My Absolutely Really Boring Not-Crazy Morning Writing Routine

I wish I could say I arise like clockwork every morning. But I don’t.

Granted, my alarm is always set for 5:00 AM. I often argue with my alarm clock about the time it should tell me to wake up when I had set the criteria in the first place.

I recently switched to a sunrise alarm clock from using my iPhone. I used my iPhone as my alarm clock for as long as I can remember. But needing to separate the smartphone from me in the bedroom, I searched the internet world for a better way to wake up. I settled on the Phillips Sunrise Alarm clock. And the experience is quite life-changing.

No artificial sun with the subtle recorded sound of birds chirping greets me every morning. I still feel the same way I always do when my alarm goes off: wanting to hit the snooze button and switch sides so I am no longer facing my alarm clock. But, I will admit it has worked, getting me up sooner than before I would repeatedly hit the snooze button on my iPhone.

After shuffling out of bed and turning the artificial sunset off, I take a quick morning shower. My morning shower ritual became more involved when I had to go to the office. I would shower, shave (every other day), put on my usual cologne, and ensure I styled my hair. But now, since I work from home most of the time, instead, I have a quick shower (I only shave once a week) and then put on deodorant and skip the cologne for those special occasions when I leave the house to run an errand or anything which is more than five miles from my house.

Before heading downstairs, I put on my AirPod Pros. I try to listen to either an audiobook or one of my many podcasts. However, before heading to the kitchen, I head first to my basement office. My house is over one hundred years old. It can be freezing down there if I’m not careful during winter. I turn on my space heater in my office when I need to and close the door. So, my office is usually lovely and toasty when I am done with breakfast.

Next, I go to my kitchen and prepare my coffee brew. I buy whole beans since I prefer to grind my coffee. I like grinding my beans since it allows me to choose the grinding ratio based on how I decide to brew my coffee that morning, and it’s fresher. A rule I read somewhere recommends everyone try to grind their coffee within 18 seconds of brewing coffee. I don’t always follow that rule. Sometimes, I’ll grind a whole bag of coffee grounds for the week ahead. I know what you might say: “Why not buy the pre-ground beans and save yourself the trouble?” My grinding on a Sunday for the week ahead is fresher than buying pre-ground beans that may have been ground months in advance.

While my coffee is brewing, I prepare my simple breakfast. Depending on the week, I’m blending my smoothie, eating a parfait, or eating a yogurt fruit bowl pudding. My weekly breakfast is very vegetarian/vegan and very Mediterranean diet influenced.

Between grinding and brewing coffee and preparing my breakfast, I also make a point to put the dishes away. I run the dishwasher every night since it uses less water than washing it by hand. Which then requires me to unload the dishwasher every morning.

After that, I eat breakfast in the kitchen while listening to my audiobook. It’s relaxing to wake up while eating breakfast and listening to someone read words. It’s an excellent way to focus less on the day ahead and listen to someone else before my day starts.

Having consumed breakfast, I finally head to my now toasty and inviting office. I sit down behind my Fully Jarvis desk in my X-Chair and find some morning music to play while I go through my next ritual.

In the morning, the music I listen to varies from Hans Zimmer's soundtracks, old-school Hip-Hop, or the Ambient Worlds Youtube channel, which mixes soundtrack themes with related audible sounds like rain or a train. One of my favorites of theirs is Harry Potter Music & Ambience | Rainy Night at Hogwarts, a Harry Potter one where they play Harry Potter theme music in sync with a rainstorm.

I open my Day One Journal and write an entry. My goal every morning is to write 250 to 300 words. My journal entries vary from personal and cathartic to a mesh of morning thoughts with no coherent direction.

After writing in my journal, I switch to my next ritual: writing a blog post. This is my first draft for every blog post I publish. I check my Notion Dashboard for a topic to write about and go from there. I’ve written hundreds of cases to help me get going in the morning. Most of the issues are things I already had a good idea of what I wanted to write about.

While writing, I sip my morning cup of Joe until I’m done and check my email, reviewing my notes and individual tasks for the rest of the morning.

Usually, around 8:00 AM to 8:30 AM, I finally switch focus to my day job and begin reviewing work email and Slack messages. I catch up with those coworkers who like to burn the midnight oil and have things they want me to follow up on in the morning. Then send out messages and responses to everyone who hasn’t started their day like me.

There, in a nutshell, is my daily morning ritual. What do you think?

Not very exciting or very exciting?

Organized? Too organized?

Share your morning ritual, and let me know what works and doesn’t work for you.