Morning Routine Rehearsal

This morning, I engaged in a morning routine rehearsal. Huh? Let me explain.

On Tuesday, I’m starting a full-time job. Hence, for the first time in 17 months, I will have somewhere to be in the morning at a specific time.

(I’ll talk more about my new job and why I chose to go back to the 8 to 5 life in a different post. But for now, know that it’s a good thing, and I’m really excited!)

Since my morning routine over the past several months/year has been less than consistent and because humans generally overestimate how much they can get done in a given period of time (aka the planning fallacy), I thought I’d do a couple of practice runs with my desired morning routine (or one of the variations thereof).

Write & Workout Morning Routine

This morning I tested the Write & Workout morning routine. On select days, I want to have time to write at least 500 words on my (super secret) book project. I also want to have time for a 45-50 minute rigorous workout (as opposed to natural movement). The purpose of the rigorous workout is to get my heart rate up significantly through exercises such as intervals and hill running.

Original Plan

5:00 AM – Wake up, light tea candles on windowsill, turn on computer & make warm honey water

5:15 AM – Snuggle up in bed with warm honey water & write

5:45 AM – Work out & stretch

6:45 AM – Get oatmeal started & shower

7:00 AM – Cook breakfast for my daughter, pack her lunch, eat breakfast together & clean kitchen

7:30 AM – Slap on makeup & make sure my hair doesn’t look too trollish

7:45 AM – Be ready to go to work

Actual Results

I messed up the above plan in a couple of ways, which resulted in a less than perfect rehearsal (which is the reason we have rehearsals!).

First of all, I didn’t get up at 5 AM. Rather, I lay in bed until 5:16 AM suffering through an internal monolog that went something like this: “I should get up. But it’s so warm and cozy under the covers. But I was going to get up at 5. But I don’t really have to be anywhere at 8. Shouldn’t I take advantage of being able to sleep in. But I’m not sleeping. I’m not even tired…”

Lesson Learned: Get up at the designated time if you want the morning routine to be smooth.

Secondly, I made the huge mistake of checking Facebook and email before starting to write. I know better! I even thought to myself as I typed in the first letters of Facebook into the URL bar: “Don’t do it. Don’t do it.” But I did it anyway. And it delayed my writing.

Lesson Learned: Don’t check social media and email until morning routine is completed.

Due to these two glitches, I didn’t have time to clean up after breakfast or put on makeup. Not the end of the world, but I feel better leaving a clean kitchen, and I like wearing a minimal amount of makeup.

Morning Routine Rehearsal Notes

Having a good morning routine is essential for wellness. I hear so many horror stories of people who are rushing through their mornings, not eating breakfast, yelling at their kids in sheer frustration, and so on.

Friends, it doesn’t have to be that way.

You just have to get up earlier and follow an established routine to get everything done.

I’m really glad I went through with my morning routine rehearsal. For one, if I hadn’t, I probably would be showering right now rather than writing a blog post. Secondly, I learned two important lessons. Finally, I realized that it’s very likely that I can make my dream morning routine come true if I just stick to my wake-up time and don’t get distracted!

Oh, and one more thing… I’d better rehearse my alternate morning routine on Monday. That would be the “Write & Walk to Work” morning routine.

Stay tuned. :)