Why I Finally Started Waking Up At 5:00 A.M.
Creating structures that flow and feed.
My morning routine went out the window when we had kids.
Before kids, my morning routine was simple. I’d sit down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and read for 30-45 minutes before heading out for work. For years, that was the space where I read most of my books and did most of my thinking.
With our first child, everything was new and sleep became a commodity that we savored whenever we could.
With our second, we adapted to a sort of 1–1 coverage and sleep was a welcomed reprieve from the busyness of the day.
With our third, we became outnumbered and uninterrupted personal time became a rare gem.
This was a challenge for me personally. I can easily turn on my extroversion, but I am an introvert at heart and need time alone to recharge and recenter.
I never really wanted to wake up early because the kids already wake up early as it is. To beat them I’d have to wake up really early and that just didn’t seem ideal. So, I adapted a very late night routine. After the kids were in bed I’d try to fit in all the things I wanted to work on: music, art, reading, exercise, and writing.
