How does the morning usually start? It usually starts with an alarm clock ringing. Then another one. Then another one. And finally, after the fifth time, we get out of bed and arrange a shuttle run from the room to the bathroom, from the bathroom to the kitchen and back to the room. It's good if we have time to grab something for breakfast. But most often hungry, with the hope of office cookies, we go to work, travel in crowded transport or stand in traffic. And sometimes, if we have time, over a cup of coffee or tea, we look through the news feed, in which, as always, there is rarely anything positive, especially when it comes to politics.
Well, what kind of creativity or new ideas can we talk about with such a good morning? I am by no means claiming that everyone has such a morning every day. The option with a quick rise and simultaneous switching on of the computer is much more common. But the morning news is unlikely to give you a couple of interesting ideas. Thanks to the latest research, psychologists know where to start the morning so that the day goes productively and, perhaps, a brilliant idea came to you for a cup of coffee.
Several recent studies of morning rituals have emphasized that we spend our morning absolutely not as it should be, that is, contrary to the conditions that, according to neurologists and cognitive psychologists, promote flexible and open thinking.
The magazine "Thinking and Reasoning" published an article last year in which its authors — Marieke Weiz and Rose Sachs — claim that creative ideas come to us in a relaxed state. Mental processes that suppress distracting or extraneous thoughts allow unexpected and sometimes inspiring processes to occur in our head. Sleepy people have more scattered attention, which leads to an "extended search through their knowledge networks."
In simpler terms, this means that until you finally wake up and turn on your attention and logic, your consciousness is open and thoughts wander through all the most secret corners of your subconscious. And you can't even imagine what can sometimes be stored on the farthest, dusty shelves.
And if you jumped out of bed before you even had time to wake up, had a hasty breakfast and ran to work, having received stress from our transport system and portions of morning news on the way, then what interesting ideas can we talk about? Everyone already knows that during stress, the stress hormone cortisol is produced in the body. But not everyone knows how it affects our thought processes. It turns out that cortisol damages myelin, a fatty substance that covers the cells of our brain. And because of damaged myelin sheaths, the speed of signal transmission between neurons slows down. What kind of "Eureka" is there?!
That's why it's bad to create stressful situations at work and generally work in a bad mood.
The morning should start pleasantly. With a smile and a fragrant cup of coffee or tea. Setting the alarm earlier for at least 10 minutes and not jumping out of bed right away, but allowing yourself to soak up a little and stretch well is not only pleasant, but also prevents possible ligament injuries.
Then you can afford to stand longer under a warm shower and not think about anything specific at this time. Just relax, there should be only pleasant thoughts in your head and no reflections on the topic "what will I say at the directors' meeting today". You will have time to think about this at work.
And for God's sake, start the morning not with standard news, but with something more pleasant and fun. Let it sound a little strange, but it's better to watch some funny or inspiring videos on YouTube, or view beautiful photos. This, by the way, is also confirmed by research, since psychologists have been manipulating our consciousness for decades, conducting research on which videos and how they affect the human brain.
