Morning Routine

In today's world, we're constantly under siege by external stimuli and other people's opinions. The internet allows us to connect and communicate on a large scale but staying engaged 24/7 has repercussions. This worry is why many, including myself, have found that waking up early in the morning when there are no distractions has become vital for navigating modern life.

I had a routine of meditating and stretching in the mornings and reading books or articles. However, I noticed that I would feel restless when I couldn't wake up early, and I tried to begin my self-care morning routine during a busy morning. It was hard to justify self-care with everything happening. It's not as easy as waking up earlier, even if I stayed up late. Cutting sleep off early only works to a certain degree. I can only cut off 1, maybe 2 hours from my typical 8-hour rest before my day is noticeably affected.

To make my mornings/days feel productive again, regardless of whether or not I woke up early, I started spending the night before writing down my most important task for the following day, followed by optional secondary tasks and additional tasks.

Working on the most important task of the day helped consistently bootstrap my day to a productive one. I no longer felt restless as I knew that everything would be taken care of as long as I worked on the most important task. This change also meant that I actively decided not to meditate, stretch or read on days I wake up late. This trade-off of not feeling restless has worked fine for me so far.

I learned that planning the day gives you a sense of urgency and focus. If I could complete my most important task every day, however small it may be, I will be better off.