Morning Ritual
I’m finding a rhythm, and I love it.
Before this makes sense, it helps to understand some details about my life. We have a 17 month old little girl, and she wakes up, like clockwork, every morning at 6:55AM. It don’t matter whether I would like to sleep in or not, she’s up and ready to start her day. And that begins with my wife bringing her into our bed and nursing her for about 30 minutes off and off.
My wife uses this time to catch up on FaceBook, so I grab my iPhone as well and check Tweetie and Reeder and sync my Things for the morning. Now, in the past, this nebulous bed time could last as long as I want, and as a freelancer I have that freedom to make my way to my desk as quickly or slowly as I feel necessary. It is relaxing and stress-free.
In our evenings, the little girl goes to bed at 6:30PM. We eat dinner right after that, and then hang out, typically with a couple shows on TV as either the focus or the background noise. And frequently we engage in actual community by playing games, talking, and tackling the “little things” as they have popped up in our daily lives. She wants to know how my business is going, and I want to know about her day with our daughter and connections with friends and family. It’s relaxing.
But I’m missing out on time to do the other things I love. Mainly, reading and writing. So inevitably, my Instapaper account gets rather full, my guilt for ignoring it steadily rises, and I begin to feel like I lack Me Time. And as an introvert, I need Me Time.
Epiphany
This week I had a moment of inspiration at the end of an evening. I grabbed my iPad and opened up a notebook app (Penultimate) and quickly wrote out my dream routine. It’s essentially the same (wake up at 7AM), but has me getting out of bed by 7:30AM, into the shower (while the coffee automatically grinds and brews), grabbing my coffee by 8AM, and at my desk for Me Time.
Me Time is essentially me, a hot cup of black coffee (Cafe Verona this week) and my iPad. I don’t even turn up the brightness on my iMac yet to keep my eyes from wandering to it. I simply sit down, fire up Instapaper, and read article after article while I sip my brew.
And it’s glorious. I can typically read every article I marked as “read” the day before. If ideas strike, whether for writing or work, I simple use Things’ universal Quick Entry hot keys (Control+Option+Space) and get it out of my head. I don’t check email. I don’t answer the phone. It’s Me Time. And I enjoy every minute of it.
Ready to Roll
When 9AM arrives, I feel ready. I’ve consumed and relaxed, and I’m ready to create. Most of my clients are just getting into their offices around 9AM anyway, so I haven’t missed a beat. And without that overwhelming, always-with-me feeling of needing Me Time, I tend to step into my work more calm and peaceful.
It’s only been a week but I can see this routine lasting years. Sure, we have another baby due in mid July, and I’m aware that parts of my routine will need adjusting. But I am committed to maintaining this new-found freedom. and I encourage you to do the same.
