So here's an interesting thing I've found: I sometimes wake up super relaxed (especially on hot days), but most days I wake up in a subtle 'instant anxiety' state, immediately worrying about all the stuff I have to do.
Turns out that if I just *stay in bed* for an hour or so, pondering over random thoughts and stuff I might want to do that day until I feel genuine motivation appearing, my brain works *significantly* better for the rest of the day! Both in terms of motivation/focus and in terms of (lack of) anxiety.
It kinda feels like frontloading the "winding down after a busy day" thing, but somehow that works super well!