One of my favorite sites is My Morning Routine. It’s interesting to see the similarities and differences in people’s routine. Here’s how my morning currently goes.
How Do You Wake Up?
4AM: Wake up and get ready for work (at a food manufacturing facility). On a good day, I don’t ignore the alarm (which is on my phone set to vibrate … and kept in the bathroom, hence very easy to sleep through).
I wear pants to work everyday, and I try to pick out and iron my outfits on the weekend – or at least the night before, so I don’t have to worry about what to wear in the mornings.
I wash my fave with Aveeno Clear Complexion Foaming Cleanser and Aveeno Daily Moisturizer – no makeup (most days) and no jewelry. For my hair (and I have locs which doesn’t require much maintenance), I spray with water, then spritz with Infusium Leave In Conditioner and finally rub in some Nutiva Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. Then I brush it into a ponytail.
Packing and Carrying
If I haven’t prepped it yet, I get together the items I need for breakfast, lunch and snacks for the day and pack my lunch-bag.
Currently, breakfast is a bowl of Quaker Instant Oatmeal with a heavy dose of cinnamon + a handful of raisins. Most everything is at work, except for the container and spoon. Snacks this week are pistachios, SkinnyPop Popcorn and a container of Kiwi fruit slices (there was an awesome sale at the fresh market over the weekend).
I also pack a bottle of water and my Oster MyBlend bottle with the ingredients for my green smoothie (aka lunch) – 2 cups of spinach + 1 banana +5 pieces frozen fruit (currently a mango, peach and strawberry mix). I have 2 bases, and keep one at work in my desk drawer so I can blend my smoothie there.
At Work
4:30 – 5AM: A short 15 – 20 minute drive to work, during which I listen to an audiobook. Currently it’s The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill – which I’m enjoying.
7AM: Breakfast time. I add water to the plain Quaker instant oats. Microwave for about 2 minutes – during which time, I watch it like a hawk because I’m tired of it bubbling over. I add a lot of cinnamon + a handful of raisins. This is usually the time I check blog feeds, leave a few comments, add interesting posts to Buffer so they’ll be Tweeted later.
8AM: Tea time right before the first meeting of the day. It used to be coffee, but I’ve been trying to kick that habit. Right now, I’m enjoying Barney’s Holiday tea that was a gift.
After that, work progresses as usual with a snack attack between 9 – 10AM, and lunch around noon.
This is a new routine for me, so I’m still getting used to it. What’s your morning routine like? What time do you wake up? What time do you eat breakfast?
// Comments //
Michelle
I usually pour some cereal into a tupperware and bring it with me to work. I actually like eating breakfast at work while reading my work email and creating my to-do list. It is a morning ritual that settles me and helps me get into the right frame of mind for the day.
Tanya Patrice
@Michelle I go through phases with cereal but for me that’s a spring thing. I love those Whole Wheat biscuit type cereals.
Heather @ Simply Save
I love the idea of doing a post about your morning routine! I’m not a morning person at all, so like you, I try to a lot of prep the night before! Thanks for sharing on #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup
Kim
Routines are so fascinating to me. I usually have to eat something not long after I get up or I get hangry.
Andi
I love learning about people’s routines! We get up around 6:00, wake the kiddo up around 6:15 and are out the door by 7:15. That really just includes getting bathed and dressed. We do all of our breakfast eating outside the house…the kiddo at school and us at work. My husband is the lucky one who gets to work from home!
Tanya Patrice
@Andi – my husband retired earlier this year … ooh some mornings I just want to push him out of bed!
Trish @ Between My Lines
I love these posts as I love seeing how other people organise their days. I know I’ve said to you before but I have no idea how you cope with those early (middle of the night!) starts. I wish I could get into the habit of organising my clothes, I know it would make life so much easier. I usually do have my breakfast (oats like you) and lunch prepped though and that does help.
Tanya Patrice
@Trish – waking up that early is hard for me fpr sure, but when I go to bed early, it’s not so bad – and I get to come home early too 🙂
trish
I really like reading about your routines. I can’t believe you get up and are going so early. I’m trying to get back into having smoothies for breakfast. I have made egg muffins for me to eat in the morning or breakfast burritos. something fast I can heat up and eat in the car on the way to work.
Trish – tales from trish
Tanya Patrice
I’ve been prepping the smoothies a little the night before, by putting the refrigerated ingredients in a baggie together, and the frozen ingredients together. Then I just take those with me in the AM.