If you’re an easily overwhelmed introvert then an important question for you is: How do you start your day?
The answer can be the difference between calm, contented effectiveness and a chaotic stress bubble.
Here’s how prolific award-winning songwriter Ed Sheeran starts his day – or rather, how he doesn’t start his day:
‘I don’t wake up in the morning and have to answer 50 messages of people asking for stuff, it’s just I wake up and have a cup of tea.’
How does he do that?! we ask, our brows knitting in confused wonder.
Well, he doesn’t have a phone, so there’s that. But also, he obviously puts a premium on enjoying quiet quality time before he begins work.
Later this week I’ll share my 7 essential elements of The Ideal Morning Routine (Even If You’re Not A Morning Person).
But meanwhile, think about how you start your day. The better you understand what you do now, and how well it works (or doesn’t), the more you can benefit from switching up aspects of your morning routine.
And if you’re game, tell me about it in the comments.
When I was growing up, my mom just wanted to have a nice quiet breakfast – eat her eggs or oatmeal and drink her coffee in relative silence. My father tended to do things to upset the quiet, like loading the dishes into the dishwasher, crashing them around and complaining about the dishes stacked up in the sink, and that led to terrible fights. As a child, I knew that my mom needed the quiet, but I did not notice it so much in myself until I got older. At 45, I don’t want to talk to people in the morning before I have showered and dressed and had some time to myself. If I know that I will have to talk to someone (like if I am responsible for getting someone to the airport at 4 a.m.), I can arrange my attitude and preferences to do that. Otherwise, I like to get my mental feet on the ground, so to speak. It especially bothers me to have someone come to me with an “urgent crisis” that is neither urgent nor a crisis and invade the time I need to really enter my day. It sounds selfish, but I will react and interact much better if I have that time.
What a very interesting insight about your parents, Briana.
PS ‘I like to get my mental feet on the ground’ – I love this way of expressing the feeling. And it doesn’t sound at all selfish to me.
Thanks. I am a member of a religious community, so I am around people most of the time, beginning at about 7 a.m. I like having an office that is far removed from the “main drag,” so that I can think and work without being distracted (and therefore annoyed) by all that is going on.
I used to read while eating breakfast but I dropped that habit when I became about 15/16, but I try to reintroduce it into my morning routine. I’m not a morning person but I really enjoy quiet time and can’t stand conversation so early.
Normally I snooze for about 5 minutes, try to drink a glass of water, go to the bathroom and take the clothes with me I decided on wearing the night before and do my stuff. After that, I make breakfast, read or sort trough the first emails and stuff that was uploaded on our uni-platform. During the last few mornings, I did some quizzes on memrise. Then I go to the bathroom again, pack my backpack and leave for uni, not before triple checking I have everything I could need, and lock the door (double checking again because I tend to think about if I forgot to lock the door while sitting in the public transport… ). All in all, I need about 1 1/2 hours for that routine, I wake up two hours before lectures start at uni.
Cia, I like how you’re aware of how long your routine takes and that dictates your wake-up time. It seems obvious, but it took me DECADES to choose my wake-up time based on my routine, rather than trying to squeeze my morning routine (stressfully) around an arbitrary wake-up time.
I used to sleep in as late as possible (or even later!) and rush to work. I can’t say that it stressed me out particularly, but this year l’ve gradually got up earlier and earlier so that l now have an extra hour in my mornings. I potter a little, I water my plants, I take photos of the sunrise, and I have time to walk to work along the river. I love it for what it is, but also because it means I don’t have to deal with people on the tram!
Jayne I love that you get a more peaceful start to your day AND you avoid rush hour crowds *shudders*. I bet you enjoy greater wellbeing too.
I have the most wonderful husband who brings me tea and breakfast in bed, every single morning. So I read while I sip my tea and then eat my breakfast, before getting up to start my day. He even did this when we had kids still at home, since he’s a morning person and I’m definitely not.
Wow Kari, that’s lovely! That’s love. <3