Wake up. Feed the dog. Make coffee. Take the dog for a walk (~30 minutes), usually put on a podcast.
Check my calendar so I have an idea what my schedule looks like for the day, especially looking for start-of-day meetings. Start "spinning up" in my head. Shower & clean up, dress for the day.
If I have spare time before my workday starts I'll usually spend it catching up on personal email or checking the news. I very specifically avoid "fun traps" in the morning, no personal projects, books I may be hooked on, entertainment media, or engagement based platforms I might loose time to.
At the end of the day I cap it off with a proper workout and another walk with the pip. I find having a semi-enforced schedule to actually leave the house at the beginning and end of the day give me good mental touchstones to know when I should/shouldn't be working. I still find myself occasionally picking at something in the evening, but at least when I do I'm making an explicit choice to _go back to work_.
no personal projects in the morning is great advice.
one of my biggest traps right now is using the morning (when i have the most energy & feel most focused) to tinker with my own creative projects. i can look up and it's 2pm and i haven't applied to any jobs, reached out to my network, or worked on any interview take homes.
if i turn around and it's mid-afternoon before i start doing the stuff i need to do, this typically means the day is shot.
Check my calendar so I have an idea what my schedule looks like for the day, especially looking for start-of-day meetings. Start "spinning up" in my head. Shower & clean up, dress for the day.
If I have spare time before my workday starts I'll usually spend it catching up on personal email or checking the news. I very specifically avoid "fun traps" in the morning, no personal projects, books I may be hooked on, entertainment media, or engagement based platforms I might loose time to.
At the end of the day I cap it off with a proper workout and another walk with the pip. I find having a semi-enforced schedule to actually leave the house at the beginning and end of the day give me good mental touchstones to know when I should/shouldn't be working. I still find myself occasionally picking at something in the evening, but at least when I do I'm making an explicit choice to _go back to work_.