I don’t have regular routines. Well, I do, but it’s just that they are typically in short phases and I vary them a lot from phase to phase. I’ve never found any great benefit to a single type of routine to start or end a day, but I definitely benefit from changing things up to go with what phase of life I’m in.
My current routine:
- Get up at 7am (I set the alarm, but I’ve been waking up naturally between 5-6 every day. I’m getting old I guess.)
- Get my teen son up
- Do a 30 minute workout with him
- Eat eggs and meat
- Shower and head to the office
- Make pour over coffee
- Check messages and emails for emergencies
- Write a blog post
- Clear my inbox to zero
- Review my calendar an list out my to dos for the day
- Jump in (it’s usually about 9 or 9:30am by now)
The big difference in this sequence from most others I try is that I am not checking my phone or computer at all until after workout, breakfast, shower, arrival at the office, and even my cup of coffee. Though I typically start checking it during the coffee making. Still, it’s work for me to resist. When I awake, the first thing I want to do is obsessively get my inbox to zero and my task list ready and start knocking things off. It’s very hard for my brain to do anything until I have done that, which is why most of my morning routines involve immediate work for an hour or two, then blog post, then shower and late breakfast. But I gotta say, right now I’m liking this new one.
It’s more possible than it used to be because more of my work involves talking with people on West Coast time, so they don’t start getting into my day until 11am usually, which is awesome. The downside is dinner time with the family is a very popular time for meetings and calls and urgent emails from that side of the continent.
Oh, and if you can’t tell, I still can’t bring myself to stop daily blogging. It’s just too relaxing and grounding.