How to Stop Watching Movies as Soon as You Wake Up
Waking up and immediately reaching for the remote or opening a streaming app has become a common habit for many people. The urge to start your day with a movie or television show can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re still groggy and your willpower is at its lowest. Understanding why this happens and learning practical strategies to break this pattern can help you reclaim your mornings and set a more productive tone for your day.
The Psychology Behind Morning Movie Watching
When you first wake up, your brain is in a vulnerable state. You’re transitioning from sleep to wakefulness, and your mind is searching for stimulation and comfort. Movies and television shows provide exactly that. They offer an escape from the reality of having to get up, face responsibilities, and engage with the world. This is particularly true if you’re not a morning person or if you’re dealing with stress in your life.
Clinical psychologist John Mayer explains that binge-watching can work like a steel door that blocks our brains from thinking about constant stressors that force themselves into our thoughts. When you wake up, your mind might immediately start processing the day ahead, the tasks you need to complete, and any worries or anxieties you’re carrying. A movie provides a convenient escape from these uncomfortable thoughts. Your brain essentially uses the screen as a shield against the stress and pressure of daily living.
The comfort factor also plays a significant role. Movies and shows are familiar, predictable, and require minimal effort. Unlike other morning activities that demand decision-making, physical exertion, or mental engagement, watching something requires you to simply sit and passively consume content. This low-effort activity is especially appealing when you’re tired and your brain hasn’t fully activated yet.
Why This Habit Is Problematic
While watching movies might feel good in the moment, this habit can have serious negative consequences for your health and wellbeing. Research has shown that binge-watching is related to poorer sleep quality, more fatigue, and insomnia because of pre-sleep arousal. If you’re watching movies first thing in the morning, you’re likely continuing a pattern that started the night before, which means you’re probably not getting adequate rest.
Additionally, researchers have found that watching three or more hours of television a day is associated with premature death. This isn’t just about the time spent watching. Heavy television users reported the least healthful dietary patterns and the poorest health-related characteristics. Binge-watching was significantly associated with less healthy dietary patterns, including frequent fast-food consumption and eating family meals in front of a television. It’s also connected to perceived stress, which creates a vicious cycle where you watch to escape stress, but the watching itself increases your stress levels.
When you spend your morning watching movies, you’re also setting yourself up for a sluggish, unproductive day. Many people who engage in this habit report feeling morbidly sluggish and lethargic after extended viewing sessions. You’re left lying on the sofa feeling unmotivated and unable to accomplish anything meaningful. This creates a sense of dissatisfaction and regret that can follow you throughout the day.
Understanding Your Triggers
Before you can effectively stop watching movies as soon as you wake up, you need to understand what’s triggering this behavior. Are you reaching for the remote because you’re stressed about the day ahead? Are you doing it because you’re bored or don’t know what else to do? Are you watching because you’re still tired and want to ease into wakefulness? Are you doing it out of pure habit without even thinking about it?
Take time to observe your own behavior without judgment. For a few days, notice what happens when you wake up. What’s your first impulse? What are you feeling emotionally? What thoughts are going through your mind? Are you anxious, sad, bored, or just tired? Understanding the emotional or psychological need that the movie is fulfilling is crucial to finding a replacement behavior that will actually satisfy that need.
Some people wake up and immediately turn on the television because they’re lonely or seeking connection. Others do it because they’re anxious about the day and need to calm their nervous system. Still others have simply developed such a strong habit that they do it automatically without conscious thought. Once you identify your specific trigger, you can develop a targeted strategy to address it.
Creating a Morning Routine That Works
One of the most effective ways to stop watching movies first thing in the morning is to replace this habit with a structured morning routine. A routine provides structure, purpose, and direction for your morning, which makes it much harder to slip into the movie-watching habit. When you have a plan for your morning, you’re less likely to default to passive entertainment.
Start by deciding what you want your ideal morning to look like. Do you want to exercise? Meditate? Eat a healthy breakfast? Read? Spend time with family? Write in a journal? The specific activities matter less than the fact that you have a clear plan. Write down your morning routine and post it somewhere visible, like on your bathroom mirror or your bedroom wall.
Make your morning routine appealing and rewarding. If you hate the idea of waking up and immediately going for a run, you’re not going to stick with it. Instead, choose activities that you genuinely enjoy or that make you feel good. Maybe you love coffee and reading, or maybe you enjoy a gentle yoga practice. The key is to make your morning routine something you look forward to, not something that feels like punishment.
One practical strategy is to pair an activity you want to do with something you enjoy. For example, if you want to exercise but find it boring, you could listen to your favorite podcast or audiobook while working out. This makes the activity more enjoyable and gives you something to look forward to. As Jan Van den Bulck, a professor of communication and media at the University of Michigan, discovered, allowing himself to watch whatever he wanted while using his indoor rower helped him maintain a consistent 45-minute daily exercise routine with no feelings of guilt or boredom.
The key is to make your morning routine so engaging and rewarding that reaching for the remote doesn’t even cross your mind. You’re too busy enjoying your coffee, your workout, your meditation, or whatever activities you’ve chosen.
Removing Temptation From Your Environment
Your environment plays a huge role in determining your behavior. If your television remote is sitting on your nightstand, if your streaming apps are easily accessible on your phone, or if your bedroom is set up in a way that makes watching movies convenient, you’re making it much harder for yourself to break this habit.
Start by physically removing temptation from your bedroom. Put your remote in another room. If you use your phone to watch movies, consider leaving your phone in another room when you first wake up, or at least putting it in a place where you have to make a conscious effort to retrieve it. The extra steps required to access the movie will give your conscious mind time to override the
