Imagine waking up feeling energized and fully prepared to conquer your day. But then you mess everything up by reaching for your phone. You’re bombarded with notifications and distractions. Yep. According to sleep expert Dr. Nerina Shearman, checking your phone first thing sets you up for a stress-filled day. It also dims your optimism and creativity. That’s not just her opinion. It’s what some interesting brain research has shown.

You see, focusing intently on anything (including your phone) makes your brain skip out of theta and alpha brainwave mode. You go straight into a beta wave state.  Now beta wave activity happens when your brain is fully engaged – and when you are stressed. Theta waves, on the other hand, occur when you are in a state of mental relaxation. They’re associated with a free flow of ideas and creative thinking.

So don’t activate your brain’s stress mode as soon as you get up. It’s time to stop reaching for your phone before you do anything else.  If you use the clock on your phone to wake you up, don’t let that tempt you. Start putting your phone on plane mode before you go to bed. Then you can still use it as an alarm, but you won’t be tempted to start scrolling through notifications the moment you wake up.

After all, the way you begin your day can significantly impact your mental state and productivity. Take control of your mornings and unleash your full potential. And if you want to find out more about Dr Shearman’s research, read the original article about it.

You can read the original article here.

This article summary was created by Eleanor Shakiba

Eleanor is a leadership trainer, success coach and people skills expert. She helps managers and business owners build thriving teams and organisations, using tools from Positive Psychology. She's trained more than 60,000 people during her career as a corporate trainer and professional development consultant. Her mission is inspiring talented people to become leaders who make a difference.