Your Morning Routine

[Andrea]

Wake before alarm goes off at 5am
Shower
Meditate
Flip the switch to start coffee brewing that my honey prepares the night before
Drink liquid dairy product with a dash of weak coffee
Check email
Check Twitter
Check CNN
Check BFP
Pull together foods for the day to be consumed at the office, much of which has been pre-prepared and divided into plasticware
Put on the shirt on top of the pile
Put on the jeans on top of the pile
Slip feet in shoes
Pack up laptop to take to office
Drive to office about 15 minutes away and begin work at a quarter to 7am

I better be able to switch things up because in a few days I give up my liquid dairy product with a dash of weak coffee. <insert scared emoji here>

[Soon]

Alarm or I wake myself up b/w 5:30 and 6

Put the water on, grind the beans, make the french press coffee

Go back to bed with the coffee pot and mug and mess around online for approx. hour (best part of the day sometimes...love the quiet peacefulness)

Drag ass out of bed and get ready in about 15 mins (usually do the shower thing in the PM); if I need to do my hair tack another 15/20 mins.

Out the door by 7:30/7:40

[Ladybug]

The most important element of my morning routine is exercise!

If it is a work day, I will head out the door before doing anything else to do a few miles of jogging/walking.

On a day off, I will take the luxury of actually eating breakfast and drinking coffee before heading off on a much longer walk, or often hike in the mountains.

Everything else- clothes, make up, hair, etc- gets fit in wherever it can, depending on whether I get distracted with music or online! I don't really have a set-in-stone routine, other than the need to get out and move before doing anything else!

[randrum]

I am noticing a bit of a pattern in almost everyone's routine...

Coffee.

Am I the only one that it is not part of my routine? You know it's a bad day for me if it includes coffee.

And no, I don't drink something else for caffeine. In the mornings, it is almost always water or juice.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by randrum

I am noticing a bit of a pattern in almost everyone's routine...

Coffee.

Am I the only one that it is not part of my routine? You know it's a bad day for me if it includes coffee.

And no, I don't drink something else for caffeine. In the mornings, it is almost always water or juice.

Nope. Not a drop of coffee crosses these lips. It smells way better than it tastes and I have to put so much crap in it to make me capable of swallowing it that I just save myself the time, cost and frustration and don't do it.

I always have a small glass of oj in the morning with my oatmeal (on working days).

[kittygrrl]

up early thinking with coffee this morning..a soft rain was falling and the garden was weedy and very fragrant, the birds chirped hello songs..and made me feel better..making chili..i have all my (very) secret ingredients in it..it should be amazing...just sayin

[grenade]

Originally Posted by randrum

I am noticing a bit of a pattern in almost everyone's routine...

Coffee.

Am I the only one that it is not part of my routine? You know it's a bad day for me if it includes coffee.

And no, I don't drink something else for caffeine. In the mornings, it is almost always water or juice.

I don't drink coffee. The only way I have ever liked it is disguised with sugar and dairy. That doesn't fit into my vegan diet.

I do drink iced tea. All that I drink is iced tea or water.

[Smiling]

I have the noblest intentions for a morning routine; I truly do. However, the reality is more like this...

Unconsciously hit the snooze button a few too many times until I awaken in a panic. Then run through the house clumsily stumbling about while trying to cram the most hygiene into the fewest possible minutes. Makeup? I used to bother about that, but now I start work far too early. I'm usually pulling on the last articles of clothing as I lock the door and then all the way to work one of two things happen:

1. If it's going to be a day where things go my way, I will know it because I'll hit all the green lights on the commute.

2. If I get stuck at every single light on my way in, it's generally an omen of what awaits, lol.

I get my coffee at work now usually, which is weird because I've always been a bit of a coffee snob. Now, it's just about good time management. And free stuff. And the coffee is sufficiently caffeinated and it's free. I don't like this morning routine because I don't believe it's the right way for me to live, but my schedule is crammed for the foreseeable future. On the weekends, it's better.

[homoe]

Originally Posted by randrum

I am noticing a bit of a pattern in almost everyone's routine...

Coffee.

Am I the only one that it is not part of my routine? You know it's a bad day for me if it includes coffee.

And no, I don't drink something else for caffeine. In the mornings, it is almost always water or juice.

Yup, not a coffee drinker either! Someone said it smells much better than it tastes which is so true! And here I lived in a place where within a two block radius of 4th and Pine Streets there are FOUR different coffee joints! Three are Starbucks and the fourth is Ebar associated with Nordstrom's Department store!

[Brooklyn]

During the work week:

Up between 5-5:30am.
Go to the bathroom
Brush my teeth
Put the tea kettle on (french press coffee)
Wet my hair (would have showered the night before) - put product in aforementioned hair.
Spruce up (wash my face, deodorant, cologne, etc.)
Make coffee
Check the world and local news online (likely just sitting in my boxer briefs and a t-shirt)
Login here for a quick read
Get dressed (likely would have set clothes out the night before)
Brush teeth again (after coffee)
Head out the door at 6:30am for the drive to work.

On the weekends:

Up whenever and do whatever (because that is what weekends are for)

[GeorgiaMa'am]

My routine is EVERYTHING in the morning. That only happened about 5 years ago because (1) I started going to bed on time, and (2) I developed some memory problems. My memory meds don't kick in until awhile after I take them, so if I don't have a routine in the morning, I just wander around and try to remember why I'm standing in whatever room, until they do.

• Wake up to alarm at 5:45 or 6:15 (this is the only variable - depends on if I have to wash and dry my hair)
• Take first med, get up, restroom
• Make breakfast, always Campbell's Cream of Tomato soup and whatever else is handy
• Take second med
• Eat breakfast and watch a half-hour show on Netflix, or half of a one-hour show
• Take out Tiny Dog and feed Diva Kitty
• Take rest of a.m. (pre-sorted) meds
• Shower, maybe wash hair
• Dry and style hair
• Deodorant
• Teeth
• Makeup and skin care
• Pre-selected outfit and jewelry (I select all my outfits on Sunday night for the week)
• Restroom again
• Leave for work at 8:45 a.m.
• Arrive in my office around 9:15 a.m., where I make a K-cup coffee, and am at my desk before 9:30 a.m. start time

It took me awhile to develop this schedule, and then I wrote it down and hung it over my bed where I would frequently refer to it. I don't have it hung up any more, but I do still have it written down in my day planner - where I write down everything (digital does not work for me). I also have a list for bed time; it makes getting to bed on time a lot easier.

[femmeandstrong]

coffee for sure...
femme up ...

sit quietly... get online news...
study a lil bit on khan academy...art history and bio right now...
read something that inspires me...have "principle centered leadership" next to me right now... ( s. covey )...

write a heartfelt email to hym...
ask a question of myself...not looking for an immediate answer but somehow it finds me over time...

read some useful and a lil useless fb stuff...

femme up a lil more lol...
get in my truck... listen to NPR ...

step out into my day...staying in the moment...
grateful...
so very much to be grateful for...

[Liam]

Originally Posted by randrum

I am noticing a bit of a pattern in almost everyone's routine...

Coffee.

Am I the only one that it is not part of my routine? You know it's a bad day for me if it includes coffee.

And no, I don't drink something else for caffeine. In the mornings, it is almost always water or juice.

I drink herbal tea in the morning, sometimes I have juice too, however I always have water.

I've been getting up early my entire life. More often than not, I am up before my alarm goes off at 4 am. I give myself an hour for breakfast, and playing solitaire. Sometimes I'll grab some fb time. Half an hour for getting dressed, personal hygiene, and preparing for work. Then I am off to work, I either walk or take the bus.

[Orema]

Originally Posted by randrum

I am noticing a bit of a pattern in almost everyone's routine...

Coffee.

Am I the only one that it is not part of my routine? You know it's a bad day for me if it includes coffee.

And no, I don't drink something else for caffeine. In the mornings, it is almost always water or juice.

Like Liam, I start my mornings with water. I add lemon juice and cayenne pepper to it. I seldom have coffee and when I do it's decaf. I have too much energy for caffeine.

Something else ... I've gotten up early most of life, with the exception of when I was first married. My husband and I would party all night on the weekends and get up at 5pm to start the day.

And before I was married, I was a sex worker for a number of years and even then I was able to get up early and go to bed relatively early—I worked the businees crowd during the daytime hours. Getting up early is just something that's always worked for me.

[Gráinne]

I too am a morning person. When I was a runner, that was my prime running time even (or especially) in the summer. My whole mind and body just thrived on those runs or swims.

This thread is like a big "Well, do that again; you even belong to a gym and pool that opens at 5:00 AM" to me. There's no good reason why I couldn't make that a routine again and get ready for work at the pool. It just takes organization and non-laziness. Even a goal of a few mornings a week to start is good.

I have found, indeed, that a morning started right makes the day work much better. If I am rushed, disorganized, or crashing from hunger, forget it.

This, henceforth, is my picture of a great morning:

6:00 Wake up, read something inspirational, gratitude and joy journal, stretch
6:30 Gym for a run or swim, followed by my reward of a hot tub soak.
7:15-8:00 Get ready for work at gym; once at work mentally calm and center myself and eat the light breakfast I already packed in my bag (vending machine stuff is not breakfast).

I need to be my best self for myself, my family, and my students who are looking to me for a role model.

[Chad]

Jump out of bed in the dark, then turn on the local news and read social media for a few minutes. I make coffee and food, clean up the house, shower, dress, and start my day.

Sometimes I throw the nurff football for the kitty.
Morning love notes make for a happy day.