Ask HN: What's Your Morning Routine?

[seltzerboys]

recently got let go, and am trying to stay focused and productive despite all the unstructured time.

starting the day off with a constructive morning routine seems necessary right now.

what's your morning routine? does it work for you?

[uncomplexity_]

I'm 27 years old. I believe in taking care of myself, and a balanced diet and a rigorous exercise routine. In the morning, if my face is a little puffy, I'll put on an ice pack while doing my stomach crunches. I can do a thousand 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 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 aftershave 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.

[auc]

For confused readers, this is a reference to the movie American Psycho

[RedCardRef]

Impressive, Very Nice! Let's see Paul Allen's routine.

[sexyman48]

Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late. I use the side door. That way, Lumbergh can't see me. And after that, I just sort of space out for about an hour. I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual work.

Office Space (1998)

[Fischgericht]

- Wake up - Grab a coffee and two cigarettes - Go take the big pile of pills "against" depression and autism - Read some world news - Get some more pills - Take a shower, thinking about killing myself, but telling myself "pills will start working in 20 minutes" - Get another coffee and another two cigarettes until second batch of pills kick in - Start coding

[tills13]

Skipping the world news might be good for your mental these days

[Fischgericht]

Just be clear: This is my DAILY morning routine for ages. So outside of that 20 minutes "Weltschmerz [1] shower" time window I am not suicidal. :)

[1] "Weltschmerz" - the ONLY German word you'll ever need to learn.

[omayomay]

As a Person with ADHD:

- first thing i do is drinking big glass of water

- doing Sun Salutation yoga sequence, either 1 time or N times -as long as i am willing to do that day-

- spend first 15 minutes of working hour with coffee and writing a short todo for that day into paper.

I cannot emphasise enough how doing mindful exercises -even 1 minute!- regularly in the morning helps with my ADHD.

But here is my ADHD trap: I do yoga every morning, feel better, since i feel better stop doing them at some point because i don't think i need it. Downward spiral starts and i lost track of my ADHD.

[laxmin]

I am on the spectrum and Yoga helps me a lot to get grounded.

I thought it is just a personal thing and was afraid I would be ridiculed if I said it helps, even in support groups.

I am not alone, nice to know.

[lexoj]

Can you give some examples of mindful exercises that are short?

[sgt]

Replace the glass of water with cold milk. You'll thank me later.

[rich_sasha]

Meta: looking at these schedules, it is very obvious who has and who doesn't have children.

My schedule is trying to squeeze about 30 hrs of parenting, work and sleep requirements into a 24h day.

[hombre_fatal]

Yep, this thread wouldn’t be complete without someone pointing out how hard us parents have it if these childless lucky dogs aren’t going to acknowledge it.

[rrr83]

Yes same story. Father of 2 kids, working wife, demanding job, extended work hours so we are just changing months over calendar but this year I have set a goal and decided to start focusing on the time I spend on me. Basically avoid the unnecessary stuff from my daily routine, no news, social media, focus on health and hopefully move up in career. Wish me a luck!

[secstate]

Yeah, funny how the divisions appear when it comes to folks who have dependents (not just kids, adult dependents count too), and those who are el solo lobo.

I will add to your note a (hopefully) friendly reminder that parenting does not need to be as involved as some folks make it out to be. Some of the best parts of my kids days come when I just leave them alone in their room, ignore their "i'm bored" whinging, and do my own thing. It's not selfish, it teaches them to find their own motivations. My 8 year old fell back asleep on the couch for 20 minutes this morning after breakfast while complaining about being bored and is now building a marble run with a toy we had to dust off together this weekend.

[rnewme]

I think it's not necessarily the kids per se, but rather level of maturity, age, or even general type of personality and inclinations. There's not much space to have kids and start a family, and also dwell on worlds problems etc.

[xdfgh1112]

Yep, wake up 10am, work with maybe a gym or walk break, 8 hours of free time.

Still get far less done than many parents posting here. There are upsides to a rigid routine and not being able to put stuff off as easily.

[masijo]

Wake up, feel the dread of having to work 8 hours again, avoid getting out of bed until 5 minutes before my team's daily, take dutasteride and drink some water, get working and procrastinate as much as possible while avoiding getting fired

[pipeline_peak]

It’s nice to hear someone relatable who doesn’t do burpees at 4 am, followed by learning mandarin and threading their eyebrows.

[I_am_tiberius]

We look for employees like you.

[kridsdale1]

Curious why dutasteride vs finasteride

[vinay_ys]

Find Zen in mundane daily repetitive tasks. Avoid all screens for first hour after you wake up (and the hour before you sleep). Stay focused in the moment – focus on your body and mind. First/last thing everyday, do these activities with mindfulness – personal hygiene, exercise, gratitude/prayer, set positive realistic intentions for the day, set intention to act, prepare, eat/pack fresh healthy food.

Then start your materialistic business end of your day. Learn to breathe and keep your mind calm and present throughout the day. Watch/catch yourself if your mind runs wild with background threads – try and disable background jobs in your mind for a few weeks.

If you have a spouse/partner, discuss these goals with them and ask for their cooperation while you are trying to change your habits. Have realistic expectations, and be generous towards others.

Coming to materialistic business hours of your day, focus on problem-solving and living in reality.

Work through your own personal Maslov's hierarchy of needs. Be strategic, be realistic, and try to build a reasonable position of confidence. Then, launch yourself further from there. Don't overextend yourself.

All the best!

[seltzerboys]

I appreciate how you phrased this - I struggle most with 'mundane, daily, repetitive tasks.' Approaching them with intentionality and presence of mind seems good, if not difficult.

[duggable]

> Then start your materialistic business end of your day.

Can you please elaborate on this?

[paulcole]

1. Up at 4:30AM on 95%+ of days

2. Cold brew coffee and some kind of small breakfast, maybe a cookie or something

3. Do NYT + Apple News Crosswords and some other word games

4. Some combination of watch TikTok, read on my Kindle, 20 minute workout

5. Brush teeth and leave for work between 6:30 and 7:30. Either run or bike commute.

6. At work, do a 30-minute planning session to get ready for the day.

I find it works really well for me. It’s all stuff I like to do. Sometimes I end up doing my workout after work instead of before, but other than that I’m pretty consistent. Once in a while on a weekend or holiday, I’ll do no alarm and will sleep until sometime between 5:30 and 7:30AM.

My 30-minute planning session is based on the book Work Clean by Dan Charnas. Really great way for me to prioritize and have a clear plan for what I want to accomplish on a given day. The most interesting thing I’ve found with this is that there’s some days that just feel overwhelming before I plan. And then once my plan is written down nearly everytime it’s like, “Huh, that doesn’t seem too bad.”

[hammeiam]

Why wake up so early for tiktok time?

[kody]

Wake up to my kid scream whispering at my baby to stop kicking me in the throat, change diapers make coffee and eggs, read a couple headlines about how it's the worst time in history to be alive, make lunches clean up breakfast and leave for work late to attend the daily all company hour long standup.

In all seriousness, sans young baby the most productive time of my life has been fitting exercise/side project time in between 4:30-6am. I made some real gains during that time and plan to get back into that routine once sleep isn't so rare.

[BrandoElFollito]

I was with you in the first paragraph. My kids are young adults now but I feel your pain.

In lost you when you mentioned being up at 4:30 willingly.

[TrueDuality]

Wake up. Feed the dog. Make coffee. Take the dog for a walk (~30 minutes), usually put on a podcast.

Check my calendar so I have an idea what my schedule looks like for the day, especially looking for start-of-day meetings. Start "spinning up" in my head. Shower & clean up, dress for the day.

If I have spare time before my workday starts I'll usually spend it catching up on personal email or checking the news. I very specifically avoid "fun traps" in the morning, no personal projects, books I may be hooked on, entertainment media, or engagement based platforms I might loose time to.

At the end of the day I cap it off with a proper workout and another walk with the pip. I find having a semi-enforced schedule to actually leave the house at the beginning and end of the day give me good mental touchstones to know when I should/shouldn't be working. I still find myself occasionally picking at something in the evening, but at least when I do I'm making an explicit choice to _go back to work_.

[seltzerboys]

no personal projects in the morning is great advice.

one of my biggest traps right now is using the morning (when i have the most energy & feel most focused) to tinker with my own creative projects. i can look up and it's 2pm and i haven't applied to any jobs, reached out to my network, or worked on any interview take homes.

if i turn around and it's mid-afternoon before i start doing the stuff i need to do, this typically means the day is shot.

[aprdm]

Any podcasts recommendation ?

[scruple]

Wake up ~5:30am. Get dressed, brush my teeth, and make a black breakfast tea. go for a 20 minute walk. Change into workout clothes, workout til ~6:30am (I have a full garage gym -- strength is Mon, Weds, Fri, and conditioning is Tues, Thurs, and Sat). Shower, morning face and hair routine, get dressed, get my wife and kids stirred and moving. Get downstairs, get breakfast started, pack lunches, out of the house by 7:30am to get my twin girls to school (I take them Tues, Weds, Thurs, my wife takes them Mon and Fri) or leave the house at 8:15am to get my son to school. On Tuesdays, I meet a friend at a climbing gym near work at 9am. We climb top-rope or do some bouldering til around 9:50am. I get to the office around 10 or 10:10am, check email, check overnight processes, check ops dashboards. Standup at 10:30am. Focus time from around 11am til 12:30pm when I take lunch. Work through the afternoon, leave around 5pm to get kids. Generally home around 5:30pm and we start our evening routine which runs us til 8pm. If there's work to finish, I finish it. A few nights a week my wife and I will watch some TV together, discuss family / household stuff, etc... The other nights I practice my Mandarin, read, walk, listen to podcasts, light YouTube stuff, or some combination of it all, and then I'm generally in bed by 10pm.

[mharig]

Do not forget mobility.

[greenie_beans]

was doing great 'til the holidays, getting back on track next monday:

- wake up + coffee + read in bed

- take the dog out for a 15 minute "wake up walk"

- take a vitamin d pill, turn on my SAD lamp, and stand at my desk

- write for an hour

- light house chores after writing

- start paid dev work

this has been near life changing. i was never a morning person until getting this routine established.

[diob]

Oh man I would not call this constructive, keep in mind I have ADHD.

I wake up. I make some coffee. I then make a smoothie with spinach, banana, and whatever other fruits for breakfast.

During this time I hopefully remember to take my medication.

If it's a workday I'll then go and do some work. If not, I'll probably start organizing. I'm bad at relaxing.

[dirtybirdnj]

> During this time I hopefully remember to take my medication.

Hahaha oh man, I feel you on this! I have a 7 day pill organizer that I have found does wonders for my ability to #1 take my meds and also #2 have a visual reminder that I did, that I DONT HAVE TO REMEMBER. Nothing worse than being 3 hours into the day and being gripped with "OH SHIT I FORGOT MY MEDS".

Lately I have been on a kick where I do some plain greek yogurt, some fresh berries (whatevers good) and a healthy pile of granola. While prepping I try to keep them separate like a pie chart. I don't mix it all together per se but as I eat there's the most delicious venn diagram in the middle.

Lately I've had a strange obsession with instant coffee and sweetened condensed milk. Maybe not the highest quality but its so quick and easy when I have zero energy.

I really enjoy breakfast and the morning meal... the getting to work part not so much. Definitely more productive in the afternoon / evening, but breakfast makes the morning worth it.

[omayomay]

I also have ADHD, one of the best thing i tried is doing a morning yoga (sun salutations) either 1 min, or 5 min (however i feel, same sequence repeating).

I think somewhat starting the day with mindful exercises helps greatly for rest of the day. I do this morning routine daily for a week, feel great. Then stop doing because i feel great, downward spiral starts. and start again.

[bsuvc]

> During this time I hopefully remember to take my medication.

I have a recurring reminder on my phone and find that it helps keep me on track for this.

I'm not used to taking medicine and only started a couple months ago, so found that I can easily forget without it.

[herbst]

Wake up whenever, wait until I hear the coffee machine or on a good day trigger it myself. Then I do whatever my phone has on open tasks, usually nothing or a random bill or a customer asking something. Second coffee, maybe a joint. Then actively just enjoying my coffee joint on repeat until I get the urge to do something. Which might not even happen that day.

Sounds ineffective, but I tried a lot and productivity is unmatched that way for me.

[simonswords82]

Do you have a job?

[neoglow]

Stand up at around 6:15, no snoozing the alarm. Get a glass of water and some yoghurt, cereals, fruit or bread, at least something light and not too heavy because after that I run around 30 minutes with my dog. This is my exercise and the dog needed to walk anyway. I do this 5 times a week.

After that drink a cup of coffee, and another glass of water, after which I first go to work at around 7:30, where I start with reviews, testing changes, and get through email. Standup is at 9:15, when I get another cup of coffee. The rest of the day is just cruising along; coding some stuff, fixing bugs, having some meetings etc... Usual SWE stuff.

Having started early, I can finish early, which gives me time for cooking, which I find very important. Because I already had my exercise in the morning, evenings are for me, my family and friends.

Weekends are similar, except I wake whenever I naturally awake, so my body and mind can recover where necessary, Although most of the time I still am awake at around 7:00.

This routine works very well for me. I try to keep low on alcohol and caffeine, of which the first one is going very well, but the second one a little less since I had a child a few months ago. Oh well...

[Projectiboga]

I make a blended tea with YerbaMate and then some Oolong added. It is like a tea ceremony with brewing the Mate in Knudsons Bottles part full and then brewing Oolong and pouring that strained tea ontop. Oolong is dry fermented and has similar anti-oxident profile as green tea with different active anti-oxidents. They are both higher in l-Theanine than most teas, which mellows the caffeine some. Mate is high in minerals and vitamins too. I'm a type 1 diabetic and I like to sip sweetened tea through out the daytime. I use old glass tea bottles to hold it as I go about my day. I am now down to a hemaglobin A1C of 5.9% and have been below 7% for 20 years now. Recent drop is I've been using a sensor on my arm and get my # on my phone and a dedicated reader. After my tea and reading some news I pack up my provisions for my day. I don't like getting beverage or food except for sit down shared meals.

[Projectiboga]

For you I'd suggest getting up at a consistent time and do the typical prework stuff and get fed, cleaned up and dressed for your day. Also you should initiate a fitness program, nothing crazy but either start with stretching or if already active do home based excersizes. It is very important to be able to stay in shape without having to go anywhere that way you can just keep up with it with nothing getting in the way. Split up and do one set mon, wed, fri, do other in between. It's ok to have a full day off, and don't forget 2 or 3 days with something that gets your heart and lungs working. Good luck, the key to handling this is structure, but also keep mental health and don't make it a grind unless you're desperate. Use some of the time to do fun stuff, socialize (do not drink!!) and explore opportunities and interests. '

[jordanmorgan10]

- Wake up at 6 - Take kids to school - Side project time 7-8 - Day job 8-4 - Side project time 4-5 - Dad mode until bed

[Peacefulz]

Could you maybe talk a little about maximizing that hour for personal projects? If I have an hour to do something, I really have about 30 minutes because I have to mentally organize myself to the task at hand.

[howenterprisey]

up 30 min before train leaves, phone in bed for 10-15 min, change clothes (staged on top of dresser to save time), brush teeth, [optional if time, pack snacks], [optional if needed, start dishwasher and/or washing machine], rush to train station (takes 6-12 min depending on fast I go, which in turn depends on how much time I wasted on my phone in bed)

certainly works for me. perhaps someday I'll have a more productive one, but I like how this one maximizes sleep and phone usage.

[dominicrose]

Not a morning person. I stay in bed for 45min then (prepare myself + eat breakfast) in 10min then leave for work. When I was out of a job I used to walk in the forest. I made and received calls from it and found a job. By doing (the things that felt bad) outside of my appartment they stopped feeling bad.

[PaulHoule]

When my evil twin was out one summer I would get up with the sun and walk maybe 6 miles in the woods and still start work at 9am. Then I'd go home and walk another 6 miles before sunset. And go the gym in the middle of the day and some evenings too.

[seltzerboys]

Very into this.

[rsync]

The first thing I do every morning is go for a walk.

I don’t want the first thing my body does to be sitting, and I don’t want the first thing my eyes see to be print.

[martimchaves]

I feel you, exact same routine here.

[warner25]

Here's a thread on the same topic from late 2023... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37385434

I answered in that one, and I see that things have slowed down for me a bit since then. My routine has been more in flux during November and December since we took a week of vacation, then had the holidays, and have been fighting colds. This time next year I'll be living in a new place, working a very different job, so I'm anxious to see what kind of routine I'll be able to establish then.

[purple-leafy]

Morning

    - wake up 6-7 for dog toilet time
    - make decaf coffee
    - drink coffee, and use laptop to:
      - do some programming, or
      - read some hackernews threads about something that interests me currently
    - get ready for day
    - walk dog

Notice:

    - at no point in time is my phone nearby, nor do I use it
    - I use a brick phone
    - I only read hackernews on my laptop, old threads, I've blocked all social 
        media and news sites (incl Reddit - blocked)

[seltzerboys]

quick q: why decaf? have been considering cutting out caffeine for more sustainable/natural energy throughout the day vs. a huge burst in the morning, but haven't committed.

[HerrBertling]

41. Get up at 6:15-6:30. Take 15-20 minutes to wake up, brush teeth, toilet, drink some water. Put on workout clothes, do either 45 minute run outside (no matter the weather) or 20 minute kettlebell workout. Meditate for 10 minutes if time permits. Take a cold shower. Wake up wife + daughter if they aren’t awake yet. Prepare daughter for kindergarten, eat something in between. Start work after getting her to the kindergarten.

I just know I‘ll have a better day if I can slot in workout, meditation and cold shower.

[antisthenes]

8:00 - 9:00 - Wake up, get dressed, walk the dog.

9:05 - Join the standup, start work.

~10:00 - Have breakfast (hopefully) during some useless meeting

~11:00 - Finally wake up completely, make coffee and hope to get some uninterrupted time in the afternoon to get some work done.

~12:00 - 15:00 - productive work

~15:00 - outside dog break, more work after

16:30 - usually done with work, watch some YT or play a few games.

18:00 - start making dinner, eat, get ready for dog walk #2

19:00 - 20:00 Dog walk

Do whatever after, until about midnight.

It sucks being a night owl with brain damage, but there it is. Some days it takes me until noon to "wake up" completely.

[califool]

brush the teeth, a little deodorant, then sit with a homemade americano in front of a unpowered monitor. I like to mumble "His name is Robert Paulson" until I can at least fake inspiration, then I hit the power button. I'll space out for a good 45min to an hour before I get around to any real work. Next thing you know its time for proper pour of single malt scotch another day in the books..... eye on the prize, champagne wishes and caviar dreams.

[kmarc]

While had a job, home office:

Wake up, prepare breakfast, prepare for work (read emails), calisthenics, breakfast, start working.

After left job:

Flight ticket to Nepal, 6.30am hikes in Himalayas daily, flight to Thailand, activities early morning, flight to Philippines, diving early morning, etc etc

My recommendation: think about what makes you happy, keeps excited, develops your skills/knowledge, etc and do it, every day, from early morning. Don't overthink it. Don't copy others.

And drink water.

[mandalorianer]

I don't want to overthink but how can one finance this lifestyle?

[breadchris]

how often would you fly to Nepal? How long was the flight?

[nkotov]

Wake Up, Shower, Devotions / Gratitude Journaling, Gym / Workout for 2 hours with trainer, Shower, Breakfast, Work Day.

I realized for me that the only time I can work out consistently is early in the morning. For me, journalling is also a non-negotiable. This means I have to wake up a lot earlier (5:30 AM), to get everything I need to get done. This means I also need to be in bed by 10:30 if I want to get the sleep that I need.

[notapenny]

My current mornings are pretty relaxed. I wake up an hour before I have to go to work, drink a glass of water, have a coffee while listening to some music and I might be browsing something on the internet. No socials though. Then I fill a water bottle and put it on my desk, take a shower and get dressed/etc. I work from home so that's nice but I do get ready as if I have to go out, i.e. I make effort to look smart and even put on some cologne. I do need to wake up relaxed though, I f*king hate waking up and having to rush.

When I was in between jobs, it was mostly similar but I got up an hour later than I would usually and wouldn't hit the shower until like 10 am. Maybe work on some project or watch something, eat lunch around 12 and then either go out for a walk or get groceries done. Only in the afternoon I would job search, call back people. Its only a few hours but I had to learn not to try to constantly job search, because there simply is no point and it would just make me feel like I was failing at it.

I'd say you're right to want some structure, but you're perfectly fine not having it all be productive.

[billwear]

org-mode helps:

  6:50......TODO wake up
  7:00......TODO brb
  7:02......TODO catfood
  7:04......TODO fasting glucose
  7:05......TODO ketones
  7:06......TODO weight
  7:07......TODO hydrate
  7:08......TODO am meds
  7:10......TODO shower
  7:20......TODO hair
  7:22......TODO shave
  7:25......TODO teeth
  7:27......TODO deo
  7:28......TODO morning netty
  7:28......TODO wash netty
  7:33......TODO chg jeans (+3d)
  7:33......TODO dress
  7:38......TODO pockets
  7:42......TODO litter
  7:45......TODO bkfst/coffee
  8:00......TODO journal
  NB: this is a good time to
  apply the quiet art of attn
  (see my other HN post) and do
  your best to like or dislike
  current thought patterns
  8:15......TODO email
  8:30......TODO chats
  8:40......TODO calendar
  8:45......TODO planning
  9:00......TODO login/execute
 12:00......TODO lunch/nap
 18:00......TODO logoff
 18:10......TODO text friends

it's not just morning that matters. and don't let the jerks and trolls get to you: it's your time and your life.

[_kb]

0530 greet the new day by being kicked in the face by my 3yo who climbed into the bed at some point during the night.

0531 calmly explain to face kicker that it's too fucking early to exist and they should in fact still be sleeping.

0537 slowly drift back into a tranquil deep slumber.

0600 be ripped against every fiber of my being from freshly entered deep sleep to the chorus of alarm clock, haptic alarm from the supercomputer strapped to my wrist, partners alarm, and 3yo screaming for food.

0601 coffee.

0602 feed rabidly hungry child spawn.

0604 coffee.

0607 change poo filled diaper of previously noted face kicking food screamer.

0613 stand on small sharp toy left in hallway. I find this is a great way to really invigorate the senses.

0615 coffee.

0630 begin attempting to dress the tiny human that has taken ownership of my home.

0631 experience enthusiastically recited full Irish dance routine as I attempt to get pants on the face kicking, food screaming, poop making, toy leaving offspring.

0640 coffee.

0645 ask child to confirm that have in-fact finished with their half eaten breakfast.

0646 throw out remainder of breakfast.

0647 make new breakfast as they were not finished with previous breakfast.

0700 attempt to get child into bike and leave for childcare / work.

0700 - 1000 actually leave for work / childcare drop off.

I find this routine to be a great way to really center and focus you for the day ahead.

[riehwvfbk]

There's a daycare out there that allows a 3yo to still be in a diaper? Also, unless the kid has special needs - a lot of these behaviors don't have to be a part of your morning.

[whalesalad]

I sleep and wake at decent times (bed by 11 usually, awake by 7-8), but I am basically dead to the world until afternoon. Sometimes I don't even become productive until 2-3pm. Curious if others have this problem.

Suffice to say no one wants to hear my morning routine, but I am curious to see all of yours.

[moehm]

Have you tried a coffein detox?

[crowcountry]

I'm 33, have a partner, no kids.

Wake up around 8:30, brush and floss teeth, do a small workout while waiting for my moka pot, fill up the water bottle. Then I go for a physical book or reading some articles on the laptop. Trying not to touch my phone and any messaging apps until 10:00.

[rozenmd]

For the past 8 years or so:

Get up, turn on coffee machine, down a pint of water, have my espresso, work on my own projects for two hours.

After that, I hit the gym/run, take a shower, and start my work day. When I've been unemployed, my "work day" was hitting up friends for jobs/scouring my linkedin network to see who works where for potential leads.

You'd think two hours isn't enough but in that time I've managed to build/write:

    - a bill splitting service
    - a jobs aggregator
    - an appointment scheduler
    - a room booking service
    - a graphql API monitoring service
    - a site speed monitoring service
    - an uptime monitoring/status page service
    - a blog with dozens of top ranking articles
    - a book

[aidenn0]

2 hours a day is a near eternity. Roughly 30,000 hours if done from early 20s to early 60s.

That's enough to master 3 things if you believe the "10,000" hours rule, or gain working proficiency in dozens of foreign languages.

[powersnail]

On work days, my routine is to get my coffee before anything else as much as possible, because I'm not good at falling asleep on time and often wake up groggy. I grind coffee and prepare the kettle the night before, so I have minimal work to do when I get up. While waiting for the coffee to finish dripping, I usually give my calendar/email a quick reading through, and if there's nothing requiring attention, I read some news.

Once the coffee is ready, I drink it while planning out the day (in a rough manner), basically moving stuff around in my calendar, turning some emails to tasks, etc. When I'm done planning, I get to work.

On non-work days, I sleep as much as I feel like, and no coffee, so as to avoid developing a caffeine tolerance.

[klez]

I'm an IT service manager / PM / last resource coder (on some things)

Wake up at 8.

Take the dog out (she does her business quickly, it doesn't take more than 5 minutes and then she's the one pulling to go home) and feed her.

Put the moka on the stove (the moka has been prepared the previous night), and while I wait (and then while drinking coffee and eating something sweet) play my usual list of light games (wordle, framed, strands, bandle (if the lady is up, since we play this one together, otherwise I'll wait for her to play it later)), go to the bathroom to do my business and wash up.

At 8.30 I sit at my computer to start work.

I check my mail, chats, see if there's any ticket that requires my attention, then the meetings start and the usual day of work begins.

[bmilleare]

For the previous 20 years I had no real routine other than wake>commute>work or wake>work if wfh, but over the last 2 years I've been more focused on my health. Every weekday I get up around 06:00 and am at the pool by 06:40. I swim 1500m then have a 15min sauna and 4min cold plunge. Normally I'm back at my desk by around 08:20. I drink 1L of water with electrolytes while at the pool and then have a light breakfast and espresso when I get home.

I'm in better shape than I was throughout my 30s, have more muscle, better posture and generally feel more energetic and alert through the day.

While at the pool I listen to Audible books (wearing Shokz), so get through a new book every couple of weeks also.

[VyseofArcadia]

Wake up, brush various things, get dressed, make thermos of tea, pack gym bag, go to gym, breakfast at work cafeteria, work.

It works for me, but it'll be nice when I reach my goals and I can drop down to maintenance mode and go to the gym a little less frequently.

[sebastiansm]

5:30 wake up, dress and walk to the gym, workout, shower at the gym.

7:20 walk back home, walk the kids to school (at 7am my wife woke them up and prepare breakfast for them, she workouts in the evenings)

8:15 back home, unload dishwasher, breakfast with wife.

9:00 start working from home

[Quinzel]

I’m in the midst of about 2 months off of work, and my morning routine is certainly different. I don’t sleep with an alarm clock which is actually amazing. My routine goes like this: - Wake up naturally when sick of sleeping. - drink large cup of coffee - eat something nutritious for breakfast - choose something to do.

I have a list of things I still wanted to do/achieve over my break, including reading a few books, finishing an online language course I’ve been doing, exercising daily, finishing a painting, etc etc… so I pick something out of those things and then that just leads into a relaxing and fulfilling day.

[BrandoElFollito]

It depends if I am working at home or at the office.

I wake up without an alarm clock and the day starts here at 9:00. If I am at home I make it to the first meeting, if at the office it depends.

After getting up, a biofunction and a shower I take my pills. This is the only hard routine I set up. Also using the My Therapy app helps a lot in not missing this.

The cat makes sure I do not forget to give her her first breakfast.

And that's all. I do not think you need to have a routine to have a good life. And, only second, be productive.

I am French so there is a cultural aspect to it: productive is not the first thing that gets to my head when I think about my day.

[rnewme]

  - Wake up around 10am, quick breakfast that wife prepared. 
  - Play with the kiddo and help wife around the house.
  - Leave for work anywhere between 1 and 4 pm. 
  - 15-30min commute, audio book or just thinking time since I'm driving, pickup lunch for the day if wife didn't pack anything. 
  - Office, work on administrative tasks before 9-5
  - 6pm get online and join the daily with remote team
  - 2 am finish work, make last tea for the day, clean the office, work on side project 
  - 3:40am drive home
  - 4am go to bed

[notesinthefield]

It changes depending on season, right now its winter where I am.

Wake up and go to the garage to warm up the gym - the average temp is around 20F in the AM so it takes ~40 minutes to get to a comfortable temperature.

Make coffee, let dogs out, take meds and supps. Im making a serious effort to step away from social media so ill listen to NPR instead while thinking about what I need to do that day or knocking out quick chores. I dont eat breakfast on workdays.

Train for 1-2 hours.

My first work meeting starts around 9-930.

On the weekends or holidays my spouse and I cook breakfast together and talk.

[H1Supreme]

Not much of a routine to be honest. Wake up around 8:15, lie in bed until 8:30, make a double shot espresso, and start work at 9.

I lift weights (at my "home gym") on my lunch break (except Wednesdays) for 45 minutes. Use the last 15 minutes to eat a lunch I have prepared (a salad or a sandwich + a protein shake).

Overall, it works. I tried working out at 7:00am, but my workouts were horrible that early. Kinda wish it worked so I could fit a power nap in at lunch. But, I don't function too well that early.

[crush_robo_1536]

- Wake up at like 6:30 and make my smoothie for breakfast (oats, frozen fruits, yogurt + whole milk) which is rich in protein and fiber - Shower and then spend some time reading news (hackernews, news.google.com, etc). I'll use https://rockyai.me/ to speed run through some articles with a quick summarization - Head into work around 8ish so I can get a head start and wrap things early in the evening

[dustingetz]

9:30 asleep, 5:30 wake, get coffee, scroll phone, 5:55 out the door to exercise - run or group fitness class, 7:10 breakfast, shower, 7:30 ET zoom standup with Europe, work until 5:30 (tech founder), dinner with wife, evenings are free, 8:30 bed routine, 9:30 asleep. on gym off days i work the extra 90 minutes. weekends are about the same with personal trainer 7am sunday. There’s plenty of room for kids - work a bit less and evenings are already free - but wife didn’t want em.

[elseleigh]

I've recently retired. I get up between 0630 and 0700 and do fifteen minutes of core strength exercises. I create a new handwritten task list for the day, then have a long, slow breakfast (at least an hour, sometimes ninety minutes) while I read articles in my RSS feed.

When I was working, I got up at 0500 and worked for two hours (I usually set aside a challenging coding task for this slot the day before). Then the core strength exercises, task list and breakfast (although not as leisurely).

[nicbou]

Wake up, read a bit in bed, make tea, get to work. My phone stays on my desk so I don’t get a facefull of notifications until I’m ready for it.

In the summer I’d have my tea on the balcony. It gave me a bit of time to just think about stuff.

I’m trying to add stretching to the routine, as it requires little effort and feels really good. When I’m dog sitting I also walk the dog in the park before anything else.

I also try to make room for a nice breakfast. This requires some advance logistics but it’s so rewarding.

[wazoox]

My most important routine daily activity is 30-45 minutes of callisthenics (abs, push-ups, etc), then going running in the wood for 30 to 45 minutes. 15-20 years ago I used to do that between 7 and 9 (bringing children to school in the middle), but now it tends to happen more around 11:30, because I can't get up before 8:30 anyway unless there is a really tough deadline.

Does it make me productive? Not at all. But at least, it makes me extremely healthy :D

[throwawayguy9]

Wake up when my wife does at 7:30 and have a quick pee so I don't have to interrupt her morning bathroom routine.

Return to bed, sleep until 9. Coffee, brain pills, anti-SAD light visor in winter, a little food if my digestion is online, loud wakey-wakey music.

Open the laptop and start looking around Slack about 9:30, standup at 10, then my schedule is largely up to me: my work is good about minimizing the impact of meetings, probably better than anyplace else I've worked.

[Semaphor]

37. I wake up, usually between 4 and 5 (5-7 on the weekend), and get dressed. I turn on the PC in the office, turn on the kettle in the kitchen, go to the bathroom, back to the kitchen to make coffee in the press. Back to the PC, login and read some news while enjoying the first cup. Then I pick an album to listen to (from the fresh releases if it's Friday or Saturday) and start working.

Not sure how well my routine works for others, though ;)

[pixelatedindex]

Goddamn that’s early lol

[joehx2]

Wake up. Pee.

If it's Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, weigh myself.

Get breakfast ready for my kids. A banana, half a fiber bar, and a cup of milk.

Start my coffee. Nothing special, just an old school coffee maker that uses a standard filter. Three cups of water and three spoonfuls of coffee grounds.

Make my oatmeal. A quarter cup of oats and a half cup of water. Put it in the microwave for two minutes.

Eat breakfast with my kids. Then I drop them off a school.

Once I get home, I log into work and eat an orange. Afterwards I start my day.

[jjice]

Interested in weighing frequency. I was recently eating in a caloric surplus to aid in muscle gain and I didn't weigh myself super frequently, but as I'm coming up on a cut that'll be a bit harder for me, I'm interested in why you've personally chosen 3 days a week.

[dyauspitr]

Wake up around 8:30a. Make a pitcher of iced tea with 3 tea bags (no sugar or sweetener) for consumption throughout the day. Have a bowl of overnight oatmeal from the fridge. Weightlift in the garage for 1 hour. Come back and have a protein shake and supplements. Then start working from home around 12 (start working on my hobbies when unemployed like woodworking, metalworking, 3D modeling).

[Instantnoodl]

Always stand up at 07:00 am. Take supplements against my migrains with a good amount of tap water. Eat the same oatmeal with some cacao powder and oat milk just to get some food in my system. Then I do about 45 - 60 min of Japanese language reviews. At 08:00 I sit down in my work area and start working. No coffee/caffeine.

This is how 90% of my workdays go for the last 1.5 years :)

[ohmy987]

If it's school day I have to wake up at 7 to drop my kids at school. For this to happen I have to go to bed before midnight. But if I don't have to drop my kids at school then I usually stay up until 1am, and wake up around 8:30am. I tried to be a morning person, but somehow if I don't have a commitement I wake up as late as I can...

[pajamasam]

This routine worked well for me for the last few months:

6:30 wake up, make coffee + read a book while drinking my coffee

7:00 get dressed and leave to go to the gym or for a walk

7:30-8:30 exercise

8:30 - 09:00 shower + make breakfast

09:00 start work (remotely)

I feel much more fulfilled when I get some non-work reading and exercise done before a work day. Sometimes I sleep in, but then end up regretting it.

[asielen]

Wake up at 7:30am

Take a quick shower and hope the kids stay asleep a few more minutes or at least entertain themselves.

7:45am Get the kids up (if they are not already awake). Make them breakfast and get them dressed and out the door by 8:30am.

Head to work after. Some days take the train others head back home and work from home. Maybe grab coffee if I have time.

[doublerabbit]

Wake up, have a wank, shower and go to work.

Get to work, faff for 30mins buying coffee and cookie and then eat. Simple enough routine.

[simonswords82]

Spotted the Brit!

[gadders]

I get up when I want except on Wednesdays when I get rudely awakened by the dustmen. I put my trousers on, have a cup of tea and I think about leaving the house.

I feed the pigeons, I sometimes feed the sparrows too. It gives me a sense of enormous well-being. And then I'm happy for the rest of the day

[pipeline_peak]

Wake up at 8, lay in bed and watch porn till 8:55. Login to my computer so my boss thinks I’m working then take a shower. Gently pound my stomach 500 times for gut health/anxiety. Eat a small amount of protein like 3 eggs with tea after. Start working at 10:30 until 5 with lunch around 2.

I hate my job lol

[jjice]

Wake up, start the coffee maker, brush my teeth, use the restroom, and then enjoy my coffee til 9 where I start my remote day. I wake up at 8 and start work at 9.

I used to have desires for an extensive, productive morning routine, but now I get everything out of this that I want and plenty of sleep.

[PaulHoule]

On an ordinary morning I get up at 7:30 often I don't want to eat much, I drink a cup of tea, take medicine, pack my bags, then get to the bus stop at 8:20. Often I get a coffee and maybe some food at the cafe and I'm at the office at 9.

Astonishingly normcore for someone who isn't.

[p0d]

get up around 6 and pee...eat 1/2 homemade oatmeal cookie...drink glass of juice...eat rest of cookie...60g of porridge in a bowl with skimmed milk to bring it up to 240g...90s in microwave...cut up fat pear while waiting...add pear to warm porridge with a generous amount of honey...cup of regular coffee...read the news and other stuff...7, read bible in a year daily reading quietly outloud (as it helps me concentrate)...pray...save some thoughts to my private wordpress journal from my phone so not to bug my wife with my random musings...8, get ready for work [I was fat for 50 years of my life, now I am not...routine helps me but I am learning to stop boring my wife and kids about it...hence this outburst ;-)]

[izietto]

Toilet If my kid is with me breakfast at home, 1/2 cup of milk with choco biscuits for me, 1/4 cup of milk with cereals for him Otherwise breakfast at the bar with cornetto and cappuccino If my kid is with me bring him to school Toilet Remote work

[foobarian]

22:00 previous day: prepare drip coffee machine and schedule for 6:50 next morning

7:00-7:30 pour coffee, get dressed, wake up, side project time

7:30-8:00 breakfast with kid, drop off at school

8:00-16:00 work with stretch breaks and lunch break

16:00-17:00 side project time

17:00-bedtime dad mode (h/t to other poster who used this phrase)

[christkv]

Wake up, get kids up, get their breakfast going and any lunch they might need that day. Get them out of the house, catch up on any urgent email. Walk the 25 minutes to the co-working center in the city center, picking up a coffee and a pincho on the way.

[justchad]

Wake up, get ready, drink coffee, go to work. I wake up about 8:30 and start work at 9.

[bubblehed]

Wake up at 03:00. Have coffee, read news. Bathroom, brush teeth, get workout gear on. Workout for ~2 hours - either a run or a ride. Normally alternating days. 03:30 Shower, get dressed. Eat breakfast. 06:30 Off to work to read HN!

[Hamuko]

Wake up, bathroom, step on the scale, eat breakfast, brush teeth. Then it's time to work and I make some tea while I'm working. Usually takes me about 30–35 minutes from the alarm going off to having my work laptop out.

[Fr3dd1]

I myself just get to drink some water. If its possible I would highly recommend getting some sunlight right at the start of your day and what also helped me in the past (I know, sounds a bit strange) is to just tidy up your bed.

[ddyevf635372]

Waking up when the dog wanna eat. Going back to sleep, waking up when I had enough sleep, making a coffee and reading Hackernews, Guardian and Reddit until noon. Having a brunch outside. Enjoying life and not worrying at all. ;)

[sibit]

5am I go for a 2 mile run with my dog

When I get home I start a pot of coffee

Shower

If it's a work from office day I leave for work at 5:45 (~15 minute drive)

1-2 hours of reading HN, twitter, blogs

I grab my sticky note pad and I create a checkbox list of 3-5 things I want to accomplish

I start working through the list

[gitgud]

7:30AM wake up in bed

7:31AM open Hacker News, begin absorbing news

8:15AM open YouTube, begin scrolling shortform content

8:45AM open Reddit, begins scrolling content

9:00AM get out of bed

9:01AM make a coffee

9:03AM walk to home office

9:04AM begin work

Although exaggerated, this is sadly quite an accurate representation of my mornings…

[jayshah5696]

Wakeup, bath, do yoga and meditation (2 hrs) and then do rest of things

[riehwvfbk]

Doomscrolling is called meditation now?

[bitbasher]

Wake up, bathroom, make a coffee, study korean for >= 30 minutes, do a 5k on the treadmill, shower, feed the dogs and take care of the kids as they wake up, sit at my desk and do my work.

[thuanao]

I wake up without alarm between 6 and 7. For the next few hours I sit and enjoy coffee. Some days I take my kid to preschool or make him breakfast if my wife is busy.

[idopmstuff]

Used to be: - Wake up naturally between 5-6 (usually closer to 5) - Drink coffee and do the NYT Crossword - Read news (Bloomberg and Axios emails) - If it's warm weather (I live in San Diego, so 75% of the year), run 2.5 miles or do 20 minutes of weights (if cold, running gets moved to later when it's warm enough to run) - Knock off some easy stuff on my to-do list (if I exercise and just do a few productive things early in the day, I tend to be highly productive and in great mental health) - Eat breakfast (usually scrambled eggs with veggies)

By now it's about 9am, so when I was working I'd usually have standup.

Now, with toddler (and currently pregnant wife in the throes of morning sickness who can't do nearly as much as usual as a result): - Wake up between 5-6am - If I wake up before toddler, slam coffee and try to poop in peace before he wakes up. When he wakes up, get him out of crib, change and feed him. - If I wake up to the sound of toddler screaming because he is awake, get out of bed, change and feed him. Desperately try to finish a cup of coffee and poop before he is done with bottle. Probably fail at this and put on an episode of Bluey so I can poop in peace. - Entertain toddler until wife texts me that she is awake. Bring her coffee in bed. Make sure to do this without toddler seeing, so he does not rush in behind me. - When wife gets up, try to be productive and/or eat. - Exercise whenever I can. - Be grateful that I now own a business that mostly does not require a ton of work unless I'm making an acquisition. - Question how I could have lived like this if I were working full time.

My morning was always my favorite time, when I could start my day off just right mentally and physically. My child has stolen that time from me. I love him from the depths of my soul and would give up my well-being for him for the rest of my life if I had to. But hey I know teenagers don't get out of bed at 5am so I'll probably get my morning back at some point!

[j-rom]

- Wake up (preferably no alarm)

- Do 1 set of pushups. As many as it takes to get to failure

- Brush teeth

- Fill up and drink full water bottle, 21 oz

- Eat protein bar

- Start reading through emails and creating todo list for the day

[jmorenoamor]

Coffee, read HN (or play a game) until I hear people waking up, put music, make breakfast for the family, and that's pretty much it.

[jghn]

Go down to Dunkin'. Grab a cruller, have an extra large, three Parliaments, take a big dump, that’s kind of the routine.

[JumpinJack_Cash]

No morning wood/erection references in all these comments?

Why is that? Privacy oriented shy hackers or real absence of it?

[DontchaKnowit]

I like doing calisthenics furst thing in the morning. Pullups, pushups, etc. Great way to start the day.

[fnordahl]

wake up around 7am, joyful reunion with dogs, feed dogs, 30 min. morning walk, coffee, start work at 8am, begin with the highest priority task that unblocks others, more coffee, first meal at noon, walk dogs, resume work at 2pm, begin with highest priority meeting or focus work

[unwise-exe]

I don't really have one.

[phito]

Same, I do things differently everyday

[dartharva]

Wake up, brush my teeth, sit on the toilet with phone in hand to multitask taking a shit and keeping up to date with the day's quota of news curated especially to make me feel better for at least not being the poor chaps getting bombed and massacred last night. Take a shower with a bucket and mug with water warmed with a 2$ external tungsten heater.

Avoid mirrors so I can delude myself into thinking that I am "growing" and not witnessing my darkening and drooping face indicating the rot from the inside from all the toxic water, toxic food and toxic air my body is subjected to every single day.

Get out of the house, walk two kilometers to my local railway station dodging filth, rodent carcasses, feaces both human and animal, armies of crows and pigeons, lepers, crippled and deformed beggars, rabid dogs, drug spit and vomit.

Wrestle my way into the overcrowded train like how you push down the stuck dirt in the kitchen sink for my daily "personal space" detox. Wear my bag the other way round because my company laptop is worth more than my life and I can't have it get stolen from behind, the butt-humpers breathing down my neck an acceptable cost.

Get off, fighting for my life in the process as I dive against the stream of people trying to get in through the same doors I am getting out (did I mention these doors stay open throughout the journey, even when the train is moving?)

Walk again to the next platform, repeat the whole charade with another open-door overcrowded train.

Take a 3-seater rickshaw shared with five people to my office.

Arrive at office with a big smile, to my big happy family that pays my bills and loan installments and allows me to exist for yet another month in this blessed existence.

[PeterWhittaker]

Up anywhere from 6 (well, poop) to 8 (yes!). Wander into kitchen, turn on coffee maker, take out mouth guard, swap out yesterday's cup for a clean one, make sure cup is right side up, hit the double espresso sequence (paying close attention because the x2 button is too close to the power button for my stunned, spastic, uncaffeinated mind and fingers), pee, take coffee and phone to garage, smoke as little as possible, head to living room, finish coffee while playing word games (dordle, wordle, the mini, zorse, octordle, hurdle), check HN, various news sites, poop, have first breakfast, greet dog of joy, wipe him down, feed him, walk him (20 minutes if I have meetings or other reasons to get home sooner, an hour or more otherwise, unless it is so cold he cuts it short (anything under -15C and the odds of that are even; -30C and might turn around at the end of the driveway)), have second breakfast.

Now the day can begin.

[rasse]

Wake up, shower & toothbrushing, out.

[rpastuszak]

A bunch of people asked me about this so I put together a short post with some tips (mostly oriented around having a daily writing routine):

https://untested.sonnet.io/notes/stream-of-consciousness-mor...

And yeah, it works for me, although I would suggest taking any advice like this with a bag of salt as it’s highly context dependent. For instance, many of the little tools/toys I use are built by me therefore idiosyncratic.

That said, quite a few people use them on a regular basis.

PS this is a digital garden note, so check the backlinks at the bottom for more examples.

[TuringNYC]

** WFH Days **

Woken up ~6:30 since kids need to get to bus-stop at 7 and 8am.

8am-9am Cardio (3days) Weights (2days)

9am-6pm Work

Lunchtime - Interval Training

6pm-9pm Kids/Family

9pm-10pm Spouse Time

10pm-1am Upskilling, Personal coding projects

** RTO Days **

Woken up ~6:30 since kids need to get to bus-stop at 7 and 8am.

4 hours R/T D2D on CommuterTrain+Subway

  2hrs on Commuter Train -- either sleeping or Udemy courses on iPad

  2hrs wasted time (driving, parking, waiting, subway, walking) - Podcasts, mix of uplifting and doom/gloom 

YT podcasts

8pm-9pm Kids

9pm-10pm Spouse Time

10pm-midnight Too tired to do anything else: Doomscrolling YouTube, Laundry, Cleaning

My Github chart is zebra -- most commits and activity are on WFH days while office days are for collaboration/meetings. The more exercise i do the better my productivity and commit charts.

[yibbix]

Currently unemployed. I wake up whenever I wake up, no alarm clock. Read a bit or browse social media until I decide to get up. Grab my coffee and then hop on the computer where I watch YouTube and play a game until the coffee kicks in and I need to poop. Then go for a run shortly after that.

[nobodywillobsrv]

I notice no one scheduling AM love making on here. Telling.

[singularity2001]

sleep snooze and sleep some more

[philosopher1234]

M-F:

7am

* brush teeth

* drive to the office

* breakfast

* (sometimes) therapy

* start day

9am

[softwaredoug]

Wake up. High protein breakfast. Strength training for an hour. More protein. Shower. Walk the dog. Meditate. Work.

[mandalorianer]

Try not to eat before the training. You will be suprised about the positive effect. Just water. Breakfast after training.

[psawaya]

This is a sacred text.

[BoiledCabbage]

Please keep this crap off HN, and keep it on a meme-filled social media site instead.