The daily routine

Daily routines, especially morning routines, might be one of the most contentious topics out there. Just get up early and hit the gym at 4 a.m., drink your mushroom coffee, go get sunlight even if it is pouring down rain… easy, right?

For those who don’t have a routine like that, it seems daunting. (Wait, I have to go to bed at 7:30 p.m. just to get my nine hours of sleep so I have time for my morning routine?) And for those who do it, they swear by it.

But let’s be real—if we let how we feel dictate our actions every day, we’d be all over the place. I know this because I’ve been that person. Honestly, I am still that person more often than I care to admit. Creating structure and routine is crucial. Doing something no matter what at some pre-scheduled time is the only way to change. It’s one key way we make progress on anything we think is important to us.

That’s why I have a morning routine now. Not because I’m some enlightened being, but because it gives me a fighting chance for the rest of the day. Is my routine a lifesaver? Sometimes. A trap? Probably too many days.

My routine is very intentional. Mornings are when I have the most control over my time, before the world (or my household) wakes up and demands my attention. At this point, it’s probably more habit than anything, but hey—what else am I going to do?

Here’s what my morning looks like:

Meditation + Coffee – I use Spotify for guided meditations. Sometimes it’s five minutes; sometimes I string together 30 minutes of different ones. I let the day dictate how long I go, but the key is doing it no matter what.
Reading Something Spiritual – Background music on, and I spend a few minutes reading something meaningful. It could be daily meditations by St. Francis or Richard Rohr, passages from the Bible, or Rumi’s poetry—whatever resonates.
Journaling – No pressure, no word count, just writing. It could be about what I just read, something on my mind, or something completely random.
Dog Interruption – At some point, our dog, Lola, comes in with her passive-aggressive moaning to let me know she’s hungry. This may or may not interrupt the above steps.
Sunrise Walk – Once my wife is up, we take Lola for a 1-2 mile walk. If the sky is doing something cool, we take a moment to appreciate it. We also pick a word or phrase for the day—something inspired by the weather or whatever’s going on in our lives. It’s a nice way to check in with each other before the day hits full speed.

And then… my routines are shot to hell.

After the morning, I have no real structure. If anything, I have anti-routines, like mindlessly watching TV at 6:30 p.m. after dinner. (Not saying that binging Severance or The White Lotus is bad—it’s fantastic, actually—but it’s not exactly an intentional habit.)

So, great—morning routine established, rest of the day? Chaos. Now what?

Well, I want to get better.

I want more structure throughout my day. Because let’s face it—we all need some kind of framework. If we rely on willpower alone, we’ll never be consistent.

I also want to enhance my morning routine. Yeah, it already seems lengthy, but I want to be more action-oriented. Maybe I should start writing more in the mornings. (When else will I actually take the time to work on new blog posts?) But adding something means something else has to go. I am not going to get up at 2am on a regular basis. I could timebox everything, but I like the slow ease into my day… so I need to figure that part out.

And, of course, the big one—I want to go to the gym in the mornings. Which means I’ll probably have to be that guy who gets up at 4 a.m. to lift weights. Do I want to be that guy? Maybe I do. 🙂

The Plan

I know I need to start small. Here’s my simple experiment:

Gym Twice a Week – Pick two days to wake up ridiculously early and just go.
Learning Time Twice a Week – Block off time during the day (maybe lunch) to explore something new. Actually, put it on the calendar with a specific topic and stick to it.
That’s It. No third thing. I said I’d start small!

I’ll run this experiment for a month and blog about how it goes—what worked, what didn’t, what I learned, and what needs to change.

And now, I turn it to you: Do you have a routine? How’s it going for you? Want to challenge yourself over the next month too? Let’s do it—hold each other accountable and see what happens.

Brewer