There's a lot of talk about people's morning routines, from entrepreneurs, CEO's and beloved business and thought leaders out there. Statistics show that successful people get up three hours before work, run miles, write for hours, whatever it is that helps hone their craft. With all the talk about morning routines, I began to wonder if my morning measured up. I should step it up, I thought. So... I added five minutes of meditation, 20 minutes of yoga, and 10 minutes of reading to my already early wake up call of 6:20. I was getting up at 5:45 and it was working out for a few weeks. It felt intentional and aligned and like I started the day out right. Until it didn't. Recently, I stopped the reading, the meditation, because it felt forced, rushed, and busy, when my mornings used to be quiet and peaceful. This past year, I've been following Jess Lively, a fantastic thought leader who teaches the art of living from your values. (who, incidentally, has a one of those regimented morning routine as mentioned above) As I get deeper in the work, I realize how the value of Simplicity has an overarching theme in my life. It's certainly evident in my design work. It makes me feel peaceful at home to have a quiet, clean space. Why can't it have a place in my brain, too? I tend to overcomplicate things- you know the feeling: brain gets going on overdrive, start comparing yourself to others, feel less than. That's when I realized I have always had a morning routine, and it consists of three things that don't need to be mapped out in exactement; they don't need a time frame, or the rigidity of a schedule: I usually wake up pretty naturally at a bit before 6:00, as I do need to make sure my two boys make it to school on time. (Max gets up at 6:20) Alarm is set for 6:20. (As a rule, I try to avoid looking at my phone until I get to work- sometimes, I sneak a look at Instagram, but usually not)
Coffee is first order of the day- always. I've been using a stovetop espresso maker for years- since college I think. I love the Intelligentsia Analog Espresso, and always buy it at The Coffee Studio in Andersonville. Because they're nice there and grind it for me. While it's boiling, I feed this guy.
Then I sit here and drink my coffee. I usually sit here for about 10 minutes, and reflect, by either just sitting and thinking, or writing in my journal. It may be just a few sentences, a thought, but I try to write every day.
While I'm making coffee number two, I have a glass of water with lemon and take my vitamin D. Lemon for the alkaline and Vitamin C, and D for the deficiency I learned I had last year.
I've beenpracticing yoga for as long as I've been drinking coffee, and have recently added three sun salutations to my morning- basically just to stretch, and add a little time for intention, as it helps me focus on three things I might want to tackle that day. More, I've learned is a bit overwhelming. If you'd like to learn more about my three, and how I organize my work day, please see an article I wrote on The Forth blog last year. Then, the boys are getting up, and it's time for making lunches, helping with breakfast, and getting ready. I love the 30 minutes or so that I get every morning by myself, before the day gets going. Max leaves for the el at 7:00, and Charlie and I leave at 8:00, to drop him off at school. Then, I'm in the office, which is just few blocks from Charlie's school, at 8:30. Maybe for some who are working on discipline, a strict regimen would be beneficial, but for me it was eating into a time in my day that had always felt peaceful until I started changing it.
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