This sounds trite, but just sitting staring at nothing while waking up helps. I made it a point that my first cup of coffee is not spent in front of a screen or anything stimulating. I just try to blank out as much as possible, looking out the window or stepping outside helps. I find starting my day in the calmest manner possible helps me have better days, and picking up my phone first thing is guaranteed to make me miserable through the day.
I don't follow any sort of meditation practice, but having 10-15 minutes of just staring out at the sky helps tremendously. Honestly, staring at a wall would be about as helpful, it's mostly just about having the first bit of your day being calm and unstressful.
If I pick up my phone, first thing I see is email and slack notifications about what emergencies are happening, and that's not what I want to deal with when I've been awake for 5 minutes. Those things can wait, spending enough time to get slightly bored in the morning seems to be a better use of that time. I moved my alarm up 1/2 hour, and I feel less tired simply for being less rushed in the morning. Having to rush out the door and do things just makes me crabby all day. So simple suggestion, just try to allot a few minutes of calm at the start of the day.
I'm not a parent, but the parents I've suggested this too seemed to appreciate it even more, since early morning was their only truly calm time.
Blue sky light first thing in the morning stimulate melatonin production on a time delay at the right time in the evening, which may be related to why staring at the sky when you wake up helps!
I don't follow any sort of meditation practice, but having 10-15 minutes of just staring out at the sky helps tremendously. Honestly, staring at a wall would be about as helpful, it's mostly just about having the first bit of your day being calm and unstressful.
If I pick up my phone, first thing I see is email and slack notifications about what emergencies are happening, and that's not what I want to deal with when I've been awake for 5 minutes. Those things can wait, spending enough time to get slightly bored in the morning seems to be a better use of that time. I moved my alarm up 1/2 hour, and I feel less tired simply for being less rushed in the morning. Having to rush out the door and do things just makes me crabby all day. So simple suggestion, just try to allot a few minutes of calm at the start of the day.
I'm not a parent, but the parents I've suggested this too seemed to appreciate it even more, since early morning was their only truly calm time.