The Most Productive Way to Start Your Morning, According to Your Personality Type
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If you're trying to perfect your morning routine, you can take inspiration from dozens of sources: productivity experts, business icons, celebrities (Martha included!), and more. But it's likely that none of them will be the version that's exactly right for you.
"A productive morning routine is possible for everyone, and it also looks different for everyone," says time management coach Anna Dearmon Kornick. "Our mornings set the tone for our entire day—anyone who's ever gotten up 'on the wrong side of the bed' knows what this feels like."
A set of behavior spectrums dubbed the Big Five includes scales for five different personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, sometimes referred to as OCEAN—and understanding which traits you score high (or low) on can help decide on the best way to start your day. Of course, we all have each trait to varying degrees: "The reality is that they're all dimensions. Some people are going to be really kind of in the middle on all of these things and other people really do stand out," says Robert McGrath, Ph.D., co-author of The Power of Character Strengths.
But if you thrive on new experiences or social interaction, your morning should look different from someone who wakes up anxious or hops out of bed ready to tackle a list of goals. "When it comes down to it, you've got to create the morning routine that works for you, your life, and your personality," says Kornick. "If your morning routine isn't a match for your personality, then you're destined to start every day feeling out of alignment with yourself. Instead of trying to fit into an unrealistic morning routine mold, create one that works with your personality—instead of against it."
Related: 7 Things to Do in the Morning to Be Healthier and More Productive
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Openness
People who score high on the openness scale crave new information, experiences, and knowledge. "The person who is high on openness is really someone who wants to experience things, who wants to take in more information," says McGrath. "They love to read, they love to find out what's going on in the world, they like to feel connected to the world. They tend to be really curious people."
Morning Rituals: Seek New Information
Satisfy your need for new information by digging into your news app, tackling the day's Wordle, or checking your go-to blogs on your favorite niche topics, whether its space travel or pop culture. "It can be as simple as making sure you make time to look at the news every morning or do puzzles while you're having breakfast," says McGrath.
If your workday starts with meetings, schedule those that address new projects (instead of checking in on in-progress ones)—and if you like to exercise in the morning, head outside and open your mind to the whys and hows of nature. Then, prepare for the day ahead by scheduling breaks that allow for novel information. "Think about what your opportunities are going to be during the day to learn new things," says McGrath. "Make time to learn new stuff or take time during your day to look at what's going on now in the world."
Conscientiousness
A high level of conscientiousness is associated with setting and accomplishing goals, comfort with structure and task lists, and a passion for tending to the details. "The conscientious person is really very responsible—they persevere on things and tend to be trustworthy in the sense that if they say they're going do something, they follow through on it," says McGrath. "The thing that tends to jazz the conscientious person is just having a plan."
Morning Rituals: Craft Your Schedule
If you lean towards conscientiousness, carve out time in your morning to look ahead at your day and craft your schedule. "Sit down and take notes on your day, structuring it out in terms of what your goals are and how you're going to achieve them," says McGrath. That might mean breaking a larger goal down into smaller pieces—draft a report instead of finishing it, run two errands instead of five, or clean one room instead of your entire house—and adjusting your time to do your most intensive work in the morning.
"A lot of people like to front-load the things they really want to do that day, get them all done by noon, and then coast a little bit," says McGrath. One caution, though: "The conscientious person needs to protect themselves from trying to take on too much in a day," says McGrath. "If they commit themselves to something, they're going to follow it through to the end. If they have plans and they don't get it done, there tends to be a feeling of incompleteness—'I have to keep going until this is done'—and then they can burn themselves out."
Related: 7 Bad Habits That Are Making You Less Productive in the Morning
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Extraversion
For those with a high extraversion score, being around other people is the key to well-being. "This is someone who grooves on their social interactions during the day," says McGrath. "The conversation can be completely meaningless blabber. It's the mere presence of the other person and the social interaction itself that really [counts]."
Morning Rituals: Get Social
While interacting with people in writing—like texting your best friend as soon as you wake up or emailing your mom while you eat breakfast—can offer some level of connection, face-to-face socializing is almost always more rewarding for this personality type, says McGrath. Start your day by chatting with your partner over breakfast, carpooling or taking public transit with a friend, or FaceTiming your brother while walking to work.
Then, be intentional about creating opportunities to socialize at other times, too. "Plan for having some kind of social connections during the day," says McGrath. "Go out for lunch, take your coffee together—the more they get those boosters during the day, the happier they are with what they're doing."
Agreeableness
Happy, optimistic people often score high on the agreeableness scale. "Of the five, agreeableness is actually in some ways the nicest [personality type]," says McGrath. "They get along easily with other people, and other people like them. They have a sense of warmth that is really attractive."
Morning Rituals: Make It Your Own
Agreeable people might have it the easiest when it comes to how they start their morning. "I don't even know if there's a ritual, because you're going to just enjoy your life," says McGrath. "They don't have to try very hard for things to be good. Whatever makes you feel good in the morning—go for it."
Start your day with a pre-dawn workout, a dedicated time for journaling or self-care, a quiet cup of coffee before the rest of your housemates wake up, a productive 20 minutes answering emails, or some progress on your book club's latest selection—productivity can look like whatever you want.
"When we typically think of a 'productive morning routine,' we tend to picture someone jumping out of bed, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to seize the day," says Kornick. "A workout, meditation, personal development, a well-balanced breakfast—all of these things come to mind. However, each of our individual definitions of productivity is different. We all have different goals for our lives and our careers, so having a unique goal for your morning is no different."
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Neuroticism
The fifth scale measures people on a spectrum of high to low neuroticism, informed by eight descriptions that include tense, nervous, irritable, and insecure. (Sometimes this scale is measured as emotional stability, says McGrath, with people who score low having similar traits to those who score high in neuroticism.) "People tend to be more hyper, more anxious, sometimes a little more depressed," says McGrath. "Their natural tendency is to worry about all the things coming up during the day."
Morning Rituals: Meditate Upon Waking
Land on the right side of the bed by calming your mind before anxiety and stress take over. "The morning can become a really problematic time for these people, because they wake up feeling anxious about the stuff that's going to happen during the day, and they're anticipating the negatives," says McGrath.
He recommends a first-thing-daily mindfulness meditation (dozens of these are available on apps and websites; try multiples until you find one that works, he says). "Even one that's less than 10 minutes would be a great way to start your day, and then schedule time to do it as many times as you can during the day," he says. "As the stressors of life hit you, you'll find that you get better at just taking some deep breaths and letting it all go."
