I have a morning routine, but the issue is that I often don’t feel fully alert at the end of it. This is likely due to inadequate sleep duration and/or delayed sleep phase disorder
In that case the mainstream response would be: Go to bed earlier so that you get enough sleep.
The second question would be: Do you do enough sports? Have you tried doing sports in your morning routine? Showering both warm and cold would be options.
Getting more sleep is easier said than done in my case. I’m working on it. I suspect I have a mild case of delayed sleep phase disorder, so it’s not as simple as going to bed earlier. If I did sleep then, it’s not likely to be very restorative. Instead, I’m going to try starting sleeping at a later time this fall and see if that helps.
In terms of physical activity, I commute by bike and run. I’m probably at the 95th percentile or higher in terms of duration of moderate or high intensity physical activity. I do think this helps, but it does not help enough. Not sure showering has ever made much of a difference either way.
In that case the mainstream response would be: Go to bed earlier so that you get enough sleep.
The second question would be: Do you do enough sports? Have you tried doing sports in your morning routine? Showering both warm and cold would be options.
Getting more sleep is easier said than done in my case. I’m working on it. I suspect I have a mild case of delayed sleep phase disorder, so it’s not as simple as going to bed earlier. If I did sleep then, it’s not likely to be very restorative. Instead, I’m going to try starting sleeping at a later time this fall and see if that helps.
In terms of physical activity, I commute by bike and run. I’m probably at the 95th percentile or higher in terms of duration of moderate or high intensity physical activity. I do think this helps, but it does not help enough. Not sure showering has ever made much of a difference either way.
There are three things that you could experiment with before going to sleep:
1) Progressive relaxation/hypnosis MP3 to induce sleep in an healthy way.
2) Some form of breathing meditation.
3) Feldenkrais exercises right before going to sleep (Book: Awareness through Movement—Moshé Feldenkrais)