What are your Morning Rituals
I tend to get up early, not by choice but from years of routine. When I worked in Corporate America I had to get up extra early and stay up extra late to not only get chores done, but also to put in some writing hours. There were days when I felt like I was meeting myself coming and going.
Retirement has helped to do away with those 18 hour days, but I can't shake off getting up early. It's in my blood now. It's also the most productive time of my day so I use it to get the really hard stuff done in the morning when I'm sharpest.
It got me to wondering how other people start out their days. Here's my routine:
• Read email.
• Browse blogs and Facebook
• Do a last minute check on my blog post (if any) scheduled for that day
• Write one new blog post for the future
• Feed dogs and kitten
• Get food out of the freezer for that night's meal
• Clean out the litter pan
• Empty Roomba's dust bin so it can start on its own later in the day
• Do research. (I keep a daily list of things I want to study, or expand my knowledge. It could be anything from how to pickle peppers, to finding the right plugin for my blog.) Generally, there are three or four topics. Every. Single. Day.
• Make a to do list for the day.
Once it's light outside...
• Feed outside animals
• Feed Greg
• Start laundry (if any)
Everything is done by 8am, if Greg gets up late, I'll snatch that time to go back to my computer.
My husband, dear as he is, is also loud. He tells me it's because he's Italian. LOL!
The moment he wakes up dogs bark, the ground shakes, and then he proceeds to tell me what he read on Facebook. I probably get more Facebook updates from him than I do from my own feed. Once he's up there is no quiet in the house until he goes to his den at the FAR end of the house. Maybe that's why I get up early. :D
There's a second morning routine that occurs between 9am and 1pm. That's when we team up to do whatever chores need doing for the day. That could be anything from burning brush, to fixing a vehicle, to trimming goat hooves. There's always something.
Our schedule shifts during the really hot part of summer when we have to get all our outside work done before noon. After noon it's simply too hot to work outside. If it's only in the low 90s we usually keep working until we're too tired to go on.
After that it's a hot shower and we go our separate ways until dinner time. He usually takes a nap, and I get a little time to catch up on housework, pick veggies from the garden, or take inventory of my freezers and pantry.
I like this system because there's something to be said for having a little alone time. I love the quiet of early morning. Everything is dead still.
The dogs know I don't allow barking, but once daddy's up, all bets are off. It's play time and my iron rule melts with the rising sun. And so it should be. You can't be queen forever. Ha!
We make allowances for weather, sickness, injury, and friends visiting. (Friends and family always come first.) We know what needs to get done each day and we do our best to cross each task off our list.
How about you? What's your morning routine? If you have an outside job, do you find yourself burning the candle at both ends or have you found a good balance?
Comments
I SHOULD get up and walk each morning, but now other things always seem to distract me. Or I LET them distract me. Why is it so hard to get started? I could blame my foot (I apparently have plantar fasciitis on my left heel) or my right knee (going in for a MRI to determine what's going on there--they found a lesion in the x-ray), but I have a feeling they won't get better unless I USE them. Now I'll just wait and see what the doctor says.
In the meantime, I get up, make my coffee, and head to the computer. Wish I could say I write then, but... :) I'll get there, though. I've no doubt about that. Life is starting to slow down. Finally.
And tada, there's an email from the office with work for me to do. Off I go.
Now, I am sort of going with the flow.
I do enjoy my early mornings - back in the day as a mom it was always my wake up time before the kids surfaced.
Now it's still my wake up time... Robert however doesn't need a wake up time, he just gets up and is awake.
So your husband is right, coming from another Italian yes we're loud. Because once I awake apparently I'm a bit of a chatter box.
However I do try to absorb my morning in work and checking emails as well. I'm looking forward to creating a better routine that involves just heading outdoors and embracing nature first.
Don't tell her I said that. She'll probably hunt me down and make me tend butterflies. :D
I'm with you on Fall. I cannot wait for cooler weather. With luck maybe it'll be mild this winter.
betty
It sometimes feels selfish to take that hour for myself, as there's always so much work waiting with the house and my job. But I've noticed that I get more done if I start out NOT trying to do it all first thing. Mood is a balancing act, too, and if I'm rushed in the morning I get very grumpy, which kind of ruins me for the day.
Betty, my guy retired in April, and it's been great having him home. He's much happier, too. I think it was harder for him the first month, because he had to get used to my daily housework/telecommuting job demands. I had to kick him out of my office a couple times until we agreed that when the door is shut he doesn't interrupt me unless the house is on fire. :)
I didn't want to retire but I found myself getting grumpier and grumpier every time I had to make that trip.
Lucky you not having to start your day until 9:30. That makes for a nice transition into the work day.
re: retirement
It took Greg several months to get used to not being at work. Before all this took place, we had a pact that if he saw me in front of my computer working on a cover or writing my blog, he was not allowed to interrupt me unless it was important.
For the most part he's good about that and will even take care of dog meals if I'm busy on a job.