I hate mornings. I start to dread the morning at about 7 PM the night before. I take a lot of medicine at night so waking up is particularly difficult. I also have OSA, so I am waking up frequently throughout the night. Let us not forget the moderate to severe insomnia! All of this to say, mornings and I are not friends.

I tried working a second shift to help with the morning wake up. I thought allowing myself to fall asleep by 1 AM and wake up at 12 PM would be great! I quickly learned that sleeping all the time was not satisfactory either and it did not leave time for a wake-up routine.

I have a desired routine. If life were perfect, I would get up at 6:30 every morning. I would first say a prayer and spend some time meditating to start my day. I would then brush my teeth and take my morning meds. After this, I would go to my basement and work out on my Peloton for 45 minutes. Since I had such a great workout, I would then need to shower. I do not like to get dressed right away after a shower, so while I am “drying off,” I would eat my light breakfast which would consist of a protein muffin or parfait. After breakfast is done, I would get dressed and head to my dining room table for a cup of coffee. While drinking my coffee, I would journal and engage with daily prayer prompts and read my daily motivation prompts. This would take about an hour and then I would take Spengler, our Hound-Mix, for a good walk. After this, I would be ready to start my day.

Doesn’t this sound like a solid morning routine!? What happens is so far from the truth. What follows is more inline with what I do assuming I need to be somewhere by 11 AM….

My alarm goes off at 9 AM. I snooze until about 9:30 or 9:45. I jump in the shower and spend about 10 minutes in there. Consistent with the ideal routine, I do not get dressed right away. I grab a cup of coffee and scroll on my phone for 5 – 10 minutes. I need 25 minutes exactly to get where I need to go, so I must leave the house at no later than 10:35 AM. At this point, it is most likely 10:05. I must pick out my outfit and do my hair. Fortunately, my hair is short, and I dress like a schlump, so this takes about 5 minutes total; 10:10 AM. I grab something quick to eat and I devote my entire attention to it… That is another 10 minutes. I get my materials together, laptop, keys, shoes, etc., and this takes about another 5 minutes. At this point, it is 10:25. I have 10 more minutes. All I must do is take care of the dog…. Our dog has severe separation anxiety, so we must be very particular about the routine. I close all the doors to other rooms and pick up anything within reach (floor, table, counter, etc.). I let him outside to go to the bathroom one last time before I left. He takes his sweet time looking for THE spot to pee. Goodness, forbid he needs to poop but most mornings we are good. This alone takes five of my precious minutes. I turn on calming music for him. I grab his Kong and fill it with peanut butter and treats. I get two cookies and give them to him. I leave his Kong by the dining room table. I refill my coffee cup and quickly but calmly grab my purse and backpack. I leave the house and make my way to the car. Oh no! It is 10:38 AM. I am going to be 7 minutes late.

The truth is this is how most mornings go. I have mornings where I can take my time, and those are the days that go the best. Most of the time, I am incredibly ambitious about my time management skills as I lay in bed for a few more minutes of shut eye.

I know it would be best for my recovery if I took the time to establish a morning routine. I have struggled with routines, not just in the morning but always. I attribute the difficulty of establishing and following a routine along with the seeming time blindness to my ADHD. More on that another time though.

Do you have a morning routine? If you do, how do you maintain it? Let me know!