Do you experience that feeling of apathy in the morning hours?

The feeling usually occurs two to four hours following waking and lasts until midday.

What makes morning depression hard to cope with is that it tends to hit you and takes over your morning before you have a chance to understand what is going on.

In today's article, I'm revealing nine habits I encourage my clients to develop to help them fight morning depression.

These habits are things that you can easily add to your morning routine that will make you feel better.

My clients have had success with these habits, and I'm confident that you will find them to be easy to apply as well.

Ready?

Let's dig in  ...

Habit 1. Put more light on in the room before you wake up.

When it's darker, your body produces more melatonin, which is the hormone that makes you sleepy. 

It is helpful to have an automated lighting system timed to come on an hour or two before to help reduce melatonin production as it gets closer to your wake up time. 

Some people go further using a piece of equipment called a Mindspar, which shines a specific grade of blue light that can help you feel alert and alive faster.

Habit 2. Maintain your motivation in the mornings by tying new habits and rewards that are meaningful to you.

You can start small by making a list of new habits. Write down the habit you want to form and the habit's benefits of those habits. 

Then write down what you'll have to do or sacrifice to form the new habit. 

Once you have your list, think about how each benefit ties into something that has meaning for you. 

Once your reward is in mind, commit to forming the new habit for one week without entertaining negative thoughts about it. After doing this, evaluate whether it was worth changing your old habits for those on your list.

Habit 3. keep up with your interests and balance out your responsibilities with fun time. 

Instead of feeling threatened about the gruesome tasks waiting for you each day, balancing your responsibilities with fun activities will help you avoid getting burnt out and maintain your enjoyment in life to look forward to each day. 

The more you can balance responsibility with fun, the better you can recover from the stress of day to day pressure. This gives you a better chance of becoming a more resilient person.

Habit 4. Create morning routines that promote positive feelings and self-care.

Morning routines are a Godsend if you can't dive immediately into your day. 

Why? 

Because you don't have to use any thinking powers before getting on with your day, your morning routine could be as simple as making yourself breakfast. Or a simple as praying, having a warm, soothing shower, and spending some time being present before the chaos of the day sets in.

Habit 5. Engage in activities that help you forget the reasons to feel sad.

Often it easy to allow yourself to slide into the sadness without any questions or challenges. 

Because your sense of enjoyment has been dulled by how you feel, you forget that you can engage in activities that help you forget the reasons to feel sad. 

To do this, you can play a video game, watch a movie, comedy or TV show, paint, play an instrument.

You can read an inspiring book that reminds you of all the things you can still do. 

Ride a bike or roller skate around your neighbourhood. Volunteer at the local animal shelter or soup kitchen. Help people and animals in need of love and care.

Habit 6. Exercise for at least 15 minutes as soon as you wake up, even if it's just going for a walk or doing some jumping jacks

As you get older, you develop many bad habits that can cause your body's circadian rhythms to shift in ways that cause you to start experiencing trouble getting up in the mornings.

To help counteract this, you can go walking and do some jumping jacks as soon as you wake up in the morning. 

Instead of sitting in bed waiting for your brain to start functioning again, this gives you a chance to get the blood flowing and your body and get all the happy chemicals active.

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Habit 7. Connect with other people who also struggle with morning depression

One of the hardest things to do in life is going through a painful experience on your own. But when you connect with others going through a similar experience, you get the chance to bounce off ideas that can help you feel better each day. Plus, this helps you to know that you are not alone.

But what if you have no one in your network who struggles with morning depression? If this is the case, you can check on forums and Facebook groups. This way, you will find people to who you can relate. And you will get ideas for getting through the day.

Habit 8. Use times before going to bed to prepare yourself for the next day.

Developing the habit of planning for each day on the previous night gives you a break from having to overtask your brain when you feel at your worst. 

Many people make the mistake of assuming that they need to spend hours doing their planning at night. But this is a recipe for more morning depression. 

The trick is to utilize the thinking power you have before bed without overtiring yourself. 

Habit 9. Staying Positive When You Wake Up Feeling Terrible

I won't lie...

It is not easy to conjure up positive emotions when you wake up feeling terrible the split second you open your eye.  This is hard because your cognitive faculties have not had a chance to come online. 

It is like you are fighting a wrestling match where your opponent crashes you to the floor before the referee signals the start of the fight.

How do you combat something that does not give you the chance to be ready to fight back? 

The only way this is possible is by building the behaviour and thinking styles you want to switch on every morning into habits. 

Once this happens, you can easily switch on the habit as soon as you wake up without you having to try hard to do this.  This gives you a fighting chance to stop the negative spiral before it starts.

You, too, can break free from the baggage of morning depression.

It's true...

That sinking feeling as you open your eyes and realize that you're facing the day, all on your own, is not an excellent way to start the day. But it doesn't have to be like this.

You can start feeling better in the mornings by practising the above suggestions until they become habits. That way, living your life stops feeling like a chore. 

Now, if you have enjoyed reading this article and found some valuable Ideas that can help... Then I am sure you'll love my free Ultimate guide to beating morning depression and the lack of desire that comes with it.

Get your free guide to beating morning depression by clicking this link now! 

In this free guide, I explore the most common mistakes that make people more depressed in the mornings, and I will show you exactly how you can overcome them to start enjoying the days ahead. 

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