My 12-minute minimalist biohacking morning routine
The typical "biohacker's" morning routine takes way too long.
I've heard a lot of stories about dudes waking up at 4:30 am to complete their 2-hour morning routine that supercharges their energy and productivity and reverses their biological age before everyone else in the house gets up.
It sounds appealing, and I sometimes feel FOMO, thinking I'm missing out on some secret to "optimizing my health." But I also know if I wake up at 4:30, I will feel terrible the rest of the day. Doesn't matter what I do for 2 hours in the morning.
If you're like me and don't want to sacrifice two hours of sleep every morning, but still want some kind of structured routine that gets you energized and ready to attack the day, then you need to adopt a more minimalist approach to your morning routine.
Over the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with a minimalist biohacking morning routine that takes about 12 minutes total. I can do it every day without fail. This routine is short enough to fit into my life without sacrificing sleep while still stacking beneficial activities.
Note: I don't love the term "biohacking" (even though I use it a lot) because it implies "shortcut" which is not how I view it. It should be more appropriately labeled "uncommon health habits most people should be doing but aren't because they aren't mainstream."
Anyways, here is how my morning routine goes:
Red light therapy
I try to get up 10-15 minutes before sunrise, which isn't super early.
In springtime in Florida, for example, I can wake up around 6:30 to 7 am because the sun rises around 6:45 to 7:30. I go to the bathroom to get ready, weigh myself and measure my waist with my smart tape measure, brush my teeth, and so on.
While in the bathroom, I turn on my red light panel and let it shine on me while I get ready.
This takes roughly 15 minutes, but I don't count this as an active part of my morning routine since it's just getting ready for the day. I've just found a way to incorporate red light therapy without any effort so my panel doesn't just sit there and collect dust.
10-minute outdoor walk in the sun
After getting ready, right after sunrise, I go barefoot into my backyard to get sunlight in my eyes and take a barefoot walk on the wet grass.
I have a large grassy field outside my backyard and after walking through that, I just continue around my neighborhood barefoot on the pavement for about 10 minutes.
This gives me the circadian powerhouse combo of early morning sunlight exposure and grounding, which are both beneficial.
Of all the elements of my morning routine, this is by far my favorite. For years (before I started working from home) I spent my entire morning indoors. I cannot imagine not starting my day with a morning walk now.
Priorities and gratitude journaling
During the first 30 seconds of my walk, I record my daily priorities, including nutrition, exercise, recovery, family tasks, and miscellaneous projects in my daily notes section on my notes app on my iPhone.
This takes less than a minute, and later, I use AI to turn the transcription it into a to-do list.
If I had something memorable I want to remember from the day before, I'll do a quick audio gratitude journal into the same app which also gets transcribed automatically.
The notes app I use is called Reflect Notes. I love it because of the seamless audio transcription and AI features.
Wim Hof breathwork
For the remainder of my walk, I do a couple of rounds of Wim Hof breathwork, using a 15-minute Spotify track that lasts three rounds.
If I have time for a longer walk, I might do all three rounds, but usually, two rounds are sufficient.
I've experimented with a bunch of different breathwork modalities, but I like doing Wim Hof first thing in the morning because it puts you in a hypoxic state and involves deep inhales and breath holds which gets you energized for the day.
To recap, during my morning walk, I've accomplished:
Sunlight
Grounding
Breathwork
Prioritizing my day
Gratitude journaling
Discomfort training
When it's cold out, being barefoot also adds a bit of discomfort training, which is a good thing.
I'm getting more and more bought into the idea that exposing yourself to "the elements" like heat and cold on a regular basis like we all had to before indoor climate control results in beneficial adaptations to both the body and mind.
After my 10-minute walk, I spend a couple of minutes hanging from a pull-up bar in my backyard, doing dead hangs, leg raises, and isometric ab holds while soaking in more sunlight.
A little more discomfort and light exercise without draining any real energy.
This adds a couple more minutes to my routine so the "active" part of my morning routine is around 12 minutes total.
Recap
During my minimalist morning routine, I've completed various "biohacking" activities: red light exposure, breathwork, grounding, sunlight, cold exposure, and mobility.
Plus getting my mind focused on what I need to do that day through some deliberate note taking.
And I've proven that you don't need two hours to do all this. Just wake up 20 minutes before your family and run through a quick checklist that fits your lifestyle, gets you going, and benefits your overall health and mood.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post, reply or comment and let me know what kind of morning routine activities work well for you.
If you don't have any, feel free to steal my routine and let me know how it goes.
P.S.
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