successful slackers
My alarm goes off. I wake up, with half of my head on the pillow and half on the edge of the mattress, the end piece of “bread” to our P-Liv-Me sandwich. To our far left is 2/3 of a comfy king-sized bed. I just don’t understand.
I reach down and grab my phone, and depending on how much time I have, I check emails, social media, blog comments, and podcast stats with one eye closed. Does anyone else do this?!
Then, I stumble out of bed to the bathroom to splash water on my face, throw on some jeans, a top, and my mom sneakers, then start the before-school routine.
I put lunches into backpacks, make breakfast for the girls, get them dressed, hair and teeth brushed, then out the door.
It’s quick, efficient, and not the least bit peaceful or relaxing; a far cry for the motivational personal development books I’ve read. While the authors are meditating and writing in gratitude journals, I’m scrambling eggs in between looking for lost shoes, feeding the dogs, and buttoning the teeny tiny buttons on the back of P’s dress.
The only semi-aspirational thing I do is frequently make a morning Detox drink before I chug my coffee. This is quickly negated by the fact that I chase the Detox drink with my children’s leftover soggy waffles pretty much every day.
For a while, I was overly fascinated with morning routines. I found it so intriguing to hear about successful entrepreneurs’ morning routines and how they set the tone for the day. At the same time, I knew that these routines weren’t super realistic for me. I even told myself I’d start doing the Miracle Morning and then was up with both girls all night that night. For me, sleep is a rare and treasured commodity right now, so I’m at a phase in my life where I have to seize every second of sleep that I can. Maybe when the girls are a bit older, I’ll be able to wake up earlier and catch a workout and meditate in the morning. For now, I’m sleeping until my alarm goes over, staring squinty-eyed at my phone screen for like 10 minutes, and then racing through the morning routine.
It got me wondering, are there any people out there who have the most un-aspirational morning routines but still are slaying it at life? Does your morning truly dictate your tone for the entire day?
Thanks to the googles, here are some unique morning routines I’ve found:
(And please don’t let the title of this post fool you. These people aren’t slackers in any way.)
From Blinkist:
From wpcurve:
An interesting article about weird daily habits
I guess in my search I was looking to find some crazy stuff – like someone eating frozen pizza for breakfast each day or hitting snooze 18 times – but I was a bit disappointed. It just gave me a small pang of happiness every time I saw that someone did something unusual – like the guy who eats smoked trout every morning?
It was interesting to read that there are SO many common routines among successful people (gratitude journals, early exercise, drinking a lot of water when they wake up, cold showers, meditation, etc) but even so, morning routines can obviously vary. I don’t think that a morning routine directly affects someone’s will to succeed or internal motivation.
Some crazy successful people wake up early, seize every second, and accomplish a LOT. But there are also people who are waking up early, forcing themselves to go through these motions, and in a similar spot they were 10 years ago. I’d rather sleep until my alarm goes off and enjoy 30 minutes of before-school chaos, then wake up at 4:45 and cry to myself silently while trying to meditate, ya know? I just hate the mornings.
So, tell me friends: do you have an awesome morning routine? What’s something you do each day that makes you feel more centered and productive to crush it at life? For me, it’s getting outside at some point – whether it’s a walk with the dogs or playing with the girls in the backyard after school – and moving every day. On the days I don’t get in an official workout, I still try to be active in other ways (like chores or enjoying adventures outside with the girls) because it makes me feel a thousand times better.
Hope you enjoyed the long weekend! A special thank you to all of the veterans and their families who have served. <3
xo
Gina
* Praying for all of those affected by the devastating fires in California. My heart is with you, and if you’d like to join me in donating to the relief efforts, resources can be found here.
** Congrats to the Beautycounter giveaway winner: Natalie! I’ll get your goodies on the way this week. 🙂 Stay tuned for LOTS of holiday giveaways headed your way.
*** Today is my b-day! I’ll be back tomorrow morning with a recap of all the fun, but if any of my Peloton friends want to celebrate with me, I’ll be riding in Robin’s class at 5:30 ET and hoping for a b-day shout out. 😉 For the rest of the day, I’ll be feeling extra thankful for my amazing family, for this beautiful life, and eating birthday cake. 🙂 Happy Monday, friends.
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Hi Gina!
Fellow mom here. I have a wonderful five year old boy and I sleep until the alarm goes off, but what make my day is meditation. Nearly one year ago I enrolled with Emily Fletcher for an online course and it really changed my day. When I meditate I feel like I’m on a kind of a “drug”, because everything seems better (even if it’s not… ).
lots of love from Italy
Happy Birthday Gina! Have a super fun day
Morning routines are so interesting to read and can be really aspirational, but the best one is the one that works for you and your life right? I feel like it changes with the seasons too, like getting up at 6am and not hitting snooze in the summer when the birds and the sun is out is one thing, but when outside of your bed is freezing and pitch black? Uh, no thanks!
Happy birthday from a fellow Scorpio! I hope you have a killer day 🙂
Happy birthday!!!!
My daughter is 11 months old, so over the last year every time I think I have a routine down…it changes! I try to plan out my weeks and plan what chores or errands I definitely have to do tomorrow before I go to bed. Having some sort of loose plan definitely helps me feel a little bit more sane no matter how crazy the morning or day can get.
Happy birthday, Gina!
My morning routine begins at 5:00 (teacher problems). I could probably sleep in another 30-45 minutes but I give myself extra time to do about 20 minutes of yoga and then eat a decent breakfast at a table like an adult human, as opposed to dangerously stuffing my face at 65 mph and arriving to work covered in crumbs. I don’t have kids, though, so recognizing how much I struggle to get myself out the door on time every morning gives me so much respect and admiration for moms who manage this feat every day!
Happy birthday Gina! I’m not a mom so it is vastly easier for me to drink my morning brew and have a little reading time with dogs before productivity time. Keep in mind that few you are unlikely to find many people quite as honest as you about their reality. That’s one of the things we all love about you. Most people are presenting their social media edited best life and it is all to easy to unfairly compare ourselves to something that’s probably exaggerated anyway. Remember this period of your life is so temporary. I guarantee in a few years you’ll be laughing about it from a place with smoother mornings. To us onlookers your life look so full, successful, and amazing, in spite of the chaos. Have compassion for yourself and thank you for being authentic!
Happy Birthday! I can’t believe that in all the years I’ve been reading your blog I never realized your birthday is the same as my husbands. Have a wonderful day.
I hear you loud and clear. I have two littles the same age as yours and no doubt at least one…if not both…are up at least once every night. I take every last second of sleep I can get. And TOTALLY do the one-eyed phone scan before I get out of bed…while also snoozing my alarm. Then the race to get out the door begins. I dream about the day that my kids sleep through the night and the possibility of waking up rested on my own terms. It will happen one day and I am sure I will miss those middle of the night snuggles when it does.
Happy birthday! I’ d love to say I have a motivational morning routine, but I don’t. I have two kids under three, and our routine can vary wildly. I’m up around 5pm and out the door by 6:45am. I can’t imagine having enough time to write in a gratitude journal or meditate!
Happy birthday, Gina!! I hope you have a wonderful day <3
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Gina!!! I hope it’s a really fun day:)
Oh my gosh you read my mind. I’m always reading these people saying you need a morning routine and I’m like how? Then I’m like I don’t even have kids, how would someone with kids do all this stuff? My morning routine is getting up early, working out and drinking a lot of water. I feel that is a huge success in itself and try not to compare myself to people who say you should be doing XYZ. Happy birthday! Mine was a few weeks ago so hopefully you treated yourself to more sleep.
Does scrolling through Instagram hoping the light from the phone wakes me up count??
Usually what makes me feel like the day will go right is if I put together things the night before. Like my lunch, or what I’m going to wear, or my gym bag. Because the morning of, I’m in a daze until I am in front of my computer at work with a cup of hot tea.
I’m so with you on prepping the night before!! I sleep so much easier knowing that my morning routine will be streamlined because of it.
I just recently had a conversation with a friend about how nothing sounds more terrible than waking up an hour earlier than necessary to read a devotional or meditate, lol! Loved this post!
Also, Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, birthday buddy!
Happy birthday Gina! I hope you have a great a great one with the family. My dad was a pilot, so I am thinking of you all a bit extra today.
Happy Birthday!!
I was diagnosed with RA back in April and while I’m finally feeling better with some expensive medication (ha), the lingering side effect is that I can’t get out of bed in the morning. So I am that person hitting snooze 10 times and occasionally skipping a shower before work. Haha. I am grateful for my health though!
Happy Birthday! I stopped needing an alarm clock because my 1 year old wakes me up any time between 4:45 and 6:15 a.m. We nurse, make coffee, play, eat breakfast, get ready for daycare, and I log into work (I work from home). We aim to head out the door for drop off by 830, but if I’m too slow then morning then nap happens at home and we go to daycare afterwards. There are so many things that I *should* do the night before to prep and make my morning go smoother (like packing lunches and washing sippy cups) but that would cut into my “fall asleep on the couch at 8 pm” routine. All this to say my morning routine does not include meditation, journals, or exercise, and will not for the foreseeable future, and I’d like to think I’m still a mildly-productive adult.
My husband wakes up at 4:30am everyday for work and for the longest time I tried to go back to sleep until my 6am alarm clock. I would very rarely actually sleep. Usually I would lay there for a long time, toss and turn, drift off to sleep right before my alarm, and then feel absolutely miserable when my alarm went off. Now when my husband gets up I take my time to wake up, cuddle my dog (the best morning cuddles ever!) and get out of bed at 5. I have time to read blogs, take my time getting ready, make an awesome breakfast, enjoy some coffee, and usually I do yoga. Sometimes ten minutes, sometimes 30 minutes. This has made the biggest difference! I start my day feeling relaxed and not rushed. We are lucky in the sense that we have no children (although I’m pregnant with our first, so this will all soon go out the window) and can go to bed super early (we go to bed at 8 and it’s marvelous). Some people do not enjoy the early morning hours though and I think that’s fine!!! Maybe you could create some kind of awesome lunchtime routine. I think that’d be really cool 🙂
Happy birthday! I hope it’s a great one! My birthday is on Wednesday – we’re almost birthday twins.
I hit my snooze button a million times before a drag myself out of bed at around 7:15 to get my 2 year old up and ready. I’ve never been a morning person, I wish I was! I attempted early morning workouts for a few weeks and it was so nice to get it out of the way but the colder it gets outside the harder it is to leave my nice warm bed! Happy Birthday!
Sending you a big happy birthday hug, my friend. I have a short and simple morning routine with drinking lots of water and avoiding my phone and tech until I sit down for breakfast – but it’s NOTHING like the long intricate wellness routines of so many influencers. Like you, I WILL NOT get up super early before Brady just to meditate. Maybe one day, but not now. I need sleep first. Enjoy your day, momma! 🙂
thank you so much, friend!
haha amen. sleep is too precious for me. it will be a long time before i’m able to wake up before the girls, and i’m cool with that
hope your week is going well <3
Happy birthday! Welcome to 34, it’s great here 🙂
It’s not every morning, but every Monday, I wake up early to face mask and write in my journal while I drink my coffee. I started doing this as a New Years resolution this past January, because I was tired of manic Mondays and wanted to create the tone for my week rather than let it be dictated to me. I honestly think that’s what’s so helpful about routines, not what you are doing exactly, but the fact that you are the one deciding it rather than leaving it up to fate.
I like the idea of face mask on Monday morning!! will try this tomorrow!
looooove the face mask idea! i’m totally going to try this
I don’t have children so it just depends on what I have going on for the day as to when I wake up and my routine. If I work, I get up at 5 because I like to start my work day early but sometimes that backfires on me like it did today. I work in nursing homes and got to the therapy department before everyone else and my schedule of patients fell apart. I even skipped breakfast at home to get there early so, there’s that:). Other days, I get up at around 6 just because of my internal clock. I am also trying to start working out in the mornings which has never really been my thing, so we’ll see how that goes!
Happy Birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Right there with you, reading my phone with one (very tired) eye open!
i’m glad i’m not alone haha
thank you for the bday wish!
Gina- your awesome and killing it mom-wise AND work – wise I have no idea how you do it girl…as a fellow lover of slumber I can tell you it gets better – then worse again when they go to high school at an ungodly hour. Train the girls now and reap the bennies later so all you gotta do is roll out of bed and grab a coffee to keep them company while they do the morning stuff! I call it life skills training. Ps – I am loving your podcast content it just keeps getting better and better- keep going!!!!
thank you so much, friend.
i just have no idea how i’ll get them to high school at 7 something. like how?! at least i won’t have to get out of the car. the life skills training will definitely be happening.
thank you for the feedback on the podcast, too! i’m having a lot of fun with it so far
Best morning routine: checking Fitnessista for new posts! Happy b’day, hope you had a nice day filed with love and care.
ahh thank you so much <3 it was a wonderful day
Hi Gina! I can totally relate. My parents taught me that you had to get up early because “that’s what successful people do.” I was lucky to find academia, which gave me 1) lots of autonomy in when/how I work and 2) so many examples of impressive people who are a different. My area of expertise is productivity and unethical behavior, and I just want to encourage you to do what works for you. Sleep deprivation has tons of negative implications for productivity, accident proneness, and abusive behaviors, among others. People also behave more ethically when their worktime is aligned with their chronotype (morning people are more moral in morning, evening people in evening). So, “slacking” is probably making you a better person! Cheers to that!
i love that! thank you for sharing that. it makes me feel better about the fact that i’ll probably never be a morning person, so i’m embracing it 😉
Happy Birthday!! My morning routine includes trying not to hit snooze more than once!
thank you! haha glad i’m not alone
Happy Birthday! Curious about your Peloton … what made you choose it over the Nordic trac collection? Enjoy your day.
i’d been doing the peloton workouts on my phone for about a year and loved them!! so it was an easy choice for me
SAVOR & ENJOY every minute of being the “end piece of bread”! It doesn’t last forever! Trust me – my peanut butter and jelly are now 20 and 17! I long for those days when they would want to snuggle up close! Time flies and before you know it you will be looking back on these days and wishing you were still “in it”….
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hope you have a special day filled with love!
thank you! i always try to be mindful of that. this isn’t going to last forever, and even though i’m definitely in the chaos, i’ll miss it one day. it’s very crazy right now though haha
xoxo
Happy Birthday, Gina!
Many thanks to the pilot for his years of service!
I’m fortunate to love mornings. 100% morning person, but I can fall asleep sitting up at 8:30pm! I’ve always gotten up earlier than my family to enjoy some quiet time to myself, drink a cup of matcha and organize for the day before heading to the gym. I’ve done this for years!
Hope you have a great day!
thank you so much!
i’m backwards; i like to stay up light but have the worst time getting up in the am
xoxo
Happiest of birthdays!!!
thank you!
Happy birthday to my all time favorite blogger!!
thank you! <3
Happy birthday Gina, I hope it is amazing!
thank you! it was a great day 🙂
Happy Birthday!!!!!
I drag myself out of bed at 5:15am, after reading instagram for 10 minutes and dread getting up, then I work out and feel 1000x better than days I don’t workout. The funny thing is, its hard to start working out, but once I do, I never want to stop and end up waiting until the absolute last minute to go get ready for work and end up stressed running around like crazy to shower and make it to work on time! haha!
haha i love that! it’s so hard for me to think about working out early. i’m hoping one day that will change!
Happy Birthday G!!! Sending you the most delicious glass of virtual bubbly!
My morning routine consists of me hitting snooze 1-2x…scrolling thru my phone for 10-15 mins to think abt anything other than getting up for work….then gradually getting myself together. There are some days when I’m on the struggle bus & I choose to take my time getting ready instead of running around frantically…I feel it allows me to start my day with less anxiety & panicking…work will still be there if I arrive at 8:30 or 10….
thank you, friend!
haha i totally agree that work is always waiting. that’s smart to take your time when you need to <3
I am with you and I have two teenagers who no longer wake me up! Lol I can sleep until noon if I want. I do take my high schooler to school each day and then head to work after. Go early I tried the 5am wake up and hated it. I dont even like to exercise in the morning. So I prefer to sleep until the last minute and rush. Honestly I feel better and am better rested that way. Plus I like to stay up later with the hubs. Do what is best for you. Those morning routines put out by the instagrammers make us all feel inadequate. I would prefer an honest I sleep til the last minute and this is how I still fit exercise and healthy living in lol
same! when i would try to wake up and run early in the morning, i always hated it. i could see myself sleeping until the last possible second forever. i’m the same way; i like to stay up late and enjoy the night (and silence haha) a bit
I loved this post! I have an almost 6 MONTH old. She is my first baby so I literally wing it every single morning. Both my husband and I work so we have a routine so we all can get ready for the day (us for work and her for daycare) but it doesn’t always go as planned. Such as the blowout diaper that now calls for a change of clothes last minute, or the virus she caught and puked up her entire bottle on the carpet at 6:45 AM. Good times! Each month calls for a change in routine to because we started solids so where do we fit in that time? HAHA! So… it’s usually pretty hectic, chaotic, and lots of rushing; but that doesn’t mean my days are always hectic, chaotic, or rushed. Once I get to work I reset my brain and all is well. 🙂
LOVE this post. I am so not a morning person, and numerous times I’ve tried to work out or just get up early and have a productive morning, but I always choose sleep. And after waking up early for a year with an infant, I’m enjoying sleeping as late as possible with a toddler (usually 6:45 or 7). We both work, so my husband, bless his soul, wakes up a half hour earlier than me so he can shower and get ready before me and the little wake up. Then he gets her ready while I make breakfast, pack lunches, and shower. If I put too much on a morning “to-do” list it’ll never happen and the whole thing falls apart, so I try to get stuff done the evening before. Sleeping “in” still always wins 🙂