This Used to be my Morning Routine

Apr 19

A morning routine isn’t as important as people say. But…

I say I USED to have a morning routine, that’s because my circumstances changed. I work part-time in a bar, so 2 - 3 days a week, I start work at 3 pm and don’t usually get home until 2-2:30 am.

This destroyed my usual routine, as it’s better to go to sleep and wake up later than usual to keep my sleep patterns from going to shit. And only having 5-6 hours before leaving for work means I have to cram as much into that time as possible.

However, I am working on bringing it back to normal. This Blog and its accompanying videos are a part of that.

So, here we go.

Doing that Billion Dollar Morning Routine you read about in a book or saw in a YouTube motivational video filled with platitudes won’t make you a billionaire.

Hard work, will.

Yes, I try to wake up as early as possible. Frankly, it's a habit I need to recapture.

What do you define as ‘early’? 8 am, 7 am, 6 am, 5 am?

Getting a good start to your day IS important; well, I think so anyway, and so did Marcus Aurelius,

“By forcing yourself to get out of bed even when you don't want to, you are living life the way it ought to be lived, the way that nature intended”

What you do after that will set the standard for your day going forward.

Sure, you could get up, have a cold shower, go for a walk, get some sun in your eyes, do your workout, meditate, have a cold shower and then journal. But by then, you’re four or five hours into your day, and you’ve achieved nothing.

Sure, you probably feel great. You’re strong, energised and you have mental clarity. And as is the way… You completed many “tasks”, which will give you that natural dopamine high.

Only now, you sit down to start work, but your phone rings and buzzes with attention-seeking text messages and emails. Everyone else is at work, and now they want your attention.

“Can you send me that thing?”

“How do I do this?”

“Can I give you a better deal on your phone tariff?”

This is what a typical day used to look like.

04:55 - Alarm.

05:00 - Make first cuppa tea.

05:05 - Start daily writing (1h 30m).

07:00 - 30-45 minute walk, weighted (25kg).

07:45 - Rest, make second cuppa tea.

08:00 - Writing part two (1h 30m ).

10:00 - Stop! Work is done.

During this time, my phone is ignored or set to ‘Do Not Disturb’.

Now I can do whatever I like. I usually read. Well, I listen to an audiobook and read along with the physical book for about an hour at 1.5 - 2x speed. Sections are highlighted, and notes are taken.

Think of it this way;

I go to bed at 11 pm and wake up at 5 am. That’s 6 hours of sleep. 6 - 24 = 18.

I have 18 hours in my day.

I spend 5 hours every morning doing the above, which leaves me with 13 hours left.

I’ll spend 30 to 45 minutes working out (every day). This leaves me with 12h 15m. I don’t have a set time of day to do this.

The listening/reading/learning will last for 1 to 2 hours. Let’s say 2. That leaves me with 10h 15m.

Breathing, meditation, and a cold shower take about an hour or so. Let’s say 1 hour and 15 minutes. That leaves me with 9 hours.

Halfway through my day, everything I want to get done is done. It’s now 2 pm.

I can watch a movie or TV show. Read more. Do some photography, shoot, and edit a video for my YouTube channel.

4 hours of work every day, the other five hours are all about health and fitness, Well-being, and learning. Of course, I don’t have to do all of that in one five-hour block; I can spread it out over the day.

DOING it is more important than WHEN you do it. If you can’t work out at midday because of life, then do it later when you can.

If you’ve read this and are wondering how I have so much time in my day, re-read it.

At no point did I mention social media. The new idiot box.

Yes, I use it. I post on it, check messages and DM’s, and get away from it as soon as possible. I generally hate using social media. I use it because it’s a good way to build credibility and authority online. It’s a great way to build a one-person business as a content creator.

I’ll curate images and videos. Write out descriptions and captions ahead of time so that when it comes time to post, I waste as little time as possible.

I post, check interactions and messages, and reply as needed. I quickly check the timeline, like, share, then get the fuck out of there. And I do this when I’ve completed everything else.

Try not to be so rigorous with your time when developing a morning routine. Leave time to change things if necessary. Because I can tell you, at some point, life WILL get in the way of your routine, and if it’s not flexible, it’ll derail.

I used to be very strict about my routine, so if one thing was disturbed or I was unable to do it because of ‘Life’, then the whole thing would come to a complete stop.

This is why I liked waking up at 5 am. For 4 to 5 hours, I could work without interruption. That meant that the early part of my day always went without issue. The rest of the daily stuff, health, fitness, well-being etc… I could do as the day went on, but with no structure or set time.

So, if I wanted to work out but couldn’t, It’s not such a big deal. I’d do it later. I mean, I have plenty of time left in my day.

Try out various ‘Morning Routines’ to see what works. If there is any resistance, make a change. The point here is to make this effortless. To reduce the amount of brain power and energy to start and finish the task.

The more you complete this process, the easier it gets to do. The habit will be formed; from there, it’s almost painful not to do it. But you only get here if you make this as easy as possible for yourself.

Find the path of least resistance.