Last week was my daughter’s spring break, and that meant a later wakeup time for me. Instead of getting up at 5 or 5:30, I was able to sleep until 6-6:30. But my general morning routine remained the same: get up, get ready for a run or the gym, work out, THEN relax with breakfast, tea, and blog reading.
In this episode of Best of Both Worlds, Sarah and Laura talk about their morning routines (WHY is it so fun to hear what other people do???) Sarah’s routine was especially interesting to me- she gets up at 4:45 (ouch) and then spends an hour drinking coffee, eating a light breakfast, reading, looking at her planner for the day, doing a short meditation, and THEN she goes for a run.
Now, I don’t get up and get right out the door. But everything I do is geared towards getting ready to work out. If it’s a running day, I feed the cats, use the bathroom, drink a glass of water with my vitamins, and then start a short mobility routine. It takes me about 40 minutes to get out the door.
On gym days, I’ll get up at 5:30 (this is also when I wake my daughter up.) We don’t leave for school until 6:50, but I spend that time getting her breakfast and lunch ready, getting my work clothes, breakfast, and lunch packed up, getting dressed for the gym, and if I have extra time I’ll do a warm up, or start working out with light weights.
I go to the gym after school dropoff, do my workout, and then stop at Starbucks on the way to work, where again I have a leisurely block of time to eat my breakfast (which is a homemade breakfast sandwich), drink tea, and read blogs.
The point is, I definitely need time to relax before work- but it’s always AFTER I work out. Part of that is because I live in Florida, so earlier is always better for running. I think it’s also just years of habit- if I were sipping tea and reading before my workout, I would feel anxious, like I should be outside doing something.
I’m wondering how many people start the morning with something relaxing, like reading, or coffee or tea, and how many people get up and get moving right away. Kids definitely dictate part of that- it’s hard to sit and meditate quietly when you’ve got kids to get off to school (although Sarah does it!).
It’s gradually dawning on me that my daughter will be going to college in three years… which means 24 years of having kids as my first priority in the morning will be over. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I’m dreading it… I think. But I’m also feeling a cautious sense of freedom… you mean my life won’t always be like this? I can do whatever I want when I wake up? What? Will I become the type of person who reads and meditates first thing in the morning?
I guess we’ll find out…
Which type of morning routine do you follow? Or does it vary?
33 Responses
My morning routine varies a bit but I’m trying to get it a bit more consistent. I actually prefer to do something before I run because when I first wake up, I never feel good, and it takes my body a bit to feel better. I’d say that you want to run first because you need that physical exercise to feel at your best. I’ve noticed that a lot of people who run long distances say they don’t feel good if they don’t do a decent amount of exercise. It sounds like you’re definitely someone who needs physical activity to feel your best in other areas of your life. This might be wrong, but it always seems to me that you have a lot of energy, so maybe that’s got something to do with it. I have a few friends from school who I run with, and they are like that. I feel quite jealous sometimes.
Yes I would definitely say I need physical activity to feel good. I feel okay after I wake up, but better after I run or work out.
I am more like Sarah, i wake up naturally between 4-430, and I spend an hour leisurely at quiet home. Then head out by 5:30 after packing kids lunch. They wake up with an alarm and eat pre-prepared breakfast alone, and then daddy drives them to school. I need the hour to wake up physically and mentally, otherwise I don’t enjoy the run as much.
On your question on ankle recovery. I didn’t twisted my ankle so it was not as bad to start. After full rest for 3 days (still walking, swimming) I was already better. Then when I got back into running, different parts of my foot felt weird but never painful. My chinese doctor in china did acupuncture, moxibustion, acupressure massage, and gua sha. I have been seeing this doctor for over 15 years so I knew he can help. But it’s not easy to find a good chinese doctor. Hope your ankle continues to heal.
Yes, you’re definitely more of a “Sarah.” And- I would love to have a doctor like that. I’ve had acupuncture a couple times and really liked it but haven’t had it recently. I don’t really have a doctor I love, and it’s expensive! Of course my insurance doesn’t cover it.
So interesting to compare morning routines!
I’m team leisurely. I get up, have a glass of freshly pressed lemon juice, a cup of green tea, a light breakfast, another cup of black tea (all this while reading blogs, news, etc.), and then go out.
However, I don’t need to get kids to school or get out early to avoid the heat.
In summer in Switzerland, when I have to do my long run and beat the heat, I get up at 5am and I’m out the door at 5.30am. I think I secretly prefer that routine, I accomplish a lot more in a day!
Wow, you definitely are leisurely! But if you don’t have to beat the heat, there’s no reason to get right out the door.
I get up at 5:10 and have a leisurely cup of coffee on the couch before I work out for 50 minutes. I also clean the big boys’ bathroom which needs a daily wipe down. My morning rush starts at about 6:45, and it takes about 90 minutes to get everyone (including me) out the door.
A lot of my routine is dictated by school start times- our middle school started really late, but high school now starts at 7:30 (sigh.) And… I’m impressed that you wipe don the bathroom daily. But I know- boys are MESSY.
I hate mornings and mostly wake up as late as I can and focus on all the morning routine stuff with kids. I have quite a while until we’re “kidless” but I think I’ll love a return to more leisurely mornings – as in, not having to get kids out the door to school. But there is a season for everything. I’ve tried setting alarms and I can do it for a few days, but mornings are just a slog for me.
In my ideal scenario, I’d sleep until 7:00 every morning, ease into the day until 8, and then get started. Obviously that can’t happen with kids needing to leave for school before 8 am. But a girl can dream.
In my ideal scenario, I’d live somewhere where the heat wasn’t a factor (but I also don’t want it to be too cold- I wonder where that would be?) so I could wake up when the sun comes up and not feel like I had to rush. Waking up in the dark is too cruel. Honestly, I’d still probably run or work out before I did anything else.
I don’t know why it’s so fun to hear what other people do, but it’s a fact that it is fun so I was happy to see this post in my Feedly.
When I was running I had to make my focus on starting the workout. Pre-2020 it was step 1: get out of bed and step 2: start running. Then once the commute was out of my life I indulged in luxuries like sleeping in until 6 and spending 10-20 minutes eating something before running. If I spent any longer I would slip into procrastination mode. After the workout I got “me” time to drink coffee and read blogs before work.
The biggest problem with my morning routine since starting my current job is that I don’t always get the “me” time. I have to start work at 8 instead of 9, and as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten less tolerant about getting up before 6. I’ve cut my workout time back from an hour or longer run to the 30-45 minute range which helps, but then we got the puppy so mornings are tight again.
Yeah, you have a new “toddler” so mornings are probably pretty hectic. Well… eventually she’ll grow up AND you’ll quit your job- imagine your mornings then!
Well, I am one of those people who also had a morning routine dictated by school drop-offs, etc., and now it’s just me. I understand you dreading it, because change is always kind of scary, but let me tell you, it’s awesome. I get up super early (4:30 or earlier) and I drink water and coffee and read and write a little for 45-60 minutes, then I start my yoga. After that I exercise, then I walk Rex, and THEN I have my smoothie. This is so much different from a year ago when my son was in school and I was teaching. I still did all of those things, but I always had to keep an eye on the clock, and the smoothie came before the Rex walk, which was at any time during the day. Here, it’s hot in the summer, which is when we moved, so I moved the walk up to as early as I could (still needed it to be AFTER exercise!). I have been inadvertently intermittently fasting since we moved, since I don’t have a smoothie until 10 in the morning, when I’ve already been up for hours. FWIW it has changed absolutely nothing in my body, weight-wise or shape-wise, but it just works better that way.
Ha, that’s interesting about intermittent fasting. I’ve heard the benefits are more for men than women, but there are probably women who see benefits from it.
Yes I’m sure once I get used to mornings with no kids I’ll be thinking “Why was I so afraid of the???” But for now, I’m still scared.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. The only reason I have breakfast so late is that it is convenient, I wasn’t trying to get any of these so-called benefits (if they exist, and who knows?). But it’s interesting that not one thing has changed, not my energy, not my body, nothing at all. I mean, I wasn’t trying to change my energy or my body, but it’s interesting that literally nothing happened!
Seriously, Jenny, I understand. I was prematurely grieving the day my schedule would not revolve around the kids, and here I am, and IT IS AMAZING!!!! Who knew? I hope it will be the same for you.
My morning routine is also geared toward my workouts, and I prefer to get as much sleep as possible so I don’t really have much relaxing time before work aside from when I first wake up. On weekdays I start getting ready for the day around 5:30 and try to be out the door by 6:15 or so to drive to the trailhead for my run. Then I usually have to go from my run to work so there isn’t any downtime, but I’d rather have it this way than have to wake up an hour earlier (ugh!). I don’t eat breakfast until I get to work and I know a lot of people say you should eat a little something before a run but this has been working for me!
On days I don’t have to work, I like to sleep as late as I can (usually around 8 am) and have a bit of a slower morning, and on these days I do eat before I run since I’m heading out to run later and would be really hungry if I waited until after my run was done.
Wait. Do you run on the trail in the dark then? Because it’s not getting light here till almost 7. Just curious. And yes- I don’t usually eat before I run or workout. Unless it’s a long run then I’ll have something like a banana. Or, like you, if for some reason I’m running later I’ll eat a little more.
No, since we don’t have Daylight Saving Time here, the sunrise is around 6:15 am now, but it was dark for the first half hour ish of my runs for the past couple months up until a few weeks ago! I don’t love running in the dark but unfortunately it’s a reality in the winter months.
The routine never varies. Wake up, SAD lamp, walk dog, feed dog, feed self, get ready. The only thing that differs is the time – I allow myself to sleep in a tiny bit on the weekends. I know that’s not great sleep hygiene, but I just can’t force myself to get up with the alarm on a Saturday morning. I rarely workout in the mornings, so that’s not a concern. If I had to fit out a workout AND a dog walk, I would have to get up at an unreasonable time. I won’t even contemplate how this might change when/if we become a dog free household.
Well, I don’t think you should ever be a dog-free household. But let’s not go there. I agree- I definitely sleep in as much as possible on weekends. I know you’re supposed to keep your wakeup time the same, but that just sounds cruel.
I am sitting here, jaw dropped, at the thought that someday my mornings will be entirely my own. Hmm.
Love reading about other people’s routines. Yours makes sense to me. I think Sarah mentioned a while back that she wakes up early to read and so I have been trying to do that, instead of jumping straight into Getting My Kid Out the Door On Time, and it does make for a much more relaxing start to the day. But I also really value my sleep, so it’s a hard balance to strike.
Yes, it really is. I know Sarah, the one who gets up at 4:45 and does all those things before her run, goes to bed early so she still gets at least 7 hours of sleep. I guess that’s the ideal scenario.
I’m a natural early riser but I hate to run in the cold so it’s the gym. But I relax for at least an hour before I do anything. Coffee oatmeal blogs fb wordle etc. in the summer I will run after my hour if me time.
Then there’s work. Unfortunately on the days I don’t work home no time for the gym or run before work.
I enjoy getting my workout or run in first thing and then having hot coffee and breakfast afterwards!
There is absolutely NO MARGIN in our mornings on week days. It’s a rush to get out the door by 7 with both kids. I could get up earlier to have time to drink coffee/read/reflect, but I prioritize sleep and definitely have higher sleep needs than Sarah does. On weekends it’s quite different. I am typically woken by Paul coming into our room, or more commonly – Taco yelling for me from his crib (typically around 6-6:30). I’m more of a morning person so I am on kid duty until around 7:30-8 when Phil comes down. Then I work out (right now it’s a CG workout in the basement – will shift to runs on the weekend when the snow melts and the sidewalks are dry). Pre-kids, I would get up, eat breakfast, and get out for a run. In 2-3 years when I can potentially leave the house w/out an adult awake/monitoring them, I was workout right away because I like to get that done first thing in the morning. I don’t think I ever see myself working out before work, though. I would have to get up a 5 and I just can’t seem to manage that right now? So maybe in 10 years when I will *hopefully* retire, I can drop the kids at school and then go work out and take as much time as I please. My colleague that retired last year is in such excellent shape because now he has all of this time to work out. So he walks to the gym, works out, then walks home, which all sounds pretty dreamy to me.
I’m kind of held to ransom by my Pill at the moment still – I have to take it at the same time every day or I’ll get a period, and I can’t get periods because that’s how I control my endometriosis. But I feel like I’m coming through menopause now and am about to start experimenting – and then I might not have to get up at 6am every day (I can’t do 7 as I’m sometimes running then and I tend to forget it). In Spain on holiday I had to take it at 7 and with no other stuff going on I could just sleep till then or take the thing as I was pottering around – bliss!
Getting going in the mornings is SUCH A STRUGGLE for me! I have been trying to start my day with coffee while reading, which is a really nice way to ease into the day. I’m trying to do that more. And then maybe a morning walk afterward? It’s getting to the point where the walk needs to happen FIRST THING or it’ll be too hot and gross. I am not looking forward to that!
I’m lucky that I can start my work day whenever I want, so I like having a leisurely morning. I just need to be better about following a schedule and not getting sucked into scrolling on my phone in the mornings.
I hold my coffee hostage until after my workout. 🙂 I prefer to workout first, then relax. On weekdays I don’t “relax” until I get to the office because of the need to beat as much traffic as possible — starting with getting past the school bus stop at the end of my street before the 7:11 school bus gets there. On weekends, I enjoy an hour plus of coffee and blogging post-run before I get on with my day.
My basic routine – roll out of bed, get dressed in workout clothes, add layers to take Scooby out, walk Scooby, feed Scooby, workout, shower, coffee. If I’m taking Scooby for a run I’ll do 10-15 min warm-up first.
I love hearing about other people’s morning routines, and I’m excited to listen to that episode! I got behind on podcasts while on vacation (and blog commenting!) but I saw your post and was excited to come back and read the comments here, too. So, do you shower at the gym? Or do you not need to shower in the mornings, period? I don’t see that in your list. I think that’s my biggest annoyance- the time it takes me to shower/ get ready. I wish so much that I was some sort of natural beauty who could just get up, throw some clothes on and look presentable for the day. But my “gym day” schedule lately has been: Get up 5:30/5:45 (brush teeth, contacts, “freshen up” face with a quick wash, some concealer, etc (yes, even just to go to the gym… I swear I look like a zombie in the morning?! 😫). Go to gym by 5:50-6:00 or so. Workout. Try to be home by 7.. (Ethan leaves at 7 usually (carpool) so I try to get back to see him off. He gets himself up and eats something on his own, usually buys lunch at school. In the meantime Asher is up by 6:30 and showering on his own also while I’m gone, husband typically still sleeping at this point until ~7.). Get home from gym by 7, by this point Asher in kitchen eating breakfast, and I leave and walk Charlie 7-7:25 or so. At 7:30 leave to drive Asher to school. Home by 7:45/7:50. Then I straighten the house, feed Charlie, etc and then by 8:15 get in shower. Takes me ~45 minutes start to finish to shower, dry hair, makeup, get dressed etc. I try to be at my desk by 9.
This is all my “recent” morning routine, and part of why I was going to the gym in the evening before…if I DON’T go to gym in a.m., I can spend that 5:45-6:45 timeframe sipping tea, reading, blogging, reading blogs, updating my journal etc. And I love that!! But as you can see, I don’t really have time to do both. I’ve tried getting up earlier like Sarah does to spend 5:30-6:00 relaxing and then go to the gym, but I’ve found it makes it too rushed and/or then I end up getting to the gym too late.
Sometimes if I don’t have meetings/don’t need to shower, I’ll spend that 8-9 hour blogging/doing whatever I want instead before work! I wish I never needed to shower in the morning but my hair looks very unruly and terrible usually if I don’t wet it and blow dry it….
I love reading everyone’s very different routines. I literally get up, get dressed, and start working out. Coffee and my morning reading happens after I workout, do other chores (e.g., clean the bathroom), and shower. I’m terrible – I never fuel, I rarely warm up, etc. But it works for me and I MUST move to start my day off right.
Love posts about routines! During the week I am up an hour before anyone to set my head on straight. Coffee, meditation, reading, plan/review calendar. Breakfast is in the car as well as my second cup of coffee. If T is traveling and I’m solo parenting, then I get kids up at 6AM and get them ready. Weekends are a bit different. While I still wake up earlier than everyone else, I stay in my bathrobe for a few hours. In other words, it’s more leisurely. I want to want to exercise, like so many people in this space, but nope. Don’t have the motivation.
I definitely get up and get going. I have a very specific time window for working out and because I start work relatively early (because I have to get 10 hours in), I don’t have much time for leisure time… and I value my sleep more. I do feel like I get a bit of a breather after my workout when I shower, make coffee and just sit and look at my email and plan out my (work) day.