My Current Morning Routine

05:00 Alarm goes off
05:15 Drag myself out of bed 🙂
05:30 Make my first cup of coffee
05:40 Walk into my office and fire up my computer
05:45 Open my meditation app, start my 15 minute timer, sit, and count breathes
06:00 Read the day’s Daily Stoic entry
06:15 Open my Bullet Keeper planner and plan my day’s to-dos
06:30 Start crushing my to-do list.

Why?

I’m reminded of a passage from the book Resilience by Eric Greitens:

Growing up without a father, my dad swore he’d be a father to his sons. He often left the house around four-thirty a.m. so that he could put in a day’s work and still be home when we came home from school. He coached our teams. In many ways, being a father was my dad’s vocation.

Getting up early is hard. Really hard. I’ve been trying to stick to an early rise for some time now. But, at last, I think I have it. It finally feels like routine and it’s so worth it.

So, why? Well, for me it gives me time to focus on myself before the business of the day starts. Also, like in the quote above, it gets me out of work earlier so I can spend more time with my family.

Adding in the Daily Stoic reading has really helped me ground myself and keep what’s most important to me in focus.

Works?

I think it’s working. I’ve been consistently meditating and the extra quiet time in the morning is really helping me focus on my most important tasks of the day. Taking a little power nap (10 mins leaning back in a chair) in the afternoon can sometimes help get me thru the afternoon and into the evening.

Having the time to plan my day has really helped me stay on task and get quality work done.

Conclusion.

Is it for everyone? No, obviously my morning routine is tailored to me, and some may not like getting up early. But I urge you to try to be more deliberate with your day and force yourself to carve some time out of the day to help yourself grow.

Get Up. Get After It. Win The Day.

Originally published at briantimmer.com on February 22, 2018.