Jennifer Lyon


Wednesday, June 9th, 2021
Who Cares About Morning Routines?

I don’t know why anyone cares, but here’s what my morning routine looks like.

5:30 a.m, I’m always awake. Always. Sometimes I’m awake at 4;30am but I stay in bed until he coffeemaker goes off.

5:30 – 6:30 a.m: I sit with Maggie on the couch, have coffee, and either read, check email, do some editing or watch videos. It’s usually my only “downtime” during the daylight hours and I’ve learned to enjoy it.

6:30 – 7:30 a.m: Shower and walk Maggie.

7:30-8:00 a.m: Make breakfast–usually boring oatmeal with blueberries, organic almond butter and cinnamon. Or I have yogurt, fruit and a piece of toast with almond butter. FYI I love sliced apples dipped in yogurt. I feel that not enough people know this is delicious :-)

ARE YOU BOARD YET??? I mean all that above is true and my day goes on nonstop from there, but why does it matter? It doesn’t. But all over the internet, “successful” people are telling us their morning routines as if it were life-changing information.

As my adorable and very bright 3 year old grandson would say, “That’s so silly.”

The only morning routine that matters is the one that works for YOU. Copying someone else’s morning routine by making the same exact green juice they choke down each day won’t suddenly make you super successful. But it will also make you sad that you didn’t slice up fresh, crisp apples and dip them in smooth creamy Yoplait yogurt instead. Trust me, it’s much better then pureed spinach. Anyway, morning routines are, at best, a structure in which to manage your time to achieve all your goals. If you want to tone up and drop weight, then sure, structuring in time for exercise and a healthy breakfast makes sense–but only if it’s doable for you. Not everyone is a morning person. Some people can barely find their way out of bed to the coffeemaker. They’d be downright dangerous on a treadmill before noon.

We all look for shortcuts, but in the end, what matters is focusing on our goals, and figuring out how to take steps each day to get there in a way that works for us. Maybe shutting off the internet and doing the thing–exercise, or in my case, writing–is the real tool that will get us to success.

And back to my routine for a moment, I’m more a morning person by nature, and I tend to do a fair amount of things in the the day. Partly that’s because I’m a card-carrying control freak and I can’t live in chaos. I know this about myself, so I structure my days in a way that keeps my life running somewhat smoothly and doesn’t drain too much of my energy. Doing that then frees up brain space, and energy, for creativity. I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis, and have learned through experience how to maximize my limited energy. But all this is just what works for me.

Other folks can thrive on chaos. I’ve seen it and marveled at it. I’m actually in awe of people who can do it. If they tried to live my structured life, it would suck the joy and creativity right out of them in about three hours. My morning routine is not just useless to them, its actually damaging. And the reverse is true; if I tried to live their lives, I’d be too anxious and tired to be creative.

That’s all okay. Know yourself, know your goals, and go do it!

Okay, tell me about your days. Do you like structure or do you thrive on being a free spirit who embraces a little chaos?

6 comments to “Who Cares About Morning Routines?”

  1. B.E. Sanderson
    June 9th, 2021 at 7:19 am · Link

    Yep, everyone’s got they’re own way to do things. I mean, it’s good to see the way other people do it – especially if their own thing isn’t working for them the way they’d like.

    Personally, my creative side is SO not up to anything in the morning. I can do non-creative things in the morning, though, so I stick to that. The thought of writing in the morning makes me nauseous. But sometimes, like this morning, I have to poke the creative side and do marketing. Which is business, but also creative. if I were smart I’d set that stuff up the night before. Derp.

    My morning routine – make coffee, read emails, blogs, and social media, write posts, etc. then do the dishes, work on pay-job stuff and writing business, check the garden, call the office, run errands and.or take a walk, do chores. I’m a toad by afternoon and my creative side wakes up after dinner. (If it wakes up at all. I think it’s comatose right now.)



  2. Silver James
    June 9th, 2021 at 7:48 am · Link

    Everyone’s biorhythms are different. I used to be a total nightowl. My best writing came after dark and way into the wee hours. I’d have to get everyone up and moving in the morning and once the house was clear, back to bed for a morning nap.

    Now? :roll: I’m lucky if I can stay awake for the late edition of the news at 10 pm. If I’m lucky, I can sleep until 6 am. If not, then I’m up at 2, 3, 4, or 5 and hoping I can go back to sleep because I ain’t gettin’ out of bed. I’m usually up and moving by 6:15. Then it’s let the dogs out, feed the cat, make coffee, feed the outdoor cats, let the dogs in and give them their salmon stick treats, pour coffee, and hit the computer. Email, social media, and blogs, deal with emails, social media, blogs. Get dressed and run errands if it’s after 8 and errands need to be run. I’m a slob. I’m often in my tee and cotton sleep pants all day. They are comfy. They look like real clothes. Sort of. 😏

    It’s time for a 2nd (or 3rd) cup of coffee and then I open the WIP. Or do marketing stuff–I STILL haven’t done my newsletter. Imma gonna get right on that. Afternoons are writing or procrastinating. Then it’s fix dinner, eat, feed dogs, do KP, watch TV and fall asleep before the news. Since I listen to books, that pretty much goes on over the course of time, as long as I’m not writing.

    This month, though, I have a weird schedule because Stormy is in and out as we work around his parents’ work schedule. His dad has baseball and summer school classes and mom is back in the office full time. Luckily, Stormy is doing another Snapology class this week and VBS the week of the 21, along with another Snapology so I’m mostly chauffering then he’s back all day for the last three days of the month. Hrm…I better update my grocery list.

    Anyway, it seems like my routine is sort of structured but mostly, it’s chaos. I just drink more coffee and deal. 🤣



  3. Viki S.
    June 9th, 2021 at 3:13 pm · Link

    I’m a huge routine person too. If things change even a smidgen it drives me nuts.

    I get up around midnight and lift weights. At 2:30 am I come up from the basement and give Spunk some loving and a treat or two while I make tea and set up stuff for breakfast. I also make my cold coffee and drink a tad before I put it in the refrigerator.
    At 3 am I set myself up on the couch and watch news and look at email and ipad stuff.
    at 3:56 I get off the couch and get the day rolling. I eat and do some stretching and stuff. I feed Spunk in small doses hoping he doesn’t throw up.
    At 4:35 I get hubs up and do our bedroom.
    At 6:30 I go workout, then run a load of laundry, and shower.
    At 8:30 I give Spunk some coconut oil ( again to try and keep him from throwing up), eat a banana and then head out to do any shopping.
    When I get home I clean etc.

    Some kind of boring life :).

    I sure hope you’ve had a great day!



  4. Jennifer Lyon Apodaca
    June 10th, 2021 at 11:43 am · Link

    B.E., I’m late cuz yesterday was eaten up by stupid ideas, LOL.

    I know a lot of creatives who can’t work in the morning. I totally understand that.

    Although I can write in the morning, I like getting routine tasks out of the way, much like you do. But for me, that’s more to relieve pressure on my brain so I can write without my internal control freak nagging me.

    Another great point you made is “poking the creative side” which is often necessary to get it motivated even when we just don’t want to.



  5. Jennifer Lyon Apodaca
    June 10th, 2021 at 11:52 am · Link

    Silver, yep, everyone’s different and it changes as we go along in life. Insomnia sure doesn’t help!

    Love your daily clothes, LOL. I think at a certain point in our lives, we just do what works best for us.

    Your smart to have a routine for marketing stuff. I should copy that, LOL.

    Real Life (like grandkids!) definitely messes with our routines. That’s times when it’s good to understand our priorities, in my case, it’s family first and I know you’re like that too. I’ll make time or give up or rearrange some goals to be in my grandson’s life, just like you do with Stormy.

    I see pretty clear structure in your routine, along with enough flexibility to handle the variables of life. Works for me!



  6. Jennifer Lyon Apodaca
    June 10th, 2021 at 11:58 am · Link

    Viki, I knew that, LOL. We are a lot alike, but your actual routine is way different. How much do you sleep? I’ve always wondered.

    Do you life weights for 2 1/2 hours? I couldn’t have done that even in my full blown gym rat days. Okay, I’ll stop asking questions!

    You are definitely very motivated! I also think it’s nice that you still get your hubs up. Wizard will tell me what time he needs to be up in the morning in case he oversleeps but he usually wakes on his own.

    It’s not boring if it works for you.



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