I’m not a morning person.
I figured this out pretty early in life, through a mix of sports and travel. It was always so hard for me to wake up early to go to a softball or basketball game (especially when we had to drive an hour and a half with a 8 a.m. start time, not including warm-ups). (My parents came to every game and are angels.) You could always count on me to grumble when we had an early start to a cross-country drive, especially when it was still dark outside.
Later on, my anti-earliness has resurfaced countless times. When we go hiking, we have to leave early (too early, in my opinion) to beat the traffic and heat and allow for travel time, and that’s my least favorite way to spend a Saturday morning (in the car, rubbing sleep out of my eyes, wishing I didn’t have to wear contacts). Skiing is similarly difficult for me, but we still manage to make it to the mountain on time.
Entering the workforce was another rude awakening for me (literally), especially when I had to open up the counter at Starbucks at 5:30 a.m. Throughout all of my jobs, from office receptionist to PR coordinator, I struggled to put myself together and shake off the morning heebie-jeebies in time to start working. I always did, of course. I wasn’t habitually late and I tried to never complain (well, outside of the house) or show my crankiness. But it never felt natural and I didn’t love it.
Now, kind of unbelievably, I have the ability to create my own hours as a business owner (especially given that most of my interactions with clients are digital) and truly curate how my mornings look and feel. I don’t have to drive anywhere with tired eyes, I no longer need to budget half an hour of interstate driving into my morning, and I don’t even have to put on real pants.
While this isn’t everyone’s reality, I have truly enjoyed the perks of working from home and being able to control how I spend the first few hours of my day. I’ve loved creating a new and unconventional workweek morning routine. Here it is, if you’re interested.
My workweek morning routine
Wake up
First, I typically get a slight wake-up call as Chad gives me a goodbye kiss before he heads to the office. I usually manage to sleepily tell him to drive safe and have a great day, though I’m sure it comes out as jibberish.
My alarm typically goes off between 8:30 – 9:15. I’ll set it the night before based on my schedule for the next day. Wally is usually in the bed cuddling with me by the time my phone starts buzzing and playing a Lumineers’ song, and I love waking up to his big goofy grin and invasive snuggle style.
Coffee, always
After a few minutes surfing my phone and checking my notifications and emails, I’ll head into the kitchen and grab some coffee. Chad brews some to take with him to the office and leaves behind a cup or two. It’s a little chilled by then, but I don’t mind. I add in some Silk-brand almond creamer and enjoy the bean juice in my “I’d rather be in bed” mug.
Walk about
As you can imagine, exercising in the morning is hard for me. A few years ago, I heard that you should listen to your body when it comes to working out—trying to force yourself to workout in the morning when you aren’t a morning person (or if you force yourself to workout after work, in the evening when you’re too tired) is a recipe for disaster and can lead to half-assing, skipping, and a stressful relationship with movement.
Because of this, I save my workout for later in the afternoon or early afternoon. However, as I’m drinking my coffee, I’ll put on some music or pull up the digital newspaper on my phone and walk around my house, sipping my brew as I go. It’s slow, but 15 or 20 minutes of walking is a great way to get started on my step goal and naturally wake up my body and mind.
Plus, Wally walks around with me too. It’s fun to have a walking buddy.
Take my vitamins
Next up, I’ll quickly take my vitamins and eat a banana. I take some calcium, vitamin B, a probiotic, a gummy multivitamin, and the Alani Nu Balance pill.
Get to work
Finally, it’s time to dive into work. I’ll pull up my email, check my planner, and go through my Google calendar to see what I have planned for the day and the rest of the week. By this time of the morning, I’m ready to rock and roll and dive into content writing and planning. My work philosophy has been to work hard in concentrated doses, so that I’m able to enjoy the rest of my time and day knowing that I gave my all and got shit done.
To start, I go through each client to see what’s on tap—if there are any immediate projects to work on, or if I can schedule some content ahead of time.
Sometimes I have Zoom meetings and phone calls (I try not to schedule in the morning, but sometimes that’s how it goes) and every once in a while I have an in-person meet up. But for most of my work mornings, I am able to get things done from the comfort of my bed with the help of my laptop and a few notebooks.
And, that’s it! I’ll continue working deep into the afternoon.
How about you?
How do you spend your mornings?
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