and repeated regularly, it's not surprising that the mood gets ruined before you can brush your teeth. And if you use your phone heavily in the evening, the effect can compound - nighttime use is repeatedly associated with poorer sleep quality.
For everyday life - not for Instagram monks - simple and realistic rules work. Give yourself a "protective" 10 to 20 minutes without your phone upon waking. It doesn't have to be a digital detox for the whole day, just a quiet start during which you breathe, stretch or have a leisurely breakfast. But if you have to be online first thing in the morning for work, try to set at least some basic boundaries: turn off notification previews and only open one specific thing, like your calendar. Then do the rest. Even a little structure can significantly reduce morning congestion.
Mornings without light: when the body doesn't get the signal that the day has started
The third habit is subtle but biologically very powerful: a morning spent in the dark. Quickly get dressed with the lights off, move to the car, then to the windowless office - and the day goes by without the body getting a clear signal that it really is morning.
Light is the main "adjuster" of our circadian rhythms. It is the morning light exposure that helps to shift the internal clock, dampen waning melatonin production and promote alertness. For some people, this effect translates into a more stable mood and better sleep.
It doesn't mean that if you open the blinds today, you'll perform like an Olympian tomorrow. But in the long run, it may be exactly the type of small change that makes sense - simple, accessible and biologically easy to explain.
A little final point: it's not about the "perfect morning," but about a little friction
Texts like this can easily read like another to-do list. But the meaning is the opposite. It's not about the perfect routine or getting up at 5:00 with an icy shower. It's just picking one thing that takes the most out of you - the snooze button, the phone, the twilight - and adjusting it to put a little less resistance in the morning.
And if you're wondering if it's even worth tackling the morning when you're "tired in the evening anyway," it's worth remembering that experience changes throughout the day. Research on mental wellbeing shows that time of day is related to mood - for many people, the morning and mid-morning tend to be more psychologically favourable than late evening or night. It is all the more unfortunate to weaken this natural advantage as soon as you wake up.
