Morning Routine… Does it make a difference?
There are two types of work in my life, my digital marketing work and the work I do as a locally elected Councillor. This means unlike most folks who work for themself my morning routine can be a bit of a mixed bag. Anyone who is self-employed is likely to be pulling more work hours than 99% of “regular” workers, working for yourself isn’t easy when you have bills to pay.
Working from home offers the chance of even more distraction, things like social media, general online entertainment, drinking and snacking habits — plus my other half also works from home as a piano teacher — I can get distracted fairly easily.
For my duties as a Councillor I know the reality of working from home doesn’t suit — at home I will look at emails and answer the phone, for everything else I remove myself from the house, even if it is to find a local cafe. I make time for this in my routine by blocking out full and half days which are dedicated to council work. But this doesn’t mean I don’t go through the same morning routine (but in a shorter span of time or earlier in the day).
Why Am I Talking About a Morning Routine?
I recently read an article by Kelsey Vere (@kelseyannvere) a 20-somthing brilliant writer with a love for design, art and photography. The reason it caught my attention is that Kelsey has the same attitude to mornings I have — No breakfast, Wake up only when you need too, Be fairly presentable and something she doesn’t mention but I suspect is true “Check your phone” (yes the curse of a modern generation is that we are always checking for emails, tweets, messages etc… even at 6am!).
Kelsey’s article is part of a series which began here on Medium of Writing Prompts. The images from the series are by DeathtoStockPhotography — they are pretty cool.
Read the full version of Kelsey Vere’s article here.
So roughly (when it’s not a council day)…
My Morning Routine
7 or 7.30 — Alarm rings, I don’t have a snooze or second alarm… I’e learnt that I’d use them as an excuse to stay asleep!
2 Mins later — Check emails, twitter, facebook and anything else.
5 Mins later — Have a shower, I love my morning shower, it really wakes me up. Odd detail, but I listen to the Coffee Morning playlist on Spotify.
8.00 — Make Coffee (Kopi Coffee), the morning is usually aeropress time and fairly strong. Coffee making is a common ritual through my day.
5–10 Mins later — Watch a little breakfast news.
8.30 — Go to the office, read and answer emails.
The rest of my day moves around a fair bit, but the small routine I have means that I get up, wake up and am generally in a good mood for the day.
Where are you at your best? What are you looking at, touching, and using when inspiration strikes?
This is a fairly difficult one for me, as a home worker I am never really inspired when I am in the house — unless talking about an amazing project with a client. Though a good dose of coffee can really help keep my energy levels up through the day and firing on all cylinders.
I think I am probably at my best when I am drinking coffee and chatting with a small group of people or even a client. I love to engage and bounce ideas around — probably why working at home sometimes means slow progress for me. It’s usually at this point when inspiration will strike.
My inspiration, generally, isn’t new found — I don’t think up new and amazing ideas (though it has been known), but what I enjoy doing and what inspires me to take action is taking the positives from other things to make them improve more-still and become bigger and better.
One of my clients, a wedding photographer in Manchester, will tell you that I really do take what works and run with it as far as possible. We test, take the positives and build — we’ve been working together for several years now and he is still seeing bigger & bigger results.
If you or someone else tries something and something good happens what can you learn from it — was it a specific thing that caused that improvement or was it a few things or a tangential thing which wasn’t even targeted. This happens in my digital marketing profession (think about AB testing, even in its simpliest form it can inspire action on your site and then on other sites) and in my council duties (working with communities to create and/or improve existing events or services in a positively focused way).
Go On, your turn — what is your routine and how are you inspired? Blog now.
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