Good morning! Most of us have a strong sense of what we like; the things that put us in a good mood after we wake up, the things that stress us out, and the routines we like to begin our days. But how concretely do people know what comprises their perfect morning and how often does your day start off in an ideal way?
It wasn’t until I saw a Quora post on the topic that I realized that I could write down my perfect morning and try to live it as frequently as possible. We all calibrate our habits on a regular basis I just don’t know why it took me so long to do this explicitly.
My current morning routine for a weekday morning at 29:
Wake up around 6:30 as the sun streams into our bedroom in my NYC apartment on 28th and 2nd. I read the NYTimes on my iPad for half an hour in bed, I also check my personal email and read Delancy Place - a daily excerpt of an interesting, random non-fiction book. I aim to meditate for 5-10 minutes each morning using the Calm app on my phone. Push-ups (using Perfect Pushup h/t Jason Mendelson) and sit-ups if I’m not going to the gym in the afternoon then jump in the shower. Breakfast of yogurt and berries. Quick email check. Make a cortado for myself and write for 20-30 minutes. Walk into the office around 8:30 or 9am to begin my day.
I also have my ideal work day:
Internal meetings with my team in the morning and hopefully a 1-2 hour block of time before noon to really go on offense and accomplish something big on my list. Healthy lunch at my desk. Back to back 30-60 minute external calls or meetings from 1-5pm. An hour or so to catch up on emails, tasks, etc. Gym for an hour then drinks with other founders, music industry people, friends and dinner around 8:30 or 9pm at home or with whoever I was out with after work.
I’ve experimented with all sorts of workday routines and schedules and settled on one that works really well for me at this point in my life and career. I’ve probably been doing this the last four years on weekdays. My weekends are different and were already nicely written up and published (see Inside a CEO’s Weekend).
What is your ideal morning? How do you know if it’s your ideal morning if you never write it down? Why stop just at morning and write out your perfect day? From there the challenge becomes to revisit it periodically, tweak if necessary, and try to live it as much as possible.
If you’re looking for inspiration I highly recommend you check out the book Daily Rituals. I reached out to the author and met him for coffee one of my trips to LA, he has compiled an awesome book of the routines of luminaries throughout history. There is also http://mymorningroutine.com/ for more modern day inspiration.