Oil Pulling and Other Routines

Routine:

5:00-5:20: Oil Pull

5:20-5:30: Stretch

5:30-6:00: Coffee

6:00-6:45: Shower

6:45-7:15: Miles

7:15-8:15: Commute

Reads a note I found on my iPhone from six years ago.

What is oil pulling? 10 minutes of stretching? Sit in silence and drink coffee? What did I need to do for my son in that 30 minutes during his first year of life? I know some of these answers still, but this routine is one of many I've had over the years, so it's hard to say why I dedicated thirty minutes to just drinking coffee. I'm always looking for ways to optimize my time, learn something new and improve myself. It's a constant effort. As a result, I sometimes adopt new habits, and sometimes they fall off, like oil pulling. I still drink coffee every day though, shower, get my son ready, and commute to work - the staples.

My current routine is one that I've been successful at maintaining for the last couple of weeks. Similar to the one above, it begins at 5:00 am. Why that time? At 5 o'clock in the morning, I'm a free man. The family has not woken up, work has not begun, and the world is still silent. It is my unadulterated 60 minutes that I can fill with any interest, book, exercise, or writing I choose to do that day.

At this point, Monday-Friday, I run 3 of the days, write this newsletter on one of the days (today), and on the other non-running day I typically work on my various civic commitments that I lead here in town. I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is no way I am able to do all of these activities consistently after work and during the time of the day that my family and other commitments are in play. I've tried, but it's not possible. It leads to frustration, stress, and ultimately a lower quality output. So, what are my options? You guessed it, the "golden hour". Waking up early is something I've had to train my body and mind to do and honestly, I'm still in that process, but it's happening. I see the sunrise every day and feel satisfied with what I'm accomplishing. In addition to the benefits I glean from my "golden hour" activities, I also have more focus throughout the work day, enjoy my lunch without trying to cram in other projects, and after work, I'm able to give my family all of the attention they deserve. Everybody wins.

I know I'm not the first person to discover that waking up early or creating a routine is a good strategy for achieving your goals, but my current routine is one derived from a lot of trial and error, and within each of these initiatives, I've been working for a long time to get them up and running (pun intended), so I'm particularly proud of the progress I've made so far. Great things are happening as a result and I hope to continue this practice moving forward. I might need to be held to it every once and a while, which is why I put it out there, you know, for accountability purposes, but so far so good.

Life is Work. Thanks for reading.

PS: Oil pulling is a great practice.