Office Hours with Arthur Brooks
My 6-Step Morning Protocol for a Better Day
Montag, 22. September 2025 · 44 min
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Shownotes
Want to make your own morning protocol? Download Arthur’s guide to help you get started: arthurbrooks.com/6-protocols
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How you start your morning sets the tone for your whole day. In this episode of Office Hours, I share the science and habits behind my “Mad Scientist” morning routine, a six-step protocol I use to lower negative affect, boost positive mood, and make mornings a time of focus and flow.
I introduce the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), explain why morning mood matters, and show you the research-backed habits I use to improve mine.
In this episode, I cover:
• Why your morning starts the night before with an early bedtime
• How witnessing the sunrise can help manage poor morning moods
• The reason I don’t use the alarm clock on my phone
• Why I exercise first thing
• How to build a grounding spiritual or reflective practice (even if you’re secular)
• Why delaying your morning coffee can improve focus and energy throughout the day
• The high-protein, tryptophan-rich foods I eat for breakfast
• Why you need to protect your most productive hours of the day
• Listener questions on staying compassionate while protecting yourself and whether anger is linked to unhappiness
We’d love to hear any feedback you have. Please email us at officehours@arthurbrooks.com. And please leave a review on Apple or Spotify. Thanks for listening!
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Where to find Arthur Brooks:
• Website: arthurbrooks.com/ (arthurbrooks.com)
• X: x.com/arthurbrooks (x.com/arthurbrooks)
• Instagram: instagram.com/arthurcbrooks/ (instagram.com/arthurcbrooks)
• Facebook: facebook.com/ArthurBrooks/ (facebook.com/ArthurBrooks)
• YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCGuyFRjJQFGCKzfHTBvWM6A… (youtube.com/channel/UCGuyFRjJQFGCKzfHTBvWM6A)
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/arthur-c-brooks/ (linkedin.com/in/arthur-c-brooks)
• Email: officehours@arthurbrooks.com
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Timestamps:
() Intro
() Introduction to PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule)
() How to measure your emotional baseline and manage morning mood
() Step 1: Brahma Muhurta. The case for getting up before dawn
() Why your morning starts the night before
() Step 2: Get physical
() Why morning exercise is Arthur’s go-to for managing negative affect
() Step 3: Get metaphysical
() Step 4: Coffee time. Why you should delay it
() Step 5: Eat a tryptophan-rich, protein-heavy meal
() Step 6: Get into the flow
() Q&A: How to stay compassionate while protecting yourself
() Q&A: Is there a direct link between anger and lack of happiness
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Referenced:
• Leadership and Happiness course: hbs.edu/coursecatalog/1885.html
• How to Build a Life: theatlantic.com/projects/how-build-life
• The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life: amazon.com/Happiness-Files-Insights-Arthur-Bro…
• Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales: psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-…
• Arthur’s PANAS quiz: arthurbrooks.com/quiz/panas
...References continued at: arthurbrooks.com/office-hours (arthurbrooks.com/office-hours) (theatlantic.com/projects/how-build-life)
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