8 Things I Do Before 10am to Ensure a Perfect Day

Pre-Pandemic Edition

I have been attempting to return to my pre-pandemic routine (4 years later); however, I have slowly realized that these are things that I acquired one at a time over years and decades. Also, things in my life so different compared to four years ago. As a result, I can’t just go from zero to 100 when returning back to my previous routine. I’ve been reminding myself that I need to take things in baby steps.

Since my blog crashed, it has been interesting reading back through some of these older articles to see exactly where I was and remind myself what I need to do to return or revise. Please enjoy this oldie, but goodie of my pre-pandemic morning routine. I will definitely continue with the mantra of doing what suits me vs what society say I should be doing. Be on the lookout for my current routine coming up.

Prayer

Every morning I pray. One of the goals is to pray as soon as I open my eyes but quite often that occurs in the shower or while feeding the dog. But praying in the morning definitely helps to transform my mornings.

Update: This definitely isn’t occurring anymore as I have started to only pray when necessary. I no longer feel the need to pray daily nor do I believe it is functional.

Stretching

I complete the stretches that I learned in physical therapy and incorporate some yoga movements. I would like to train for another 1/2 marathon and I don’t want to end up with the same leg issues as before. Also, I am the most inflexible person and I am seeking to fix that again. I fixed it previously with stretching each morning and I am hoping to do that again.

Update: Not happening; however, I really need to start back with either some static stretching or yoga.

Exercise

Exercising in the morning is amazing and harder than you think especially if you are not fully awake. I tend to do a HIIT workout that is 10-20 minutes because I don’t like working out. Finding HIIT was the best thing I could have ever done. If I could manage running early in the morning, I would run instead. But, I am not fully awake in the morning and my clumsiness is a hazard to my health.

Update: Nope. Not happening. I’ve been trying to exercise in the morning, but this just hasn’t occurred yet. Not even yoga.

Read

I attempt to read each morning no matter what I am reading. Blog post, books, news, whatever. I am reading it. For the next 40 days I am going to attempt to get through the Draw the Circle – The 40 Day Prayer Challenger (Mark Batterson). I have been reading this whole time. Right now, I am reading “I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Rami Sethi“.

Update: Nope. Not happening. I have been randomly reading at night, but not in the morning.

Feed and Walk the Pupster

I feel as though this goes without saying but the Pupster needs to be fed and walked in the morning. Feeding him is the first thing that occurs in the morning, and walking is one of the last things before I leave for work. Of course this continues, and I have been using his walks as my daily exercise.

Update: Of course, the feeding still occurs, but the walks happen randomly. During the warmer months I am more likely to talk him during the morning hours. But, also, I purchased a house 2 years ago so walks in the morning is no longer a strict requirement.

Make Breakfast and Lunch

If I didn’t make breakfast and lunch for the week on Sunday (normally I don’t) then I make them in the morning. I am more likely to eat my lunch if it is made that day. I don’t really like eating leftovers so this ensures I don’t ditch my lunch in order to buy one at work.

Update: As I work from home now, I make my breakfast and lunch as I please. I have started making my dinner at lunch time however.

Coffee and NPR

I like my coffee and since I don’t watch the news, I listen to NPR using the NRP One app. It is incredibly relaxing. While I can no longer have coffee unless it is decaffeinated, I still listen to NPR every morning as of last month.

Update: Nope. This was happening for a while, but I realized that listening to the news early morning was actually stressing me out and making me feel overwhelmed.

Listen to Podcast

I walk to work each morning so while I am walking to work I listen to my podcast. I have an entire post on my favorite podcasts for the morning commute.

Update: Currently working from home so there isn’t a commute (unless you count the walk from the bedroom to the office).

What do you do in the morning? Leave a message in the comments.