Open Thread: What’s Your Morning Routine?
July 23rd, 2007 (5:22am) Anne Zelenka 35 Comments
Morning: so full of promise and potential. While the night owls sleep, early birds get out of bed and write about morning routines.
Ryan Carson finishes at least two things from his daily to do list before checking email — that’s part of his strategy for a productive morning. WWD contributing writer Leo Babauta suggests that writers create a morning writing ritual because that gives your writing first priority in your life and provides a peaceful time to do it. Leo’s suggestion reminds me of creativity maven Julia Cameron’s morning pages, uncensored writing that she recommends you do each morning.
Steven Fisher thinks that it’s important to get showered and dressed before starting to work. And Pete Thomas brings a business process management (BPM) perspective to the morning routine, looking for ways to optimize for time and health by doing things like switching out bacon and eggs for fruit, yogurt, and granola. He means that as an introduction to BPM, but if you’re really into systematizing your life, it just might work for you.
Amy J. Kearns spends an hour before work each day checking her email, Facebook, and RSS. I’d do that too if I had a job other than checking email, Facebook, and RSS.
I hop out of bed and right onto the web, getting an immediate start onto my work day while the kids sleep. I do a quick scan of email and RSS and then either edit or write the first post of the day for Web Worker Daily. Only after I’ve completed that job do I have breakfast (often a Pop-Tart, healthy for the soul if not for the body) and read The Denver Post and The Wall Street Journal.
What’s your morning routine?
Related posts:
35 Comments Post your own comment
Chris says: July 23rd, 2007 6:03am
0. Coffee
1. Read emails
2. Moderate Comments on my sites
3. Check delicious for anything interesting
4. Techcrunch, WWD and maybe R/WW
4. Then finally work…. huh
Rodrigo says: July 23rd, 2007 6:36am
1. wake up, roll over the bed and fall into the clothes
2. arrive to work
3. Read my dilbert calendar
4. Check my gmail
5. Check my gcal
6. Check my bank account
7. Open Netvibes
8. Read digg, slashdot, WWD and a couple more.
9. Go to boss office, talk about geek stuff
10. Read work emails
11. Go to lunch
12. Go back home
I swear that between items 10 and 12 I do some work!
Tajim says: July 23rd, 2007 6:37am
Breakfast
Then just jump into the work. I am just finding it difficult to work , work and work because sometimes i have so much of work that it goes well beyond my control.
Beau says: July 23rd, 2007 6:42am
0. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, go to gym.
1. Morning ablutions
2. Get dressed
3. Turn on espresso maker
4. Make wife’s drip coffee
5. Drink espresso
6. Check for pressing emails/voicemails that came in the night or from the east coast (Outlook - work, Gmail - personal, Grand Central voicemail)
7. Empty dishwasher
8. Eat breakfast/review feeds
9. Review to do list (Remember the Milk)
10. Review email
11. Start working through task list
12. Wake up kids
Justin Davey says: July 23rd, 2007 6:59am
1. Coffee/Morning Reading(I tried to read for at least 30-45 mins in the morning)
2. Check email/Google Reader
3. Possibly write blog posting for Moving Into The Conceptual Age
4. Possibly catch up on schoolwork (college student)
5. Off to work as a lowly industrial butcher. I take the bus which gives me another hour or so to read/reflect.
Lasse Rintakumpu says: July 23rd, 2007 7:16am
6:45 - Wake up
7:15 - Yoghurt, bread and carrot juice. Read feeds.
7:30 - Take a shower
8:00 - E-mail
8:30 - “Think in the morning” (Make ToDo-list for the day)
8:45 - If time, some more RSS / E-mail
9:00 - Leave for office
9:05 - Arrive at the office two blocks away. Get and organize mail
9:15 - Make tea, turn on computer Start working
Serrin says: July 23rd, 2007 7:59am
Usually try to get exercise, posting on the blog, reading some academic articles and eating a healthy breakfast. It usually proves a challenge.
Sara says: July 23rd, 2007 8:17am
1. Coffee and music
2. Every other day: RSS feeds/reading; admin/rote tasks
3. Write
4. Email and organizing
It’s definitely a challenge to balance being informed, doing the actual job, and staying on top of communications.
Dax says: July 23rd, 2007 8:42am
1. Wake Up and Shower
2. Feeds kids breakfast if they are awake
3. Check e-mail
4. Drive into work
5. Check e-mail / Reader
6. Get updates from staff
7. Work.
jason says: July 23rd, 2007 8:50am
1. Wakeup @ 5 am
2. Shower and get dressed
3. Make coffee, prepare lunch, assemble backpack
4. Commute - 45 minutes (ish)
5. Email (Biz - outlook, Personal - gmail)
6. Complete leftover tasks before everyone else gets in
7. Various work tasks
8. Lunch at desk - write article for http://www.cmswire.com
9. Various work tasks
10. Commute home - usually longer in afternoon
nik says: July 23rd, 2007 9:08am
0. - 5. Hit snooze button
6. Roll out of bed, check email on laptop. Try to shake off the ‘zombie-ness’.
7. Hygenic activities.
8. Check computer again before I leave.
9. Unplug all charged things (iPod, cellphone) Grab notebooks.
10. Walk to bus stop, get on bus, arrive at area of work (1hr)
11. Get a gigantic cup of coffee.
12. Inhale coffee upon arriving at work.
jeremy says: July 23rd, 2007 9:20am
0. Think about excercising, and then fall back asleep.
1. Get up (7:15ish) and pee, noticing that I have 10 minutes to get to work.
2. Eat cereal while watching the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
3. Commute 15 min.
4. Check e-mail, respond to comments. 30-45min.
5. Stumble around on Stumbleupon. 30min.
6. Read rss news feeds to think of new cartoon ideas.
7. begrudgingly start working at my “job”
I’m really more of a night person. Probably until I have kids at least.
Rebecca Thorman says: July 23rd, 2007 9:26am
I have my best ideas in the morning and late at night, so I always read my RSS feeds during breakfast and am often writing little notes to myself on email. It isn’t the most productive actually, because then I’m not always in the mood to rush off to work. But it does put me in a good mood!
Rob says: July 23rd, 2007 9:33am
right now, with no kids in school, its’
1) wake up around 8,
2) start coffee
3) grab laptop from its location beside the couch
4) read email (much easier with all email accounts) going into gmail
4a) deal with urgent emails at this time if none, then move to 5
5) scan my horoscope (habit)
6) google reader - have about 50 feeds I scan
7) facebook
8) back to email to deal with remaining emails
9) start work
My whole routine usually takes 1 to 1.5 hours before I start work.
Mike says: July 23rd, 2007 9:38am
I’ve only been trying to get into this recently, since I need to be up earlier.
0. Up at 8:30am
1. Breakfast (tea/orange juice + bagel/toast/cereal)
2. Watch news
3. E-mails, Feeds, forums.
4. Organize siblings (babysitting)
5. Attempt to work…
Logical Extremes says: July 23rd, 2007 10:46am
Breakfast is always the first order of the day: high-fiber cereal with skim milk, banana, and blueberries; a large glass of orange juice (the good stuff). I never read, watch TV or compute during meals, it’s bad manners. Once breakfast is done, I can start my day.
Leslie says: July 23rd, 2007 11:39am
1. Up at 6:30
2. Throw on clothes, walking shoes and pedometer
3. Walk to coffee shop (2 blocks)
4. Spend next 45 minutes walking up and down the hills and steps in my neighborhood.
5. Cool down at computer checking emails, especially google and yahoo alerts, and responding as necessary.
6. Read RSS feeds, check to do list, mentally plan day.
7. Shower, dress, breakfast.
8. Depending on project, bus or walk to client or work at home.
9. Always more coffee.
10. Spend rest of the morning and most of the afternoon sitting at computer.
DRONE says: July 23rd, 2007 12:08pm
1. Celebrate the fact I don’t have a whining, incompetent, grasping, cowardly, loud, handwringing, mandatory-meeting-calling, donut-stuffing, lying, cheating, unworthy, filching, craven, sniveling idiot for a boss.
2. …
3. Profit!
4. Did I mention incompetent?
YeOldeTechy says: July 23rd, 2007 12:11pm
1. Get up at 5:30 AM
2. Get the papers in the driveway with the dog (Yellow Lab)
3. Drink a cup of coffee while reading the papers and watching my favorite morning news show (KCRA Channel 3 in Sacramento).
4. At 6:20, or so, go out for a run. When my achilles is sore, a walk.
5. Lift a few light weights
6. Take a shower and get dressed
7. Watch a bit of “Sunrise Earth” in high def, if it is still on
8. Turn on the computer by 8 AM, or so.
8a. If I get my dream job, now that I am partially retired, walk or bike to school to teach :-)
Zia says: July 23rd, 2007 12:39pm
0. Alarm rings @ 3.45am on my Blackberry
1. Check email while stopping the alarm.
2. Do my morning prayer
3. Back to bed @ 4am
4. Get up @ 6.30 am
5. If the wife gets to the shower before me, fire up my laptop
6. Check Blog stats
7. Shower and Shave
8. Breakfast + check RSS news on Blackberry (view Newsclip)
9. Drive+drop wfe+kid to school+go to work
9. Arrive at work, re-check my blog stats and check my RSS headlines on Netvibes
10.Start work….
Howlbeck says: July 23rd, 2007 1:23pm
1. Roll off the bed at 6:30am latest, after being licked clean by several dogs
2. Getting some clothes on (sometimes taking an umbrella, see 4)
3. Pee
4. Getting the dogs to pee
5. 7:15am now, waking the kids
6. Brewing a good coffee
7. Taking a shower
8. Waking the kids again
9. enjoying a good coffee and the morning paper
10. 7:45am now, getting dressed for the day
11. 8:00am - waking the wife
12. Taking the kids to the Kindergarten & School and off to work
on weekends: strike out 5, 8 & 10 till the end ;o)
Calvin Spealman says: July 23rd, 2007 4:56pm
I am trying to figure out how to take advantage of ideas like a morning routine when I also do Polyphasic Sleep, which I’ve absolutely loved. Has anyone found a way to combine them well? Productivity for the polyphasic sleeper seems to not always go on the same line as the monophasic sleepers, so I feel lost in a sea of information that just doesn’t apply to me.
Top Posts « WordPress.com says: July 23rd, 2007 4:59pm
[...] Open Thread: What’s Your Morning Routine? Morning: so full of promise and potential. While the night owls sleep, early birds get out of bed and write about […] [...]
hak says: July 23rd, 2007 11:32pm
I’ve been working on this one for some time and am just getting back to it after a month-long hiatus. Funny how vacation and “freedom” from the routine throws a wrench in the schedule as well as practically negates any productivity.
A morning routine should be put in context. After all, the routine of a 21-year-old single college student is far different from that of a 35-year-old single mom working three jobs.
My morning routine is that of a husband and father of two little munchkins. I work a full-time 8-5 job, go to night school from 5:30-9:15 four nights a week as a pre-med student, train as a triathlete, and try to write a blogzine dedicated to newbie endurance athletes.
Here goes…
05:00 - Wake up and go into meditation session followed by an Early Morning Ritual which is comprised of a few yoga asanas and pranayama exercises.
05:30 - Write. Either for blogzine or book project du jour as a hired gun (I’m called upon to help get certain books back on track if the main author falls behind schedule)
06:30 - Run, bike, or swim
07:15 - Get ready for work
07:30 - Drive to work
08:00 - Start the main job.
hak
Marty says: July 24th, 2007 7:36am
7:00am - Alarm sets off, but I switched it off and go back to sleep.
7:15am - I look at the clock, nope - too early for get-up so I go back to sleep.
7:30am - Same as above.
8:00am - Same as above.
8:25am - Same as above, but I get neurotic with each passing minute.
8:26am - Same as above.
8:27am - Same as above.
8:28am - Same as above.
8:29am - Same as above.
8:30am - Oh noes, the dreadful time to get up and so I did. I’m off for shower.
8:45am - Grumbled that I’m very late for work. I made myself some toast.
8:55am - I got dressed, brushed my teeth.
9:05am - Looked at the clock - knowing my work starts at 9am but I’m very late (which doesn’t concern me the slightest because I can finish work late)
9:06am - Drove to work
9:30am - Start work
Gary says: July 24th, 2007 8:46am
7.00am : Wake & try not to think of work
7.01am : Think of work and pick up laptop from the floor
7.02am : Check all our feeds are updating ok and we haven’t been blocked
7.03am : Read favourite feeds via our site
7.05am : Check Google Adsense
7.10am : Check Google Analytics
7.15am : Check Google Adwords
7.20am : Check Skype for IMs
7.30am : Check Personal Email
7.45am : Kids up, breakfasted, clothed and dispersed
8.30am : Commute (10 seconds) upstairs to office and the day begins
Nxqd3051990 says: July 24th, 2007 5:46pm
1- Check mail
2- Break fast
3- Check RSS
nXqd
theoldrogue says: July 24th, 2007 11:01pm
SSS-some things never change
Robert says: July 25th, 2007 4:48pm
1. Coffee
2. Cigarettes
3. Mint stats + Emails
4. NetNewsWire
5. Backpack
6. Highrise
7. Twitter
8. Pownce
9. Making the shopping list for the day with my wife for us and our five children (often requires some logistics)
emchy says: July 25th, 2007 10:32pm
0. check gmail
1. check livejournal
2. check work email
3. check myspace
4. check perezhilton / gossip blogs (this is work related)
5. create daily TO DO list and prioritize based on info garnered from 0-4
items 0-5 usually takes 30mins at this point i take a deep breath and go to
6. get 2nd coffee and prepare to dig into daily tasks
Moonshadow says: July 26th, 2007 6:37am
1. Hit snooze.
2. Hit snooze again.
3. Shower, dress, hair, makeup
4. Make lunch.
5. Drive to work (15 mins).
6. Hunt down cafeinne source.
7. Check email, livejournal, facebook, myspace.
8. Check calendar for the day, prep accordingly.
9. Check with network admin to see if he’s had any good new beer lately.
10. Work on actual work-related tasks.
Jakob says: July 29th, 2007 3:11am
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title . Thanks for informative article
Juggling Frogs says: August 1st, 2007 3:42am
I like this one:
8 Steps at SavageChickens
4 Ways to Break Out of the Routine « Web Worker Daily says: October 18th, 2007 11:01am
[...] Ways to Break Out of the Routine We’ve chatted before about the routines we all have - those comforting autopilot steps that get us through hours each day. But there are [...]
Junior says: November 22nd, 2007 8:37pm
-Pray God
-Brush my teeth
-Fix up my room
-Workout
-Shower
-Eat breakfast
-Work