10 Things You Should Never Do In The Morning

Here are 10 bad morning habits that are secretly ruining your health and happiness, and making you far less productive than you could be

Mornings set the tone for the rest of your day. We all know that.

But instead of making the most of our mornings, we end up sabotaging ourselves before we even step out the front door.

These sneaky morning missteps mess with your energy, mood, and even your metabolism.

It could be a toxic habit you picked up in college or something you’ve done for years because everyone does it.

Well, it’s time to pull the brakes on your morning errors, because they’re not helping, my friend.

As someone who’s tested every morning trend, biohack, and ritual known to Pinterest and TikTok, I know what works and what doesn’t.

In this blog post, it’s all going to be about what you shouldn’t do in the morning.

To make space for the good stuff in life, you’ve got to weed out the bad. That’s always the best place to start!

Some of the things on this list might surprise you. Others might feel like old friends you didn’t know were stabbing you in the back.

And oh, I’ve also included a bonus section at the end where I share a healthy morning routine that you can follow. Do read till there.

If you want to stop feeling like a zombie and start running your day (instead of letting it run you), then read on!

10 Things To Never Do In The Morning

1. Checking Your Phone the Second You Wake Up

To me, checking your phone the moment you’re up is like jumping straight into a pool of stress.

The moment you touch your screen, you’re immediately bombarded by emails, notifications, group chats, and so much more.

Even seeing a blank screen can feel like rejection from the world.

Also, the harsh light from the screen can be harmful to your eyes.

Here’s what you should do instead:

Put your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ at night, and do not take it off until after you’ve had time to wake up, breathe, and center yourself.

Give yourself at least 15–30 minutes of you time before diving into digital chaos. Your mind will be so relieved by this one simple change, trust me.

2. Hitting the Snooze Button Even Once

That snooze button is oh-so-easy to hit in the morning, but here’s why it’s a bad idea.

Every time you press snooze on your alarm, you’re confusing your brain. It doesn’t know whether to keep sleeping or wake up, which results in a halfway state of being.

Instead of feeling more rested, you actually wake up feeling groggier. This thing is called sleep inertia, and it can drag on for hours.

This is why you need to train yourself to get up on the first alarm.

Place your phone or alarm clock across the room if you have to. It always works for me.

3. Skipping Water

No matter how much water you drank the day and night before, you always wake up dehydrated. It’s a fact.

I mean, while sleeping, you go through 7–8 hours (hopefully) without water.

This is why the moment you are on your feet, hydration should be the first thing you check off. Yes, even before you enter the bathroom.

Walk to the kitchen, and drink a full glass of water.

You can also make it warm and add some lemon and a pinch of salt for a quick electrolyte boost.

4. Drinking Coffee on an Empty Stomach

That steaming cup of caffeine first thing in the morning might feel like life itself. I would know, since I can’t go without my morning coffee.

But if you’re drinking it on an empty stomach, you’re spiking your cortisol (stress hormone) right out of the gate.

Not to mention, it can seriously mess with your blood sugar, irritate your gut lining, and even make you more anxious or jittery.

So, if you are drinking coffee on an empty stomach, you’re basically lighting your nervous system on fire before your body has anything to defend itself with.

Scary, right?

This is why you need to eat something before you drink coffee. A banana with nut butter, a hard-boiled egg, or even just a few bites of oatmeal.

I usually eat a digestive biscuit before I take the first sip of my morning coffee.

Eat something healthy that works for you, so that your body has some fuel before you hit it with the espresso shot.

5. Skipping Breakfast Altogether

Some people skip breakfast because they’re ‘too busy’. Others think it helps with intermittent fasting or weight loss.

But whatever your reason or excuses may be, skipping breakfast is an awful thing for your whole system.

Especially if you’re already stressed, doing morning exercise, or drinking caffeine, skipping breakfast can wreck your hormones and lead to energy crashes.

Here are some scary side effects of missing your breakfast:

Mood swings
Brain fog
Sugar cravings later in the day
Slower metabolism

I have felt all these symptoms on days when I go without breakfast, so I make sure I never do.

You don’t have to make a Pinterest-perfect smoothie bowl every morning.

Keep it simple, and make sure there’s some protein, healthy fat, and a little carb in your breakfast.

Some of my fav breakfast options:

Greek yogurt with berries
Avocado toast with a boiled egg
Protein shake with almond butter and banana

6. Starting With Negative News or Doomscrolling

You know exactly what I’m talking about here.

That 15-minute rabbit hole you go on every morning, reading about disasters, chaos, and all the ways the world is imploding.

Doesn’t really set the stage for a calm and focused day, you know.

Our brains are wired for threat detection in the morning, which means you’re way more likely to internalize that stress and carry it with you.

So, doomscrolling, watching negative news, and consuming negative content should be a big no for you in the morning.

If you want to scroll, then scroll intentionally.

Watch a funny video, read something inspiring, or skip the screen altogether and go analog. Journal your thoughts, read a few pages of a book, or listen to music.

All this will give you good vibes instead of sending your brain into a negative zone.

You can catch up on the news later in the day when you are in the headspace to do so.

7. Neglecting Movement

You don’t want to be the person who goes straight from bed to desk chair. Your body isn’t designed for that, I can promise you that.

Moving your body in the morning doesn’t mean hitting the gym at 6, you know.

But you do need some kind of movement to get your blood flowing. It wakes up your body like nothing else, and also primes your brain for the day.

Here are some simple forms of movement you can do in the morning:

Stretch
Take a walk
Do 5–10 minutes of yoga
Dance around to one song.
Do a morning workout from YouTube

This is not about calories. It’s about circulation, friends.

So, don’t worry about doing a lot. Do just a little to get your body moving and your blood flowing.

Because something is always better than nothing, right?

8. Multitasking

We’ve been fed this idea that productivity equals doing a million things at once. And so we start multitasking the moment our day starts.

But in reality, multitasking right when you wake up splits your focus, increases stress, and makes you feel like you’re behind before you’ve even started.

In the morning, it’s always best to pick just one task and focus on it.

Whether you’re making your bed, writing your to-do list, doing skincare, or brushing your teeth, do just one thing.

Set the tone with focus, not frenzy. It will help you stay in flow with your routine for the rest of the day, without unnecessary hustle.

9. Forgetting to Breathe

We breathe all day without thinking about it, but intentional breathing in the morning is important.

You need to take time to actually breathe every morning so that your day can begin with calm.

A technique I often use is called box breathing. You inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. And then repeat.

Do that for a few rounds, or just pause and take three deep belly breaths before you open your laptop.

This will reset your nervous system, reduce anxiety, and give your brain more oxygen.

10. Being Too Reactive

You know what the ultimate trap is? Waking up and immediately reacting to everything around you.

You have emails, notifications, kids, a messy kitchen, news headlines, and whatnot.

The urge to react to everything, consume everything, and do everything is strong. But you really need to tame it down, friend.

Why? Because when you’re so reactive in the morning, you start your day feeling like you’re behind on things, and that energy follows you for the rest of the day.

So, instead of reacting to things, protect your morning on purpose.

First, do a short and realistic ritual that grounds you, like lighting a candle, reading an affirmation, or writing in your journal.

And then, sit down to make a simple to-do list for the morning. Don’t do anything that’s not in your list (like scrolling on your phone).

This will shift your brain from ‘perfectionist’ to ‘intentional’ mode, and that’s the energy you want to be in, trust me.

Bonus: A Sample Un-Sabotaged Morning Routine

Here’s an example of a solid and sanity-saving morning routine:

6:30 am — Wake up, no snooze
6:35 am — Drink a glass of water, then head to the washroom
6:45 am — Light stretching, 10-minute walk, or a yoga flow
6:55 am — Quick journal: Write down three things you’re grateful for
7:05 am — Healthy snack or breakfast
7:15 am — Coffee (finally)
7:30 am — Skim your to-do list and start the day

Ready To Change Your Mornings?

If you’re guilty of loads of habits from this list, then don’t panic.

Just pick one thing from this list and change it tomorrow. Then another, and another, until you’ve eliminated all your bad morning habits.

No more pouring coffee into an empty stomach. No more letting TikTok decide your mood. No more sleepwalking through your morning like a half-charged phone

How you spend your morning is how you spend your day, and how you spend your day is how you build your life.

You deserve better, and it starts before 8 am.

What are the two things you want to stop doing in the morning? Let me know in the comment box before you leave. It helps to put your intention out into the world.