I believe in taking care of myself and a balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine.
In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1000 now.
After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub.
Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older.
Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.
My ideal morning routine: get up, throw on yesterday's clothes, go outside, get on bike, have morning ride, come home, wake girlfriend, fix and eat breakfast, shower, dress, check email, start on work for day.
My actual morning routine: spoon with girlfriend until she gets up, fall asleep on girlfriend's side of bed, get up, stumble to desk, waste hours on internet...then I get around to the bike ride and shower in the afternoon.
This is where it's better to live with other motivated people.
When I get up there's about a 75% chance I'll be motivated to get out of bed and go downstairs and get the nuclear coffee brewing and the bacon under the grill.
The other 25% of the time someone else has (usually) been motivated instead and so I get tempted downstairs by delicious smells. Then we do 30-60 minutes on a shared project before we disperse to various workplaces.
The only trick is to make getting up more attractive than sleeping in.
My morning routine is probably the biggest factor in my overall life productivity. Here's how mine goes:
Alarm goes off at 3:55am. I get up. First 30 mins are for tea and daily habits, which include reviewing short-term and long-term goals, reading Bible, journaling, spaced repetition flashcards (mnemosyne-proj.org), etc. Then I usually work for 45-60 mins until the gym opens, then head out for lifting and/or swimming. Home by 6:30 - 7am for breakfast and back to work. By noon, I've typically finished 6 hours of work and have completed most or all of my daily habits.
A few keys for me:
* Get to bed at a good time (I go to bed at 9-930, with 15-30 mins of reading beforehand)
* Exercise is vital
* Keep same schedule every day (weekends too if you can)
* Eat well
* Avoid checking email before 10am or so (check 2x a day)
Wake up.
Snooze.
Snooze.
Snuggle w/ wife.
Snooze.
Snooze.
...
Realize what time it is.
Snooze.
Wake up again, realizing what time it is.
Race to class / internets / bathroom.
I wish I had some of the structure that some people here have. Being a student means my hours will swap around every few days. Occasionally I will try and make some class but being that my main student thing to do this year is an honours thesis it's very easy to do this whenever, same goes with my freelance/ early stage startup work.
I frequently find myself less productive without a routine and continue to plan to start one. I am also horrible at major task shifting. As in give me some free weeks just to concentrate on just one focus, student or startup and I can be crazy productive. Give me both of them at the same time and I will find a way to waste half my time in limbo.
On a good day:
Alarm at 6, breakfast (oatmeal and low-fat yogurt), shave, brush teeth, in the gym by 6:45, shower, change, at my desk by 8.
I like to start the work day with "lighter" stuff. Anyone who says start your day with your "most important task" is full of crap. My brain takes time to get off the ground and into the zone, so I'll try to schedule more low threshold work (UI design, documentation, etc.) for the morning and write code later in the day.
On a bad day:
Alarm at 6, reset alarm for 7, snooze, alarm at 7, skip the gym (I tell myself that I'll go after work), shower, shave, brush teeth, drive to work, grab overpriced breakfast (blueberry muffin and a flat white), at my desk by 8:45.
Start my work day by putting out a fire. This morning it was the announcement overnight that the New Zealand government is putting GST up to 15% in the latest budget.
In conclusion, there are good days and bad days. My level of discipline and self control when the alarm first goes off tends to determine how the whole morning will play out.
Small heart attack caused by alarm; death of alarm clock (they're cheap, I have several); iPod alarm 15 minutes later is too expensive to kill so I get up; brush teeth; kiss wife goodbye (VERY important to do this, and only AFTER the tooth brushing); fill canteen with water; leave the house; experience severe finger cramp during morning rush hour; buy bottle of ambrosia (Coke) at gas station near the office; find parking while experiencing further finger cramp in other hand; at my desk by 9AM; use topical lotion to ease forehead abrasions caused by facepalming too aggressively (on days I have support calls waiting for me).
By 10AM I'm fine :) What did the skeleton say when he walked into the bar? Gimme a beer and a mop.
Heart attack at alarm. BBC streaming radio drifts in. Grab laptop from side of bed, check everything. Stumble to shower. Glass of water and a snack. Dress. Euphoric bike ride to work. Make 1 espresso, 1 latte. Day begins.
Well, when it's not going efficiently, it's something like:
Wake
Email/internet
Put on a pot of coffee and some toast in the toaster
Email/internet
Eat breakfast, then get a second cup of coffee to...
Email/internet
Turn on shower so water starts heating up
Email/internet
Take shower, emerge wrapped in towel and...
Email/internet
Get dressed
Email/internet
Get together stuff I need to take
Email/internet
Leave house
Since I work from home and make my own schedule, I don't really need an alarm clock, which is great. I go to bed by 2am everyday and usually wake up before 9am.
I wake up and go straight to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. I go back to the room, make up the bed, tidy up my work desk (Clear Desk, Clear Mind -- this is absolutely essential for me), check e-mail, have breakfast (always something simple and light) and then I either go for a 30-minute walk or a 30-minute gym session. When I get back, usually around 10:30am, I'm usually ready to work. I try to get through the top of my todo list by mid-afternoon. Losing focus is very easy. In really important days (e.g., "I either deliver this or I lose the job"), I take Modafinil with my breakfast, which really gives me premium performance. But Modafinil only works for me if I take it only on occasion (4-6 times a month). I've been searching for the perfect morning routine and I've been doing this one since february. It really helped me boost my life in several ways. I manage to work and deliver shit in time (well, almost), I manage to make and try new things, and I've lost 24 pounds since I started going to the gym.
6.45: Wake up to alarm - press snooze
6.53: Wake up to alarm - press snooze
6.59: Wake up to alarm - press snooze
7.03: Get woken by the awful thought of hearing the alarm again. Check Blackberry for any interesting email/Facebook/tweets
7.05: Make my sons a warm milk and plonk them in front of morning TV for half an hour
7.10: Make cup of tea for wife and me
7.15: Iron shirt for day
7.20: Try to persuade son #1 (age 3) that Mummy will get him dressed because Daddy is running late again
7.22: Have shower while son #1 discusses with me what he will be wearing that day (football orientated)
7.30: Try to persuade son #1 (age 3) that Mummy will get him dressed because Daddy is running late again
7.32: Give in to son #1 who is too sweet and get him dressed
7.36: Get dressed at double speed because now running even more late
7.40: Raid cupboards for lunch
7.42: Kiss goodbyes
7.44: In car on way to work
8.15: Arrive at work, make toast/coffee, spend 30 mins on web to catch up with the stories of the day
Don't have or need an alarm because we have kids :) Somehow all family manoeuvres go smoothly (thanks to wife!) and they're all out to school/work @ 8.45am. I'm straight on computer from that point (I work from home).
Now unless I have work/deadlines I need to do then I'm often just going through my emails & schedule. I find my brain is a bit "thick" in the morning! So any good procrastinating is hopefully wasted here (on HN, Stackoverflow, online Chess etc) and strangely it does help sharpen the mind (a little!)
I then go for 30-60 minute walk and when back make and eat lunch. This happens early so from 12.30pm I'm ready for work and my brain is in far clearer state for coding.
This ritual is something I've now pretty much kept to for last 7 years.
As somebody who up until recently couldn't tell you whether I'd be waking up nearer to 1PM or 1AM the following week, I'm quite proud of this routine.
1. Alarm goes off at 4:55am
2. Sit down at my desk with a sharpie and big sketch pad for 10-30 minutes. There
are no real objectives, I just put what I'm thinking down on paper, may it be
doodles, a brief todo list, ideas, concepts, etc.
3. Shower/teeth + dressed
4. Grab some light breakfast, check email/twitter, and read HN/GReader/etc.
(it's ~9:30pm PST at this point, so still active, but within hours everything
dies down, so I dont waste as much time procrastinating.)
5. Start work at ~6am
- 6:30 am get up and go for 20 minute a run
- Make myself some breakfast
- Wake up my wife/3 daughters, and get them all breakfast
- Make school lunches x 3
- Ride to work
- Check HN / Email + Work ;)
I love weekends where I don't have to make school lunches.
I have a weird routine.
Wake up at 5 am and turn on Windows machine.
Roll out of bed onto the floor and do 1000 stomach crunches (counting with Pi)
Get online and email girlfriend who is 7 hours ahead of me (Hawaii to Nova Scotia)
While emailing I read a page of French and capture new words. Then practice 100 flashcards.
Then practice my calendar savant skills with a little program I wrote.
Memorize a deck of cards.
Practice mental math and some conversions
Go out in the back yard and eat a papaya or mango.
Then I'm good to go.
Wake up at 6:30 am, hop into the shower, make breakfast for us (me/girlfriend) .. Eat breakfast with girlfriend, usually we have a laptop with the news to see what's up, check the weather, etc and discuss whatever.
Then, drive girlfriend to work and then head to work. In summer, I usually biked to work and she drove but in the winter that's how it is.
In one week when I move to Toronto it'll be almost the same except we won't be driving and hopefully waking up a bit later (7'ish probably) as the girlfriend won't be working at her current place anymore. :)
* Wake up at sometime between 7am and 8am (no alarm clocks)
* Turn on the shower to the hottest setting (but don't hop in)
* Bring laptop into the bathroom, catch up on work emails (client time zone is 2 hrs ahead) and web news (HN/reddit/engadget) while the bathroom is turning into a steam room.
* Shut down the laptop when there's enough steam that my touchpad no longer works due to wet fingers.
* Reduce the shower temp, shower, brush teeth, dress.
* Walk to the coffee shop. Grab either a coffee/muffin or a fruit smoothie (depending on how my stomach feels after reading work emails).
[+] [-] Skyline|16 years ago|reply
In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1000 now.
After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub.
Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older.
Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.
[+] [-] ant1|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|16 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|16 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] patrickk|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] philwelch|16 years ago|reply
My actual morning routine: spoon with girlfriend until she gets up, fall asleep on girlfriend's side of bed, get up, stumble to desk, waste hours on internet...then I get around to the bike ride and shower in the afternoon.
[+] [-] notauser|16 years ago|reply
When I get up there's about a 75% chance I'll be motivated to get out of bed and go downstairs and get the nuclear coffee brewing and the bacon under the grill.
The other 25% of the time someone else has (usually) been motivated instead and so I get tempted downstairs by delicious smells. Then we do 30-60 minutes on a shared project before we disperse to various workplaces.
The only trick is to make getting up more attractive than sleeping in.
[+] [-] ryanwaggoner|16 years ago|reply
Alarm goes off at 3:55am. I get up. First 30 mins are for tea and daily habits, which include reviewing short-term and long-term goals, reading Bible, journaling, spaced repetition flashcards (mnemosyne-proj.org), etc. Then I usually work for 45-60 mins until the gym opens, then head out for lifting and/or swimming. Home by 6:30 - 7am for breakfast and back to work. By noon, I've typically finished 6 hours of work and have completed most or all of my daily habits.
A few keys for me: * Get to bed at a good time (I go to bed at 9-930, with 15-30 mins of reading beforehand) * Exercise is vital * Keep same schedule every day (weekends too if you can) * Eat well * Avoid checking email before 10am or so (check 2x a day)
[+] [-] Groxx|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Daramarak|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robryan|16 years ago|reply
I frequently find myself less productive without a routine and continue to plan to start one. I am also horrible at major task shifting. As in give me some free weeks just to concentrate on just one focus, student or startup and I can be crazy productive. Give me both of them at the same time and I will find a way to waste half my time in limbo.
[+] [-] cianestro|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lotharbot|16 years ago|reply
0701: baby sees daddy's face, smiles and makes trademark happy noises. Wow, my day rocks!
0702: change and feed baby. Dress baby for the day.
0730: shower, teeth, dressed (or go back to sleep and wait for baby to wake me again.)
0800: breakfast and check facebook, HN, other online forums
0830: take stock of tasks for the day. Prioritize and schedule. Start actually doin' stuff.
[+] [-] brianwillis|16 years ago|reply
I like to start the work day with "lighter" stuff. Anyone who says start your day with your "most important task" is full of crap. My brain takes time to get off the ground and into the zone, so I'll try to schedule more low threshold work (UI design, documentation, etc.) for the morning and write code later in the day.
On a bad day: Alarm at 6, reset alarm for 7, snooze, alarm at 7, skip the gym (I tell myself that I'll go after work), shower, shave, brush teeth, drive to work, grab overpriced breakfast (blueberry muffin and a flat white), at my desk by 8:45.
Start my work day by putting out a fire. This morning it was the announcement overnight that the New Zealand government is putting GST up to 15% in the latest budget.
In conclusion, there are good days and bad days. My level of discipline and self control when the alarm first goes off tends to determine how the whole morning will play out.
[+] [-] Rust|16 years ago|reply
By 10AM I'm fine :) What did the skeleton say when he walked into the bar? Gimme a beer and a mop.
[+] [-] blogimus|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] carbocation|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dons|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] qw|16 years ago|reply
- 06:10: Decide that you can sleep a bit longer and set the alarm to 06:30
- 06:30: Turn on PC and think "I'll spend 10 minutes reading news while I wake up properly"
- 07:00: Find out that I have spent too long and run to the shower
- 07:20: Get out of shower. Think "Tomorrow I will not think so much about programming in the shower and save time"
- 07:25: Breakfast is made and I watch news/weather on the TV while eating.
- 07:40: Prepare my clothes for ironing
- 07:42: Brush teeth / shave while waiting for iron to heat
- 07:55: Bus leaves
- 08:30: Arrive at work, thinking about how much time I have wasted this morning
[+] [-] _delirium|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jgalvez|16 years ago|reply
I wake up and go straight to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. I go back to the room, make up the bed, tidy up my work desk (Clear Desk, Clear Mind -- this is absolutely essential for me), check e-mail, have breakfast (always something simple and light) and then I either go for a 30-minute walk or a 30-minute gym session. When I get back, usually around 10:30am, I'm usually ready to work. I try to get through the top of my todo list by mid-afternoon. Losing focus is very easy. In really important days (e.g., "I either deliver this or I lose the job"), I take Modafinil with my breakfast, which really gives me premium performance. But Modafinil only works for me if I take it only on occasion (4-6 times a month). I've been searching for the perfect morning routine and I've been doing this one since february. It really helped me boost my life in several ways. I manage to work and deliver shit in time (well, almost), I manage to make and try new things, and I've lost 24 pounds since I started going to the gym.
[+] [-] jmatt|16 years ago|reply
The categories and best of on the right side are great.
[+] [-] vwcoder|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] draegtun|16 years ago|reply
Now unless I have work/deadlines I need to do then I'm often just going through my emails & schedule. I find my brain is a bit "thick" in the morning! So any good procrastinating is hopefully wasted here (on HN, Stackoverflow, online Chess etc) and strangely it does help sharpen the mind (a little!)
I then go for 30-60 minute walk and when back make and eat lunch. This happens early so from 12.30pm I'm ready for work and my brain is in far clearer state for coding.
This ritual is something I've now pretty much kept to for last 7 years.
[+] [-] ashleyw|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] malbs|16 years ago|reply
- 6:30 am get up and go for 20 minute a run - Make myself some breakfast - Wake up my wife/3 daughters, and get them all breakfast - Make school lunches x 3 - Ride to work - Check HN / Email + Work ;)
I love weekends where I don't have to make school lunches.
[+] [-] da5e|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] truebosko|16 years ago|reply
Wake up at 6:30 am, hop into the shower, make breakfast for us (me/girlfriend) .. Eat breakfast with girlfriend, usually we have a laptop with the news to see what's up, check the weather, etc and discuss whatever.
Then, drive girlfriend to work and then head to work. In summer, I usually biked to work and she drove but in the winter that's how it is.
In one week when I move to Toronto it'll be almost the same except we won't be driving and hopefully waking up a bit later (7'ish probably) as the girlfriend won't be working at her current place anymore. :)
[+] [-] zacharypinter|16 years ago|reply
* Wake up at sometime between 7am and 8am (no alarm clocks)
* Turn on the shower to the hottest setting (but don't hop in)
* Bring laptop into the bathroom, catch up on work emails (client time zone is 2 hrs ahead) and web news (HN/reddit/engadget) while the bathroom is turning into a steam room.
* Shut down the laptop when there's enough steam that my touchpad no longer works due to wet fingers.
* Reduce the shower temp, shower, brush teeth, dress.
* Walk to the coffee shop. Grab either a coffee/muffin or a fruit smoothie (depending on how my stomach feels after reading work emails).
* Walk to the office.