New Morning Routine

Almost all of the articles I’ve read about creativity and productivity begin with the same piece of advice: put down the damn cell phone.

I know! I know! But, it’s so hard, and I am trying!

Here is how this played out this morning.

6:00 am – I woke up to the alarm on my iPhone, hit stop, got out of bed, and went downstairs to let the dog out. Lately, I’ve been hitting the snooze button relentlessly and getting out of bed at 7:15. So, I’m already off to a good start.

Also, I left the phone upstairs.

I’ll wait for your applause…

6:15 am – I made my coffee and started to write my goals for the day. I was so proud of myself for not following my normal routine of checking email, solving Wordle, and doom-scrolling Facebook. I held off…for about 15 minutes.

Do I get partial credit? An “A” for effort?

6:16 am – I heard a pinging sound coming from my phone, and I didn’t want it to wake up my husband. (Wasn’t that nice of me?). I ran upstairs to fetch my phone and put it in my pocket. Once I had my phone on me, I couldn’t help but peek at the Wordle and Connections puzzles.

6:29 am – I solved both puzzles and went upstairs to take a shower. This is another breakthrough because I like to sit and scroll on the couch, until I force myself to get up and start my day.

7:15 am – It takes forever for me to do my hair in the morning, but I finished up and went back downstairs to start my daily writing routine.

8:30 am – I wrote 1500 words and read a few chapters of “The Book of Delights” by Ross Gay. I like weaving in 15 minutes of reading in between 25 minute stints of writing. It’s my own version of the Pomodoro method and so far, it’s working.

9:30 am – I did the first of three loads of laundry and applied for two jobs. I followed up with several contacts to schedule coffee and lunch meetings. I’m still waiting to hear from a few people, but I have a bunch lined up for next week. While I don’t mind the job hunting, I hate being cooped up in the house all day. I need to get out and see people, so I’m REALLY looking forward to these get-togethers.

The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful, but I learned a few things.

1. Getting out of bed when the alarm goes off was not easy, but I did it. I hate that it is dark outside when I wake up, but it doesn’t stay dark for long. By 7:15, I was ready to start my day and got a lot accomplished.
2. Every morning, I want to leave my phone upstairs a little longer. I don’t want to be tied down to it. It definitely hinders my productivity. However, it can be a great tool to feed my creative side if I use it right and not waste time scrolling.
3. I need to fit in time to exercise into my morning routine. It’s not like I don’t have the time. I’m just not very motivated that early in the day.
4. I didn’t finish my daily goals list. I need to get better at this. Maybe I should write it out before I go to bed so that it greets me in the morning. Right now though, I’m concentrating on making a habit of doing the dishes before bedtime so I can wake up to a clean kitchen. It’s a process.Are you productive in the mornings or is later in the day your sweet spot? Let me know in the comments.XO,
   Elisa