My Struggles With the Morning Routine

When you slide, you slide hard.

I disappeared for days, not finding enough time in the morning to write. I had this stubbornness of thinking I should be doing things in a certain way. I was demanding a morning routine without having the proper discipline to do so.

When the morning passed and I couldn’t complete the 3 important things I want to have finished, I told myself, “Too bad. I’ll have to get to bed early tonight and do it again the next morning.”

The problem was that I kept sleeping late night after night due to spending time with the family. Sometimes I had family issues. Other times I had a good talk with Da Missus and Da Boys. I usually get to bed around midnight.

And the cycle started all over again with me waking up late most of the time so I can get enough sleep, which is about 7 hours.

I break the waking-up-late-pattern on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I go swimming at 6:00 am. On those days, I sleep a bit less.

The fact is I can only do so much in the morning. I don’t have hours and hours of time available. Sometimes I want to talk away with Da Missus. Other times I go shopping for groceries.

If I want to truly achieve my short-term and long-term goals, I know my morning routine needs to be set in stone. But for that to happen, I have to sleep earlier, around 10:15 pm or so.

My afternoon is set in stone. I teach classes at the institute, write reports, and make the occasional book or worksheet.

On the bus to the institute and back, I listen to subliminal mp3s and podcasts, or play games that sharpen the mind. I do like taking a small nap while going to work.

My life is like a puzzle: It has an image that has thousands of pieces that need to be properly placed.

Building a Good Life

From medium.com, I found a nice article written by Benjamin Hardy. He mentioned 8 things a person should do in order to feel pretty good about the morning before 8 a.m.

Some of them I’ve mentioned like getting enough sleep (7+ hours) and doing the 3 important things (actually 1 thing) in my life.

The other ones Hardy mentioned were on my mind and I somewhat do them in the morning, like prayer and meditation (I confess, I don’t nearly pray as much I need to in the morning, but I do meditate with the help of Headspace), the hard physical activity (15 Minutes to Fulfillment from Tony Robbins), and taking a cold shower (again from Tony Robbins).

Helpful tips were eating 30 grams of protein (I would like to eat 2 to 3 eggs, but we got a big egg problem in Korea), reading or listening to inspiring stuff for 15 to 30 minutes, and writing and reading your short-term and long-term goals (This is obvious, right? But…)

Hardy made a checklist if you sign up. It makes a great little booklet and explains the article in more detail.

I found this being a good foundation for building my morning routine.

Conclusion

I needed to break out of the funk of not writing, working on my online side hustle and drawing.

On a Saturday morning, I broke through the membrane.

I did it after taking the Da Missus to Sillim Station, my 15 minutes to fulfillment, taking a cold shower, and drinking 4 glasses of cold to lukewarm water. While writing, I had my first cup of coffee.

And I finally did it.

This is only for one day. But I’ll take the victory of doing one of my important things today. I still have 2 more to go.

It’s a good start and I’ll build from here. See you tomorrow.

If you have any comments, please, please feel free to write. I welcome it with open arms and thank you.