People always think that because I’m a productivity expert that I must be an early riser. With a complex morning routine. The early bird catches the worm, right?
So, let me ask you a question: When you try to imagine my morning routine, what do you see? Do you imagine it contains exercise, and journaling, and a quiet cup of coffee all before my kids get up.
Nope!
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Waking up is the hardest part of my day, and it has been since I was 5 years old and started school. I’m not good at mornings.
So, I want to share with you what my morning routine actually looks like, minute by minute:
- 7:15am – alarm goes off, I hit snooze
- 7:25am – alarm goes off, I hit snooze
- 7:35am – alarm goes off, I get up
- 7:35am – 7:42am – brush my teeth, go to the bathroom and get dressed for the day while listening to daily news podcast (on 1.75x speed)
- 7:42am -7:45am – wake my kids up (if they aren’t already up)
- 7:45am – 7:52 am – make coffee and make breakfast for kids; quick stuff only (eggs and toast, oatmeal, quesadilla, etc.)
- 7:52am – 8:05am – hang out with kids for a few mins while they eat breakfast
- 8:06am – kids out the door, grab my coffee and get settled at my desk
- 8:15am – start working
Now, I actually hate getting up that early. But, I have kids and school starts early.
How does my morning routine change during the summer? I start waking up an hour later 🙂
You’ll notice that my morning routine has NONE of the stuff that all those productivity gurus say is essential. I don’t exercise in the morning. I don’t journal. I don’t meditate.
But, it’s not that I never do those things.
I exercise most days, but usually around 4 or 5 pm, when my mind and body are ready for exercise, and I’m ready to disconnect from work.
I journal from time to time, but usually before bed.
And I don’t meditate. Well, sometimes I lie in bed, breathing, and thinking of nothing. Does that count?
The fact that my morning routine isn’t complex and full of “good stuff that makes you a better person” doesn’t affect my worth. It doesn’t mean I’m less productive. Or lazy.
It just means that mornings aren’t a time that works for me. So I choose instead of streamline them down to almost nothing so that I can prioritize what’s important to me: spending the most amount of time possible in bed, while still sending my kids off to school with a healthy breakfast in their tummies.