I’ve written about my morning routine in the past, but it has been a while. Clearly, things have changed since the days of:
a) pre-kids (comparatively luxurious unless I was on a hard rotation during residency!)
b) pumping and/or not sleeping through the night (SO HAPPY those days are behind me)
It has taken quite some time, but I feel like I’ve fallen into a good rhythm. I am always interested in the logistics of others — in part because it amazes me how often we don’t share the mundane little details which end up shaping every day.
So, here are mine. In fact, this is going to be series — I’ll follow it with a work routine / evening routine / weekend routine post in the future.
5 am alarm goes off (note: I go to sleep between 9 and 10 so this is not as hardcore as it sounds.)
I admittedly spend the next 5-10 minutes scrolling through something on my phone to wake up. I actually wonder if the blue light in my face helps with this (makes sense, right — kind of the opposite of those orange goggles 🙂 ).
5:10 am go downstairs, make coffee, often eat something small pre-run (example: 1/2 banana or 1/2 apple with almond butter). Check out feedly and allow caffeine to kick in.
5:35 am Go for run outside (I almost never use the treadmill these days unless it’s pouring rain). Alternatively, start home barre3 workout (aiming for 4 runs / 2 barre sessions weekly these days). Today I did 4mi around the neighborhood, 2 a little faster, 1 warmup/1 cool down.
6:15 am curfew. Meaning – I need to be at home by this point to be fair to Josh. It’s a mutually agreed-upon time that seems to work for both of us. Usually I shower at this point/get ready. A&C wake up any time between 6 and 7.
6:35 am I aim to be downstairs on “kid-duty” so that Josh can get ready. I make breakfast (usually eggs are the centerpiece) while C watches in his chair most days (while eating banana most of the time).
6:50 am We all eat together (though often A and C started eating while I was cooking, or sometimes on rare occasions A is still asleep!). I give C his medicine, try to clean up, and pack up lunch for work.
7:35 am Our nanny arrives; we talk about A&C and do any strategic planning about vacations/school activities/etc
7:45 am I leave for work, heading west and then up I-95 about 20 miles total. I usually listen to podcasts but sometimes — like today — just blast radio (Sirius XMU #35!)
8:20 am Arrive at work. Say hi to everyone and speak with our manager. Check email and respond to things; RSVP to a birthday party for Annabel
8:35 am 1st patient has checked in – time to work!
I am pretty happy with this routine — I have enough time to work out, get to spend time (that actually does feel relatively ‘quality’) with A&C at breakfast, and I can relax a little bit on the commute up to work.
10 Comments
You should do a post on your evening routine Too.
I love that breakfast is a family meal for you all! Was that intentional since (I think) work schedules + kids’ bedtimes make family dinners tought to manage? Or just the way it worked out? We basically only have one breakfast together as a family each week, on the days I telecommute (though the recent rash of snow storms up here has had me working from home more than my usual once/week) and I really like getting to start the day together that way.
I love that you guys do family breakfast! We do it, too! It’s actually a really nice time of day for Griffin (usually) so it’s really nice to chat and joke around and plan out our days.
I’m curious – how on earth do you shower and get dressed and ready for the day in only 20 minutes?? I am so slow and pokey during that process it takes me at least 35 (I do make up and have to dry and style my hair).
I’m glad I’m not the only one that does so much before leaving for work every morning! "Mornings are the new evenings" as they say (right?) We take turns exercise, have breakfast with the kids (at least one of us does), all 4 of us get ready and sometimes I even play with the kids a bit before leaving for work.
Hurrah for family breakfast! It’s the new family dinner! Seriously, we attempt to all be at the table together in the AM when my husband is home. It’s not a lengthy meal (it can be over in less than 15 minutes), but there is also no complaining as there is with dinner, as I’m not trying to make anyone eat vegetables or unfamiliar foods at breakfast. Cereal, waffles, bagels, it’s all good. Perhaps I should be pushing new foods, but it’s nice to have one meal where the focus is conversation and talking about the day, rather than how many bites of X, Y, Z one has to try.
3.5 hours from alarm to work is a long morning, but I love that you are aware of where it goes, and are consciously using it for exercise, blogging and reading, podcast listening, and family time. I’ve seen a lot of time logs where 3.5 hours can disappear into nothing noteworthy!
That is a great morning routine! I love doing family breakfasts and it feels so good to start the day right!
Early morning routine just isn’t working out for me for the last few months. My toddler will wake up within 10 minutes of my wake up time, even if I try to wake up at 4 am. It is quite frustrating. I have no idea how he can hear my alarm go off in the other room. After trying to wake up early and set up a structured routine for months, I have finally given up and try to do all my productive tasks at night. My toddler is forcing me to be a night owl 🙂
I also have a habit of scrolling on my phone when I wake up….but I often find that I fall into a twitter/facebook/news sites vortex and ending up wasting at least half an hour, if not more on there. Any tips for keeping it to 10 mins? I tried to switch to something more serious (like work readings) but I’m usually too groggy to take them in properly. I tried to go cold turkey but then I just feel groggy and out of sorts – and sometimes end up going back to sleep!
this may be way too personal, but i am struggling with finding a good time to ‘go’ in the morning. i like to get up early like you and head out the door for a workout, but my body just isn’t awake enough at 5 AM to get things moving in a timely enough fashion before my runs. wondering what works for you – early morning before your workout? or later on in the day? sorry for the TMI post, just really struggling with this at the moment.
Long time no see! Or actually, I have been reading your blog for years and never stopped, just stopped commenting. I am so glad you are doing well, and you cute kids too. I just had to come out of hiding to say I love this morning routine. It is so different from my own (get up at 6, wash, dress, grab and drink premade breakfast smoothie, get on my bike at 6:30, catch train at 7, arrive at office at 8:05 and start working), and really inspiring. Only it is so extremely cold at that time that there is no way I could be outside running so early.
Interesting article you have their and effective strategy to wake up. But no matter what alarm clocks are the worst in mornings, if you know what I mean. Thanks for sharing this post with us it were very interesting to read this.
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