Daily Blog #314
Well, I don’t know how I necessarily feel about writing this, but I guess whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Plus, I can talk the talk about the importance of breaking out of our comfort zones, but it is meaningless unless I walk the walk.
Anyhow, something that just seems a little weird for me to talk about is my morning routine. But with that being said, I truly believe that a lot of my overall happiness and motivation has stemmed from how I choose to start my day. I never used to use a morning routine and would often find myself scrambling around in the mornings. I would wake up twenty minutes before I had to leave my house for work, drive straight to work, and would be thrown into the day without any time to myself prior.
That’s the number one benefit to a morning routine. It will help you to start your day on a far less stressful note. Even if you don’t wake up earlier than you normally would, having a routine allows you to start your day more consistently so that you are less likely to be running around while rushing to get to work.
My morning routine
It all starts at 5:15. The minute my alarm goes off, I have got into the habit of using The 5 Second Rule to help get me out of bed without hitting the snooze button. I get dressed, go to the bathroom, wash my hair, and brush my teeth.
After I am done getting ready I go upstairs, pack my breakfast, throw some lunch into my lunchbox (yes, I am twenty-five with a Captain America lunchbox) put some milk into my shaker cups, and I am out the door by 5:30.
My drive to work usually takes about thirty minutes. Every day the drive is the same, ten minutes of music, and then twenty minutes of either listening to a podcast or an audiobook. But instead of going to work at 6 am, I go to a coffee shop a few miles away.
I have become enough of a regular at the coffee shop to the point where I walk in and they immediately start making my drink before I get to the counter. I get my coffee, sit at the same table, and read/write for an hour and fifteen minutes every morning. It helps me to think more clearly throughout the day, and it is just nice to have that personal time first thing in the morning before being pulled into everybody else’s schedules.
At about 7:30, that is when I pack up all of my belongings, and drive the remaining five minutes to work. By this time, I have read a few chapters, I have spent time journaling, and I have usually finished writing my blog post for the day. All of this before I even get into work.
The thing is, when I used to wake up and immediately go to work, I was missing that personal time to do the things that mattered to me the most. I was immediately being pulled in to everybody else’s schedules, and when I got off of work, I was generally too tired to really do anything. We get home, prop our feet up with the intentions of doing something productive, but the feeling of relaxation is too strong to move.
But with waking up earlier, I am now able to do the things that matter to me the most right away in the morning. All of my undivided attention and energy is directed towards what I want to be doing. Aside from that, very few people are awake. Nobody is on social media, nobody is calling or texting me, and it’s just a time where I am able to get lost in my thoughts.
I am not saying that this morning routine is going to bring success or happiness to your life, but the only way that you will ever know is if you try it. We are all different, we all operate best at different times of the day, and we all have varying tasks that we find to be important. Whether it is first thing in the morning, the middle of the day, or right before you go to sleep, you need to find when you are most productive. Then, build a routine around that timeframe that is going to allow you to be the most efficient.
It is all about trial and error. Unless you are willing to take different steps to see what works best for you, you will never know.
Michael Bonnell
3/10/2019
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