Open Thread: What's Your Morning Routine?
Morning: so full of promise and potential. While the night owls sleep, early birds get out of bed and write about morning routines.
Ryan Carson finishes at least two things from his daily to do list before checking email — that’s part of his strategy for a productive morning. WWD contributing writer Leo Babauta suggests that writers create a morning writing ritual because that gives your writing first priority in your life and provides a peaceful time to do it. Leo’s suggestion reminds me of creativity maven Julia Cameron’s morning pages, uncensored writing that she recommends you do each morning.
Steven Fisher thinks that it’s important to get showered and dressed before starting to work. And Pete Thomas brings a business process management (BPM) perspective to the morning routine, looking for ways to optimize for time and health by doing things like switching out bacon and eggs for fruit, yogurt, and granola. He means that as an introduction to BPM, but if you’re really into systematizing your life, it just might work for you.
Amy J. Kearns spends an hour before work each day checking her email, Facebook, and RSS. I’d do that too if I had a job other than checking email, Facebook, and RSS.
I hop out of bed and right onto the web, getting an immediate start onto my work day while the kids sleep. I do a quick scan of email and RSS and then either edit or write the first post of the day for Web Worker Daily. Only after I’ve completed that job do I have breakfast (often a Pop-Tart, healthy for the soul if not for the body) and read The Denver Post and The Wall Street Journal.
What’s your morning routine?
Related posts:
- Do you get up early to boost your productivity?
- Getting on the treadmill of life
- Lunch break, web worker style
- How to transition between work and home
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
0. Coffee
1. Read emails
2. Moderate Comments on my sites
3. Check delicious for anything interesting
4. Techcrunch, WWD and maybe R/WW
4. Then finally work…. huh
1. wake up, roll over the bed and fall into the clothes
2. arrive to work
3. Read my dilbert calendar
4. Check my gmail
5. Check my gcal
6. Check my bank account
7. Open Netvibes
8. Read digg, slashdot, WWD and a couple more.
9. Go to boss office, talk about geek stuff
10. Read work emails
11. Go to lunch
12. Go back home
I swear that between items 10 and 12 I do some work!
Breakfast
Then just jump into the work. I am just finding it difficult to work , work and work because sometimes i have so much of work that it goes well beyond my control.
0. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, go to gym.
1. Morning ablutions
2. Get dressed
3. Turn on espresso maker
4. Make wife’s drip coffee
5. Drink espresso
6. Check for pressing emails/voicemails that came in the night or from the east coast (Outlook – work, Gmail – personal, Grand Central voicemail)
7. Empty dishwasher
8. Eat breakfast/review feeds
9. Review to do list (Remember the Milk)
10. Review email
11. Start working through task list
12. Wake up kids
1. Coffee/Morning Reading(I tried to read for at least 30-45 mins in the morning)
2. Check email/Google Reader
3. Possibly write blog posting for Moving Into The Conceptual Age
4. Possibly catch up on schoolwork (college student)
5. Off to work as a lowly industrial butcher. I take the bus which gives me another hour or so to read/reflect.
6:45 – Wake up
7:15 – Yoghurt, bread and carrot juice. Read feeds.
7:30 – Take a shower
8:00 – E-mail
8:30 – “Think in the morning” (Make ToDo-list for the day)
8:45 – If time, some more RSS / E-mail
9:00 – Leave for office
9:05 – Arrive at the office two blocks away. Get and organize mail
9:15 – Make tea, turn on computer Start working
Usually try to get exercise, posting on the blog, reading some academic articles and eating a healthy breakfast. It usually proves a challenge.
1. Coffee and music
2. Every other day: RSS feeds/reading; admin/rote tasks
3. Write
4. Email and organizing
It’s definitely a challenge to balance being informed, doing the actual job, and staying on top of communications.
1. Wake Up and Shower
2. Feeds kids breakfast if they are awake
3. Check e-mail
4. Drive into work
5. Check e-mail / Reader
6. Get updates from staff
7. Work.
1. Wakeup @ 5 am
2. Shower and get dressed
3. Make coffee, prepare lunch, assemble backpack
4. Commute – 45 minutes (ish)
5. Email (Biz – outlook, Personal – gmail)
6. Complete leftover tasks before everyone else gets in
7. Various work tasks
8. Lunch at desk – write article for http://www.cmswire.com
9. Various work tasks
10. Commute home – usually longer in afternoon