My 'Simple' Life - Morning Routine

I am a big believer in “work smarter not harder”, hence why I am a programmer - and a Python programmer at that. If I have to do a job more than once you can guarantee there will be a little script for it somewhere. The same works for real life - I have standard routines for anything I find myself doing regularly. Removing thought and decision making from boring everyday tasks in theory leaves more space for my poor brain to think about more fun and complicated things like optimising SQL and why my photo uploader is giving me a bazillion 500 errors.

It never occurred to me that this approach was strange til I was reading a thread on Reddit where someone was extolling the virtues of a solid morning routine and I realised that not everyone works this way.

Given I am about to leave my current job and start an entirely new one, which will be a big change from “must be in the office at 8:30” to working remotely from my ‘office’ I suspect this routine is going to change dramatically, so I am writing it here for posterity :D

My Simple Life - Work Morning

Timing is relative, sometimes I get up at 5:30, sometimes 7 but the basic routine remains the same regardless:

1. [evening before] Set up coffee machine (see point 11)
2. [evening before] Choose clothes and dump in the spare room
3. Kill alarm and get out of bed
4. Herd cats downstairs
5. Go for a wee, probably with a cat trying to sit on my knee (inconvenient)
6. Go feed the cats in the kitchen
7. Brush teeth while shower warms up
8. Shower (this has a whole routine of its own, which is apparently very weird, but it makes sense to wash things in the same order right? So you know you’ve not missed a bit…? Whatever, it’s what I do)
9. Dressed, hairdryer, many hair products
10. Back downstairs to kick the cats outside
11. Put the coffee on (because I will have inevitably forgotten to set the timer the previous evening)
12. Drink a big water and take vitamins (healthy af me)
13. Empty dishwasher while coffee is making
14. Pour coffee
15. Sit on sofa
16. Reddit for far too long
17. Race to put on coat and shoes and things in bag and omg I can’t find my keys how did that cat get back inside crap I’ve woken up the child…
18. Keys are always in the same pocket, they are not lost
19. Child needs a hug before I can leave
20. Leg it to bus
21. Murder podcasts
22. Wander to work
23. More coffee to get over the drama of the bus
24. Bum about chatting til standup
25. Breakfast
26. Begin useful things