My Morning Routine— Working From Home
As a freelance graphic designer who works from home, I have developed, refined, and keep refining my morning routine. It is ever changing, and some days look different than others, but the following steps happen 90% of my mornings.
I used to be fearful of “routines” I thought the word was dirty for a freelancer. I thought, “what’s the point of being a freelancer if you just do the same thing everyday like a real job?” and I lived that way for awhile. And then I realized my days were so inconsistent. Some days I was super productive, and other days I couldn’t be motivated unless a tight deadline was approaching.
Now that I’ve had a whole year of solo freelancing under my belt, I’ve really begun to appreciate the value in having a routine, at least in the mornings. And over the past two months, I’ve refined my routine to a few simple steps that never fail to put me in a productive mood that lasts the whole day.
This schedule is pretty solid for most days, but occasionally I’ll wake up with the urge to exercise and I’ve noted when I would normally do that. Anyway, check out my morning routine and maybe try establishing one of your own while you work from home.
1. Wake up refreshed with Sleep Cycle around 7:00-7:30 am
The view from my bedroom window. LA apt. 2019.
This app has changed my mornings since I downloaded it in 2013 and I have used it religiously ever sense. Before sleep cycle I would set my alarm and cross my fingers that I wake up easily; and sometimes it was easy to wake up but other times… oh boy it was extremely tough. But now I wake up easily everyday because the app detects when you’re in a light vs. deep sleep and wakes you up when you’re in a light sleep.
Simply set your alarm for the time you HAVE to be awake, and the app will wake you up within 30 mins of that time when you’re in a light sleep. It’s a game changer. While it used to be just a simple $0.99, it’s now about $40 a year, but it’s SO worth it and they offer a free trial so you can experience it before committing. lol #notevenremotelysponsored but I have promoted this company for years because I believe in it and how it’s helped me.
2. Sit up & try not to scroll on my phone.
The first thing I do when I wake up is sit up, I find that it’s much harder to accidentally fall back asleep when I do this—and if I’m ever helping my roommate wake up, I make her sit up before I leave the room (haha yes, Taylor, I’m talking about you). Once I am vertically upright, I check my phone. I’m working on changing this, but it is a hard habit to quit, especially since my alarm is my phone. I try to only allow myself a few minutes to check my notifications and emails.
I typically then get up to go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and splash my face with cold water. I don’t have any elaborate morning skin care routine. I don’t wear makeup unless I have a meeting or outing which is rare (especially right now lol). Back to my room.
3. Make my Bed
I used to shit on/envy people who made their bed everyday; I was obviously just too lazy to be bothered to do it because I didn’t see the value in it. Then when I was in college I heard the speech from the Navy Seal Admiral, “If you want to change the world, start by making your bed.” And I was honestly a changed person. Now not a day goes by that I don’t make my bed.
It’s the perfect way to start my day on a productive foot. And it’s just so necessary for my mental health since I work from my room. I so deeply respect people who make their beds everyday and I now take pride in being a part of that group.
4. Take my vitamins + meds
I’m no health specialist, but I do make a point to take some vitamins and supplements every morning:
Turmeric/black pepper (good for like everything & anti-inflammatory)
D-mannose (for urinary track health)
Probiotic (for GI health and PH balance)
Magnesium (to help my nightly leg muscle cramps)
B-12 (for brain health and b/c I eat 90% plant based)
Birth control (another future blog topic)
A women’s multi-vitamin
5. “Alexa, start ‘My Morning’”
So this is definitely the most important part of my morning. The “My Morning” skill on my Amazon Echo, aka Alexa is a 5 part morning wake up routine and I LOVE IT. I do it while I make my bed, pick up my room, take my vitamins, and get dressed; which is saves a lot of time and keeps me moving. The good thing is, it can totally be done without the app/echo skill. Here are the five parts; each part defaults to one minute, but you can change the time as you see fit:
a. Mindful Meditation (5 mins): Typically while Alexa tells me my quote of the day and explains the instructions for meditation, “sit quietly, peacefully, taking deep slow breathes…” I make my bed. When the minute begins, I simply sit on the edge of my bed, start with three diaphragmatic breaths and a mental body scan for the first minute, then meditate for another 4 minutes, simply focuses on my breath. Read how I meditate here.
b. Visualization (3 mins): I’ve really enjoyed this part recently and have spent more time on it as I’ve gotten better at it. Visualization is a practice of manifestation; it’s the process of actively imagining your dream, future life as if it is already happening. Each day my vision changes a little depending on what is inspiring me most that morning, but typically it’s something along the lines of:
Wake up early and naturally in a beachside bungalow in Bali, walk outside to see the sun rising, and spend some moments in silence and meditation followed by some morning yoga. Then walk down to my yoga studio, teach a class, followed by some graphic design work at a vegan cafe during lunch. Swimming and snorkeling in the ocean in the afternoon, writing a blog before dinner, and ending the night with great conversation maybe some dancing with my friends.
This vision feels destined to be in my future, and visualization reinforces my belief that it is going to happen. I did this without realizing it before I moved to California. Now I visualize anything and everything I want in my future. I spend about 2-3 minutes on this part every morning with my eyes closed—it really puts me in a great mood. It’s different than aimless daydreaming or reliving old memories, it’s actively envisioning and creating a future that I get excited about. It’s motivating as hell and I love it.
c. Affirmations (1 min): Each morning Alexa reads me 5 affirmations/mantras that I repeat out loud back to her. I know it sounds weird, but it is actually so great. They change every day and usually are something like, “I am confident in my ability to communicate my intentions to others,” or “I am not ashamed of my wealth, because it allows me to help others.” I usually repeat these as I take my vitamins.
Sometimes I add in my own affirmations that I have tacked up on my walls or on my phone. If you don’t use the Alexa skill, you could easily read a list of affirmations like this.
d. Gratitude (1 min): During this time I list 3-5 things I am thankful for that day. I try to truly dig deep and think about unique new things I am thankful for each day, because it’s obvious that I am always thankful for the big basic things like family, food, shelter, and life. They range from, “I’m thankful I woke up without a bloated tummy,” lol to, “I’m thankful for the amazing opportunity to utilize my time home to learn how to teach yoga.” I usually give gratitude while I am getting dressed for the day.
e. Priorities (1 min): For the last minute of, “My Morning” Alexa prompts me to lists my top 3 priorities of the day. What three things would make me feel accomplished for the day? I take a minute to think, usually having an idea already, then speak them out loud as well as write them in my planner. And that completes the “my morning” skill 5 part wake up routine.
6. Get Dressed for the Day
I work from home, not just during Corona Quarantine, but always. I find it so important to “get ready” in some way or another. Usually I look over my agenda for the day, check the weather and figure out what is most appropriate to put on. For days I have physical meetings, I’ll dress in what I call “graphic designer business casual” which is like a bit edgier-business casual (i.e. graphic tee, tucked in colored skinnies, cute belt, fun sneakers, statement earrings, and a jacket of some sort). For days when I don’t have to meet with anyone (which are most days) I typically wear a yoga outfit since I will most likely attend a class at some point in the day, and I’d rather only change once. I typically get dressed while I am doing my morning w/ Alexa.
If I feel in the mood to exercise in the morning this is when I would do that. Usually it’s a yoga class, but since quarantine I’ve been opting for either a 30 min run/walk, a 25 min full body body-weight workout, or a 30 min intuitive yoga flow.
While I like working out in the morning I find I am less productive. I usually wake up with a lot of motivation to work, and if I spend some of that energy exercising, I find I move a bit slower to get into the work flow.
I prefer to exercise before lunch or before dinner as a way to break up my day so I don’t sit at my desk for endless hours.
7. Make tea
I used to drink coffee in the mornings but recently switched to tea and omg I couldn’t be happier. My energy levels are a million times better, but that’s a topic for its own blog later on. I usually go to the kitchen and start the kettle over high heat. While I wait for it to boil, I listen to The Daily podcast from The New York Times and I play a game with myself (lol only-child perks) where I see how much cleaning I can do before the water boils. Usually it’s unloading or loading the dishwasher, sweeping the floors, or wiping the counters. Once the water boils, I place two tea bags in my teapot: I switch between English breakfast, chai tea, or green tea, and sometimes I just make a big cup of matcha. Once the tea is ready, I bring the teapot, a tea cup, and my water bottle full of fresh water back to my desk.
Sometimes I will make a small breakfast snack (i.e. a healthy muffin, apples & PB, or some oatmeal), but lately I’ve been experimenting with intermittent fasting. I’ve really enjoyed it and realize I’m not that hungry in the morning as long as I have tea to sip on. I typically eat a full meal around noon.
8. Plan my day
Once situated at my desk in my neat, clean room with my cup of hot tea, I spend a few minutes with my planner and weekly time blocking schedule, planning the day ahead of me. At this point I also check my emails to see if I need to add anything to my schedule. I plan every hour of my day, which may seem ridiculous, but I LOVE having a schedule I don’t have to think about. With that said, I am not hard on myself about following it strictly, it acts more as a guide to how I want the day to go and helps to keep me on track for my three priorities. I will elaborate on how I plan my day in a blog dedicated to that one day soon.
9. Begin working by 8:30 - 9:00 am
And that’s my morning routine! I used to not have a morning routine, because I didn’t want to get bored of life, but I absolutely adore having a morning routine now because it puts my mind in the right headspace to have a productive day.
The important thing is to allow for flexibility and non-judgement when differing from the routine. It’s okay if I start the day a little later because I got inspired to make a cool breakfast, or wanted to spend some quality time with a roommate, or even if I feel like my body needs some extra sleep.
But when I do follow the routine I always feel better about myself and usually about the day as a whole. So tell me what’s in your morning routine? I’d love to see how I can change and incorporate different things in my own routine going forward.
Xoxo,
bella
