Weekend Wellbeing 13 & 14- Good Morning: Flowing through 50 with a great morning routine

Context: For the first two weekends of 2024 it’s been about designing a better but realistic morning routine to start the weekdays strong. I used to have such well structured, productive mornings. I also got 7.5 - 8 hours of sleep per night. Then I had kids! Since then I call it the '5-8 & 8-5' is full-on with sorting them out, and getting ourselves ready for the day / evening, usually after (if lucky) 7 hours of sleep. It’s one big blurry mess (obviously interspersed with some fun-filled highlights and tandem screaming lowlights)! So, while away for the seasonal break we reimagined what mornings could potentially look like. Here’s what I’m looking at below. Don’t take the structure itself- it’s obviously very specific to us, rather consider the concepts and interwoven ‘content’ of how we’re choosing to spend that time. Take whatever may be useful to you.

What:

Other than the tag-team structure of these mornings, (explained in “how” below) there are a couple of old habits I’m reigniting, which take up two weeks of my 75 week (now 61 week) journey through 50.?

I’ve used the structure from one of my fave morning routine books- The Miracle Morning. There are so many suggestions about what to do in the morning but what I like about this is it’s holistic and flexible- take whatever works for you, flex the timings, and worst case scenario- do the 6 minute version- if we really look in the mirror, we can all find 6 mins!! It’s as follows:

https://miraclemorning.com/have-you-tried-the-6-minute-miracle-morning/

I used to do a 48 min version with ~8 mins per activity. Now, I’m pulling specific elements into each day, depending upon my broader schedule. This is what it includes under the acronym SAVERS:

• Silence: simply sitting in silence, taking in the quiet and peace. You can add meditation at your own option.?
• Affirmations: these are statements that remind us of our limitless potential. best-self, can do statements.
• Visualize: picturing yourself at your very best, overcoming challenges ahead, succeeding- what are you doing and how in order to experience that success?Personally, I merge A&V as I have 7 principles, so I just pick one and repeat it, think about how I can apply it, keeping it front of mind for the day.
• Exercise: I like to exercise for 30m and have a pretty consistent routine, so tend to pull this out into it’s own days. Regardless, there is still be benefit to even very small windows of exercise.
• Read: I’m excited about getting back into this. We have our two evenings / week (starting next week as only just back from UK) and now two mornings. I can finally get through some of the books I purchased a few years ago that I’ve just been dipping into, or have been gaining dust on the shelf!
• Scribe: I used to enjoy journaling, so I’ll pull out my nice pen and leather bound journal and kick it off again. I’m going to keep this to 3 things I’m grateful for and 3 priorities for the day. 2-3 mins max!?

Why:

The benefits of intentional morning routines are well documented and I experienced them first hand for a number of years. I miss the productivity, feeling of accomplishment, learning, mental clarity, positive mindset, physical exertion, and even simply the cathartic feeling of putting pen to paper. So, for all these reasons, I’m really looking forward to making this happen. It’s been on hold now for 4.5 years!

How:

Our youngest Harry wakes between 5-6. We alternate nights with each kid as the 4 year old Hudson still comes through once / night and we like to keep them separated so avoid everyone being up multiple times / night. So, whomever has Harry is up first and they get the other person up at 6am and receive a break from 6 - 6:45 (window 1). The “on duty” parent takes care of both kids during this window and then they are tagged in from 6:45 - 7:30 for window 2. I tend to start work (or commute to work if in office) by 8am, so this provides enough window to get ready and have breakfast, before getting going. The point of this is we both have 45 mins of “me time” every morning. As the rugby term gos - use it or loose it!

So, there’s some joint accountability and support here between me and my wife Bobbi. Plus, incentive for both of us to get the kids onto a better sleep schedule, so we actually get in 7+ hours of decent quality sleep prior to the 6am (or earlier) wake up.

Generally, on a non-travel week, my morning routine will look something like this:

45 Min Window:

M: window 1- Scribe, Affirmations, Read (office day- gym on way back)

T: window 2- Exercise (Peloton / Treadmill- home day)

W: window 1- Exercise (zone 2 cardio at home- office day)

T: window 2- Exercise (weights circuit at home - office day)

F: window 1- SAR per above (exercise @ lunch)

Weekends- we both tend to get things done during Harry’s morning nap and are working on carving more extended windows.

I’m excited about sandwiching the week with journaling, affirmations and reading. It’s a nice prep, review & learn combo. I was getting the workouts in before but with three of them taken care of in the AM, it enables me a lunchtime window to eat (if at home) or walk (in office). Also, to work a longer day, vs cutting out early to hit the gym (other than Mondays, when I don’t mind doing that as I have those carved out as my ‘Best-Block’ days, which tend to be very productive.

30 Min Get Ready & Go:

15 mins shower & change

15 mins protein smoothie, vitamins, coffee

So that's it. A simple solution albeit I know from the past 4.5 years how hard it will be to implement. There are other elements (kids sleep and us getting better sleep) that will support it over a longer term. In the meantime, it's up to Bobbi and I to support and hold each other accountable to making it happen. As with many of my weekly habits this one is a 5/7 frequency (for weekdays). Wish us luck!