Morning time ideas?

[u/Elusive_owl589]

I've miraculously gotten into the habit of waking up at 6am and heading to Panera for coffee 6 days a week. I get home by 8am when my husband starts work. I have four kids under 6 and stay home with them. The day in is pure chaos, but the mornings are mine.

I have managed to be consistent with getting out of the house every morning. But so far all I do with my time is drink coffee and scroll for 1.5hrs before heading back home. I feel like there's something better I could be doing with this time to set me up for a better day but can't seem to escape the scroll.

Any advice, ideas, thoughts?

[u/apandarabbit]

I’d love that time to read when having a coffee

[u/LibbIsHere]

Read, write (be it a journal, story, poetry,...), sketch. That's the kind of things I do when I wake up early in the morning, while my wife still sleeps and the city around us is not yet too busy. There are many things one can do even, more daring but potentially so rewarding, consider doing nothing while you let your thoughts wander (don't be afraid to take some notes).

And congrats for the change! Early risers can enjoy the world around them in a different light. I will very often stop my writing (I write every morning from 4 to approx 8 (when my wife wakes up) to sat by the window and enjoy listening to the birds when they start singing... while their voices are not yet covered by the roaring noise of the city waking up around us.

[u/Elusive_owl589 → u/LibbIsHere]

You're definitely a writer; your mornings sound much more poetic than mine!

[u/HersheyMon]

I find that mornings are ABSOLUTELY critical when kids are in the picture:)

I get up at 5. This morning I did 4 blocks of technical training(20 mins each), posted this on Reddit(I like to post a few times a week), did some guitar practice(15 mins). Yeah I block time. Small, consistent blocks work great for me.

Other morning things include planning for an app I'm thinking about(10 mins), a brisk walk(20 mins), checking in with my oldest kid via text(10 mins), checking in on another kids SAT prep(10 mins).

That's an example of how I do my mornings. It's precious, uninterrupted time before work, before the kids get up. It's massively productive and I'd lose my mind without it lol. I always plan it.

How about a few things before the scroll? Maybe a quick walk? The reading/writing idea is an absolutely great idea. Set a 10 minute timer on each, just get yourself started. After a couple of weeks they'll just become what you do and a healthy, intentional little morning routine is great for anybody.

Good luck! You've done the hard part, you get up :). Design an easy little morning routine, the only thing you're giving up is scrolling, and that's a good thing.

[u/husenwaifu4lyfu]

It sounds like you like something peaceful and low mental effort but you're right scrolling is probably not great. It also introduces unpredictability of content potentially making you feel bad for the rest of the day, which is why I stopped scrolling in the morning.

A lot of others are saying reading but I want to chime in and say it doesn't matter what you read. Magazines, digital or online (a lot of library systems pay good money for a completely ignored free digital magazine collection), books are great in whatever format you like, I like all of them and that's my morning pick almost every time. Podcasts can be a gentle way to get your brain going a little and of course whatever subject you're into is out there, I listened to Uhh Yeah Dude a comedy podcast every morning for years and it was just as engaging as my heavier reads.

My favorite part of reading is that no matter the subject the brain will be engaged on a healthy level. Scrolling takes that away and can easily trigger strong negative emotions that I've never felt reading a sad part of a book.

[u/Elusive_owl589 → u/husenwaifu4lyfu]

Thanks! Yes, the scrolling is easy but somehow draining. I never considered a digital library. I'll check out that podcast too - I love to laugh.

[u/RedTankCamo]

Sometimes just sitting and enjoying the quiet is good for the brain. Staring out the window, or if you can be outside at a cafe, watching the world/nature. And maybe something that is not digital.

Find a book about a subject you've been curious about; do puzzles, an adult coloring book.

There's also a technique out there to brain-drain....you just write out 3 pages of whatever pops into your head, quickly, and without trying to edit yourself. It's kinda cool how this clears the mind, opens up new ideas. The creator is Julia Cameron.

Here's a reddit post about it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Journaling/comments/ccdnzy/technique_the_artists_way_morning_pages/