You should always start your day feeling refreshed, alert and focused. It is critical to your daily performance and mental health but it doesn’t always come naturally and some times it’s harder than at others. If you have trouble focusing during the day or feel worn out easily, it might be because you did not start the day on the right foot. Even if you’re not a morning person, try following these 8 Ways to Start Your Day Fresh and Focused. You can improve how you feel from the very moment you wake up.

1. Eat Breakfast

It is well known that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Unfortunately skipping breakfast is a common strategy for people, who are trying to lose weight, but it's usually not a successful one. As if you skip your breakfast, you’ll feel worn out because the last meal you had was probably last night’s dinner.

Start the day with a healthy breakfast that energizes you and prevents you from snacking until lunchtime. As your body (or maybe your brain) expects to be refueled a few times each day, so when you skip meals you may feel so hungry that when lunch time comes, you over-eat or maybe you choose foods that are not the healthiest choices.

While any breakfast may be better than no breakfast, there are some foods you might want to avoid because they're high in sugars, sodium, saturated fats and calories. Cut back on sugary cereals (over 5.0 grams per serving), high-calorie pastries, and meats like bacon and sausage that are high in saturated fat and sodium.

Breakfast should include protein and plenty of fiber; the combination will help satisfy your hunger and will keep you feeling full until lunch time. The protein can come from low-fat meat, eggs, nuts or dairy products. High-fiber foods include fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

2. Avoid caffeine

This may be hard, especially if you’ve been relying on your morning coffee to kick start the day. However, coffee is a diuretic, meaning you’ll encourage your body to lose fluids. As well as too much caffeine can cause insomnia and sleep deprivation. Similarly to how you need food after a night’s sleep, your body needs to be rehydrated. Drinking water, fresh orange or grapefruit juice will be better. Also, hot water with honey, lemon and ginger helps circulation and is a great immunity booster as well.

3. Exercise

It can be as easy as a few stretches or a light jog on the spot in your bedroom. Or if you’re into more strenuous exercise, a good several mile run will definitely boost your serotonin levels. Start the day getting your body moving; it pumps the blood, activates your metabolism and uplifts your mind.

4. Deep breathing When you first get out of bed, take a deep breath and exhale at a rate twice as long as your inhale. This is a slow and comprehensive way of breathing that relaxes your mind. This is particularly beneficial if you have an upcoming day you’re feeling stressed or anxious about. 5. Calm your surroundings

Nobody likes to misplace things under a huge pile of mess. If your bedroom is cluttered and full of disorderly piles, hunks and junk, then it’s likely your mind will feel the same.

Try to keep your bedroom as neat as possible for a sense of order and control. This will allow your brain to focus on the constants in your life.


6. Rethink your bedroom’s colour schemes

Your environment influences the mood you are in and your brain’s processes. Certain colors, like yellows, help to lift your mood. Think about the décor in your room and try redecorating to make your bedroom an uplifting and calm place to wake up to.

7. Distance your alarm clock This is a cheeky trick you can play on yourself. Instead of keeping your clock nearby where the ‘snooze’ button easily accessible, try putting it on the other side of the room, or, even a distance far away enough to make you have to stretch to reach it. If you do this, then you’re already on your way to exercising your body! 8. Maintain a good posture

Maintaining a proper body position is vital for effective blood flow, which you need to start the day effectively.

Straighten your body, with your feet flat on the floor, hold in your stomach and extend your body through the spine to relieve tension. If you stand right, you’ll walk right and that’ll make you think right.

So these are some simple and helpful tips to start the day feeling fresh and focused. They are small changes that can improve your mood and productivity. Say goodbye to feeling blurry and dull-headed, and say hello to being bright-eyed and bushy tailed! Feel free to share with us below how 8 Ways to Start Your Day Fresh and Focused helped lift that morning haze!