My top dopamine-boosting morning routine

We often underestimate how much our morning rituals can set the tone for the rest of the day. When you prioritize activities that spark a natural dopamine release, you aren’t just waking up — you’re essentially giving your brain a head start on feeling motivated and balanced.

“Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which is a chemical released by brain cells, and it’s mostly involved in motivation, learning and reinforcement,” says Mia Soviero, a neuroscience researcher who conducted research at NYU Langone Health and Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute.

“It isn’t just about feeling good. It’s mostly about learning and motivating you. So, it helps our brain understand what actions are worth repeating and what habits we should have in our lives that we should strengthen,” says Soviero, who also founded the nonprofit Research Girl, Inc to help aspiring science researchers receive more opportunities in their field of interest.

A common misconception is that dopamine levels are always supposed to be boosted, Soviero says: Neurotransmitter levels are meant to fluctuate.

“We don’t want to always have really high dopamine levels, but we do want to have a healthy dopamine system,” she says. “You just want to build these good patterns in dopamine, where dopamine is able to be released the way it’s supposed to.”

Here’s how Soviero structures her mornings to keep her dopamine system healthy, she says.

Soviero’s ideal morning routine for the best mood starts the night before: Getting adequate sleep sets the tone for the next day, she explains.

Then, “I make sure that when I wake up, I get exposure to some light in the morning,” she says. “Opening your curtains in the morning and getting sunlight on your face for a few minutes have actually been scientifically proven to reduce depressive symptoms, especially if you have seasonal depression.”

Sunlight exposure directly affects the area of your brain that controls your body’s internal clock, or your circadian rhythm, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

Not getting enough exposure to sunlight each day “can cause your brain to produce too much of the sleep hormone melatonin and to release less serotonin, the feel-good brain chemical that affects mood. The result of this chemical imbalance? You feel low and lethargic,” the health blog states.

Step 2: Sudoku

Soviero makes time in her mornings to do “small, meaningful activities” like completing a daily Sudoku puzzle.

“It’s a great way to kick off the day with a little dopamine from doing a puzzle. It’s that feel-good chemical from achieving [it],” she says. “Novelty and new things that you aren’t expecting that are good can increase dopamine levels in the brain and contribute to dopamine health. So that’s why puzzles are great.”

Solving crossword puzzles and physical puzzles can have the same effects on your brain, Soviero says: The brain has a reward system that boosts dopamine…