I don’t know about you, but I keep hearing about all these people - CEOs, executives, busy mum’s who run multi million dollar turn over businesses - and their morning routine. I’ve studied these morning routines for a while, along with reading books like The 5am Club by Robin Sharma and Just One Thing by Michael Mosley and I’ve decided that you need to get out of bed early to do everything they suggest. Like at least 3am.
I’ve tried it all; the exercise, the journalling, the breath work, morning meditation, being outside and walking across the lawn with bare feet to ‘ground’ myself. The visualising what I want to achieve for the day and how I’m going to look when I’ve done it.
I’ve fasted, I’ve eaten muesli, fruit, eggs, whatever the flavour of the month is from these incredibly productive and busy people.
More often than not, I’ve ended up drinking too many coffees because I’m stuffed by 9am!
Now, I’m an early riser - that comes from farm life and I love a good sunrise, so getting up at 4:30am every day is no hardship for me. (A bit later in winter when the sun isn’t up early!) What is a hardship, is doing things that don’t work for me at that time of the morning! No routine, no matter how good it is for you, is going to work unless you enjoy it.
So my morning routine now consists of this:
4:30am wake up and get a coffee. Go back to bed and look out my window at the gum trees until I’m awake enough to function.
Somewhere after 5am, Shadow and I go for a walk - sometimes it’s a huff and puff walk (that’s my language for striding out and using this as a serious exercise) and others it’s a stroll, looking at nature around me. Thinking. I work with a Personal Trainer, daily at the gym, so if this isn’t a huff and puff walk it doesn’t matter. What it does is get my sluggish blood moving and my brain functioning.
When I get home, I jump in the pool, swim all of about six laps and get out, shower, have breakie and tidy the kitchen. Sometimes when I’m doing this, I check social media, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I read a book or ring my mum, sometimes I don’t.
I drink water. Lots of it.
Then I write in my journal for a little while. Nothing hard, just a few thoughts, gratitude for the previous day and maybe fictionally stabbing people who have annoyed me!
This morning, Shadow and I walked six kilometres of huff and puff walking, up hill and down dale, and when we got to where we were going we sat for half an hour and just zoned out watching the waves. It was so good.
Although, if Shadow had her way, she would have leapt from the rocks into the sea for a swim, chased the seagulls until she collapsed and investigated every crevice in every rock. I wasn’t as keen on any of her agenda as she was.
So, being the 6th of January, it’s come to my attention that I now have only 28 or so days to my deadline of the next Kalgoorlie novel, so I’m going to be head down bum up. Keeping to this morning routine as loosely or rigidly as I feel works for me and only as long as it does.
Do you have a morning routine? Let me know what yours is, so I can add it into what I’ve been learning!
Have a beautiful week,
Fleur
My routine is, wake up about 5am (depending on when sunrise is, so it varies month to month).
I feed my cat & boil the kettle. While the kettle is boiling I get the food out for the birds. Fresh fruit (pears & apples) & seed in the tree at the front for the seed & fruit eaters. Then I take my cup of tea & sit on the back balcony, watch the sun rise & feed the meat eating birds (magpies & currawongs).
While I am having my cuppa I complete an ebird survey of all the birds I see & hear. I have been doing this every day (that I am home) whether it's raining, a frosty -5c or sunny morning for the last 5 yeas. I usually sit outside for 30-40 mins, but if it's raining or really cold, then I only do the minimum (20 mins). As of this morning I have 1,1959 completed checklists in ebird.
It's a nice relaxing way to start the day & connect with nature.
After I finish outside I have breakfast, read the news online & answer emails, before heading off to work.
You do what works for you Fleur. I personally love the sound of your routine NOT the so called experts but then again each to his or her own I guess.
Loving Shadows exploits ( do miss Jack though as I do my Rosie xx)
All the best Fleur and can't wait to read the next release plus Dave's continuing story.