2. If I remember any dreams, bask in the memories.
3. Languish awhile (on good days this is just a few minutes) before throwing off the covers.
4. Starting the water heating for my spouse's coffee, and drinking a few sips of the warming water to start my own rehydration.
5. Brushing my teeth.
6. Cold shower, with almost no dilly-dally now that I'm almost three years into the habit. It feels so good AFTER :) and has helped me eschew caffeine (for GERD & anxiety reasons, and maybe my skin & guts have trouble with coffee?).
7. If my child is still asleep and I'm up early enough and my spouse is at home, I go for a half-hour walk-perchance-to-jog. Sometimes I'm itching to move faster, other times the deliberate walking (practicing good posture), breathing, and open awareness is where it's at.
8. Back home and if my kid's awake we snuggle for a few minutes followed by a half-hour or so of preparation for the day (including medically-necessary things; easier now that she's growing up), otherwise if my spouse is awake I'll join her in bed or I'll make her coffee and start cutting up vegetables and greens for my breakfast.
1. My dog wakes me up somewhere around 5am. If I'm lucky she hasn't pee'd or pooped on the floor. She's old and has dementia.
2. Said dog goes outside and then hassles me for breakfast until about 6am while I half-sleep on the couch.
3. Immediately after the dog finishes breakfast my 2 year old daughter wakes up.
4. Diaper change (for daughter), get her breakfast.
5. If it's a pre-school day, make her lunch and pack her bag.
6. Eat random spoonfuls of soggy cereal and drink a mouthful of coffee as time permits.
7. Drop her off at pre-school.
8. Rush back and start work ~9am pretending that I can keep up with all the amazing engineers 20 years my junior :)
I don't know if this will be insightful, but I'll answer because it will be fun for me to remember a few years from now when day-to-day life has slowed down...
6:00 Wake up to my alarm.
6:15 Run 3 or 4 miles through my neighborhood.
6:50 Eat my breakfast (usually frozen waffles, oatmeal, or donuts) while looking at the Defense News Early Bird Brief.
7:00 Get myself and my 2YO and 4YO kids dressed.
7:15 Make breakfast for my 2YO and 4YO kids, and make coffee with their "help."
7:20 Bring coffee and medications to my wife, and tell my 6YO and 8YO kids to get up and get dressed.
7:30 Make breakfast for my 6YO and 8YO kids, and make their lunches if they are going to school in-person, or start giving them directions if it's a day of school work at home for them. And make my wife a smoothie for breakfast.
8:30 Leave the house with my 6YO and 8YO if I'm taking them to school. If not, gradually transition to my own work from home as the kids get busy and my wife takes over, hopefully by 9:00.
Actually in bed, trying to fall asleep, at 23:00 is typical. I'd prefer to get in bed at 22:00 but my wife is a night owl, so this is a compromise for us.
Some sleep deprivation does accumulate to the point that I might turn off my alarm and sleep until 7:00 (when our kids are trained to get up) and skip running some mornings, but I hate doing that; I immediately feel like I've fallen behind schedule so the morning becomes more stressful, and I'm mad that I didn't get any exercise on top of it.
Get ear plugs and a sleep mask. Don't allow her to demand you stay up with her. Although really the compromise should be she should leave the bedroom until she's ready to sleep, but I get some people will not always agree to that not even for the comfort of their partner.
I wake up at 6AM like this person. I go to sleep around 10PM. Honestly, the best approach is to wake up at whatever time every single day even on weekends and then get to bed when you are tired after 7PM. If you keep doing this you will naturally find your appropriate bed time after about 2 weeks. Most people just botch this because they sleep in on weekends and destroy their body's attempt to set a cycle.
Yes. Earlier in life, especially before having kids, my job required me to be up closer to 5:00 and then on weekends my wife and I would sleep until maybe 8:00. That back-and-forth every week, trying to get back into the routine on Sunday night into Monday morning, was terrible. Now I'll get up at 6:00 and run even on holidays.
Starting to get up early will just suck for the first couple of days. I think there's no way around that.
Thanks. I'm a morning person and I strive for efficiency to an extent that most other people would question, haha. What's conspicuously missing from my routine, for example: any significant time for taking a shower (if I do, it's 30 seconds) or other personal hygiene.
My alarm is set to go off at 6AM, though I typically wake up a few minutes before it goes off. I make coffee, go outside to have a cigarette, and just generally chill for an hour.
At 7AM I walk across the park to my wife's house, and make a second cup of coffee. Sometimes I set out a breakfast bowl for her, and sometimes she's already awake.
7:15 I wake up our child, and gentle encourage him to get out of bed. By about 7:30 he's usually awake and alive. If not I physically carry him out of bed, and place him on the sofa, before I start to encourage him to eat some breakfast.
After he's eaten breakfast, gotten dressed, and brushed his teeth I take him out the door at 7:55. I walk him him to a neighbours house, and we wait outside there for their child to come out at 8AM. At 8:00, or 8:05, the two kids walk to school, alone, and I take a tram into the city center, later switching to a metro, and start my day at the office.
Weekends are similar, except my alarm doesn't get set at all and I tend to do nothing serious until 10AM.
1. Alarm goes at 8:00. Snooze it.
2. Alarm goes again at 8.10, snooze it.
3. Second alarm goes at 8.15, snooze it.
4. First alarm goes again at 8.20, snooze it.
5. Second alarm goes again at 8.25, turn it off and get out of bed.
6. Brush teeth, put in contact lenses, get dressed. Pack raisins/nuts snack for wife and myself.
7. 8:40, head to work.
Wake up 6am and walk into shower, turn on cold water and pull the mechanism to turn on shower head.
It’s the hardest thing I have to do upon waking up. I don’t want to be uncomfortable or even wake up. But I must do it. Honestly it might sound stupid to other people but it takes me a moment to brace myself for the super cold water.
Takes about 15-30 seconds to get past the shock and I’m wired for the rest of the day. It is better than coffee.
I start with some stretching and meditation to clear my mind before diving into work. I've found that this helps me stay focused and energized throughout the day. It's amazing how small changes in your morning routine can have a big impact on your productivity and overall well-being.
I don't have one (at least, a before-work morning routine). It's usually rolling out of bed and starting work. I don't eat breakfast but I'll make coffee some days.
- Dog usually is up by 830-9. Take on walk and get sunshine and fresh air to help wake up for about 20 min.
- Jump on morning standup calls. Some are active and some aren’t so use the secondary ones to start breakfast consisting of eggs, protein, and some fruit.
- Make coffee. I wait 90-120 minutes before I drink any caffeine from waking up.
- Work on short higher priority items that I noted from the night before until noon and hit the gym to break up the day.
Snooze 5 alarms, shut 3 alarms off, glass of water, toilet pitstop, shower, second toilet pitstop just in case, get dressed, kiss family, out of the door.
Total time: 1.5h to 2h depending on how long the second pitstop takes.
2. If I remember any dreams, bask in the memories.
3. Languish awhile (on good days this is just a few minutes) before throwing off the covers.
4. Starting the water heating for my spouse's coffee, and drinking a few sips of the warming water to start my own rehydration.
5. Brushing my teeth.
6. Cold shower, with almost no dilly-dally now that I'm almost three years into the habit. It feels so good AFTER :) and has helped me eschew caffeine (for GERD & anxiety reasons, and maybe my skin & guts have trouble with coffee?).
7. If my child is still asleep and I'm up early enough and my spouse is at home, I go for a half-hour walk-perchance-to-jog. Sometimes I'm itching to move faster, other times the deliberate walking (practicing good posture), breathing, and open awareness is where it's at.
8. Back home and if my kid's awake we snuggle for a few minutes followed by a half-hour or so of preparation for the day (including medically-necessary things; easier now that she's growing up), otherwise if my spouse is awake I'll join her in bed or I'll make her coffee and start cutting up vegetables and greens for my breakfast.
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What's your morning routine so far?