7.23am: how to bring calm to the most stressful time of day

Hollywood superstars often feel a world away from us regular folk. Mark Wahlberg famously used to get up at 2:30am to ensure he had time for prayers, a workout, a shower, a round of golf, two meals AND a snack before his 9:30am 'cryo chamber recovery' session. No thanks.

Back on planet earth, we’re probably more used to smashing the snooze button and scrunching under duvets willing the sunlight away. A 2022 OnePoll study of 2,000 British adults found that one in six of us feel stressed as soon as we wake up, but also that 54% of us want to function better in the mornings.

Sound relatable? With some tech intervention and a bit of help from EE’s mindfulness partner Calm, there are plenty of ways to calm your morning chaos. Read on for our tips—with not a single cryo chamber in sight.

If you always wake up on the wrong side of the bed

It’s no fun waking up with a toddler shouting in your ear; a car alarm going off; or the cat doing its special “I’ve brought you a live gift!” miaow. Or—on a really unfortunate day—all three.

So why not start to take control of your mornings? Smart home devices can play one of your favourite tracks as your wake-up alarm, for example. You can also use their companion apps to build wake-up routines: listening to the latest news stories, a local weather report or even your calendar events for the day ahead.

If you can’t stop late-night doomscrolling

You’re probably already familiar with the science. Blue light from mobile screens slows the production of melatonin, the hormone that manages our sleep-wake cycle. But does knowing that we shouldn’t look at a screen in the hour before we try to go to sleep stop us from doing it? Of course not.

YouGov’s 2022 Sleep Study found that 87% of Brits look at their phone or tablet in the hour before bedtime, and for 25% it’s the last thing they do before trying to sleep. Sleep Modes on these devices can make some difference, but sometimes you need a little more help to switch off. Set up WiFi Controls through the EE app, and you can pause or freeze internet connection to the devices you choose—also a great trick around any little people’s bedtimes.

Still, there’s one screen that can help you slumber. If you own a smart watch and wear it overnight, you’ll get easy-to-understand data on your sleeping patterns, plus the ability to set your sleep schedule.

If you don’t function before 10am

Is there a secret to waking up alert rather than groggy in the morning? Yes, according to scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. Their 2022 study found that the magic formula is “substantial” exercise the day before; sleeping longer and later than you usually would; and eating a healthy, high-carbs breakfast.

Reviving your sleep schedule can also help. Top tips from mindfulness app Calm include:

• Setting a bedtime / wakeup schedule and sticking to it (well, trying to)
• Doing whatever you can to make your bedroom quiet, dark and cool overnight
• Incorporating relaxation techniques into your bedtime routine. Reading, a warm bath and meditation can all help – with a positive effect the morning after.
• Leaning on technology. Try putting together a calming playlist on Apple Music, or one of Calm’s meditations or sleep stories.

Whether you’re working flexibly or full-time parenting, the best laid plans for a relaxing morning can swiftly go awry in the face of a loveable (but LOUD) preschooler ball of chaos.

Finding a calming morning routine is key: plan activities they enjoy, reward their efforts to follow routines, and avoid tying your plans to specific times to avoid stress.

Remember: meditation isn’t just for adults. Practising mindfulness can also make mornings relaxing for kids as well as parents. Give Calm’s sleep and mindfulness content designed for parents to share with their kids a whirl! Calm’s content includes Sleep Stories, Nap Stories, lullabies, meditations, and more featuring beloved characters such as Peppa Pig, The Minions, Transformers and more.

If you spend all day sitting down

Working-age Brits average 9.5 hours a day of “sedentary time” according to the British Heart Foundation. That’s a lot of bums on seats of every kind: on cars, buses and trains, office chairs and sofas across the day.

So what to do? Our smart devices are here to rescue us again. Most modern smart watches and phones offer regular reminders to get moving, while Calm has its Mindful Walking meditation to give you the soundtrack for a quick (or slow) walk.

Podcasts and audiobooks are made for such moments too, with EE’s reliable 5G network on hand if you run out halfway through a stroll and need to download another.

Bringing order to mornings

None of these tips involve getting up before the dawn chorus, Wahlberg-style, but they can still help make your mornings less stressful, giving you more energy for your daily work or family tasks. Or just catching whatever it was that the cat brought in…