A slow & nurturing morning routine
Since I began working for myself + from home I've been very obsessed with learning about morning routines. Everyone uses them so differently and I've gone from one extreme to the other, mostly with no success.
But thanks to our little furry addition a routine has slowly found it's way into my days all on its own and I've been using the concept of habit stacking to build onto it and create a routine that I actually enjoy and don't feel too much pressure about.
It looks like this:
9:00ish am I wake up and make a hot breakfast. I enjoy it slowly sometimes with a podcast or audiobook, sometimes with a show, more often scrolling instagram. Today it was in silence while I sang the Veggie Tales theme song on repeat in my head.
10:00 we go for a walk. Its by far both of our favorite part of the day. I listen to a business podcast or audiobook to get into the work day spirit.
11:00 I shower and normally dont get ready for the day unless I know Im going somewhere soon ish.
11:30 I lock myself in my art studio and make myself stay here for an hour. Ive hit a big creative block or just lack of motivation to make/stress to get other work done. So forcing myself in here with a time frame makes me either make or clean the space or just sit amongst my stuff and think of ideas for things I could make.
12:30 lunch + a show. Right now its Parks & Rec.
And thats its. The morning is over. The rest of the day is about email, blogging, business, life stuff.
We recently sat down and did 'morning math' where you count backwards from when you want to wake up and add in how much sleep you need, how long it takes you to fall asleep and then to get ready for bed and thus you find your necessary bedtime. Ours is literally earlier than we are home most nights, so we have just stopped trying to fight that we dont normally wake up before 8 or 9 most days and just owned it. Things are changing soon with our impending move, so who knows what our schedules will look like in 6 months.
Anyway, this morning routine feels slow and nurturing - full of enjoyable things that add a positive impact to my days and life. Things get skipped or shortened sometimes and it's no big deal. As long as I have my cinnamon tea and Laz gets some outside time everyone is happy and life goes on.
What about you? Do you have a morning routine that's set in stone? When I worked a job where I had to be somewhere at a certain time, it looked a lot different - like breakfast and blogs at my desk in the am. So Im really grateful to have this current routine.
Feel free to share yours, I love learning what others do and what they prioritize in the morning. Ive been asking all my guests on How She Creates their morning routines lately and its my favorite question right now.
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