Stress, depression, anxiety, or feeling burned out can make getting started with anything—including the day—much harder. However, with small changes, we may find the resistance we feel towards the morning is like a paper tiger. This article shares some psychological techniques that can help you start your day.

Our minds seek activities that reward us by design. Enjoyable activities increase dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a significant role in feeling happy and energized. Dopamine is involved with our movement. It is also a precursor to epinephrine, a “get-going” hormone and neurotransmitter. But what happens when it is hard to feel the benefits of an activity that we know is something we need to do? Even if we know that an action is good for us? When we are stressed, depressed, or burned out, our brain’s agenda is short-term respite, even if it costs us long-term. It tells us not to get out of bed because the “feel good” dopamine isn’t there to energize us.

What if we could provide our minds with a little bit of healthy dopamine to get over that internal hurdle to starting the day? Often, dread, inertia, or other difficult thoughts and feelings are at their worst before we start an action. Once we start, the anticipation or worry often shifts into the energy we can use to do what we need to do.

One method is to pick something simple that you enjoy or have often enjoyed in the past that you can incorporate into your routine. The purpose is not to eliminate feelings of inertia immediately but to create some space between yourself and the feelings that make the mornings that much harder. What works best for any individual will vary, so consider what might be helpful for you.

Examples include:

• Take five minutes to look or sit outside and observe the new morning

• Using a favorite scented wash in the shower

• Sitting down for a few minutes with a cup of coffee or tea, without other distractions

• Brief exercise, which releases natural mood-boosting chemicals in our bodies, can also be enjoyable and energizing

Another method requires practice but can help us take action towards a happier, healthier life. Making a conscious shift in attention away from the feelings or thoughts that keep us stuck can begin with examining our personal values. Consider: what is important to you in life? There are many answers to this, and it can take some personal exploration. However, once we know what we truly value, we can use this as a powerful motivator.

For example, it is common for people to feel ambivalent about work. If a patient works as a teacher, they might come to therapy describing feeling immense stress, exhaustion, and performance pressure. They may experience anxiety, depression, or burnout. Getting up in the mornings when they have to work is difficult. However, they say they don’t want to leave their job.

Reconnecting with values can be traction for meaningful action. With practice, we can choose to take steps toward the life we want to be living. A psychiatrist or therapist that does acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can help you learn how.