Morning Routine

For me my morning routine needs to be beneficial, challenging, and do-able. I believe that the balance between challenging and do-ability (apparently that is a word) is important. For example, I wake up at 06:00 every morning and get up at 06:10. Between waking and getting up I either lay in bed thinking or have a quick read to try and get my brain into some gear other than reverse. Almost every day there is a small part of my mind that says I don’t really want to get up yet. I need that. I need that little bit of resistance or challenge because it gives me the opportunity to be disciplined and to build discipline. However, if I went too early, let’s say I tried to get up at 05:00, I am far more likely to be inconsistent with this especially if I’ve had a late night or a poor sleep. 06:00 gives me enough.

My meditation is only 10 mins; this is enough time to give me significant benefit but not so much that I get inconsistent. I value the consistency over the length of the meditation. An alternative is to say intend to meditate for 20 mins each day but on difficult days do 10 mins. The problem I find with this is you then get into an internal debate about whether you should be doing 20 mins or 10 mins. If you do 10 mins you feel a bit bad about it. For me too much internal debate over a long period of time is a negative because it will eventually cause me to quit. This is where habit becomes important, the internal debate becomes quieted.

I shower each day after returning from the gym (not boasting). Every other day I take my shower cold. The purpose of the cold shower for me is a) for the mental challenge and b) for the associated health benefits. The reason I don’t take my shower cold every day is because I don’t want to get too used to it. I want it to continue to be a pretty miserable experience.

So, here’s my morning routine:

06:00                  Wake

06:00 – 06:10     Think or read

06:10                   Get up; make the bed (unless the wife is still in bed)

06:10 – 06:20     Wash my face; drink some water

06:20 – 06:30     Meditate 10 mins

06:30 – 07:45    Gym

07:45 – 08:00     Shower (every other day my shower is cold)

08:00 – 08:30     Breakfast

08:30 – 08:45     Journal