Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Creature of Habit

Are you a creature of habit? Are you on auto-pilot from the time you turn off the alarm until you walk out the door to work or get the kids out the door to school? I am like a little robot in the morning on days that I have to go to work.

I get up between 4:45 and 5:00 a.m., immediately make the bed and head straight for my computer. I check e-mail, my two etsy shops, my blog and the etsy forums. There are two great threads in the forums that I participate in every morning.

Irv and I are getting ready at the same time, but he leaves the house at 5:30 so I let him get into the bathroom and pack his lunch before me. The radio goes on and I am already singing and boppin' to the music. Yes, I am one of those disgusting happy little morning people!

Time to make my lunch. I always take 2 hard boiled egg whites, cereal and fruit, lunch and a snack. I eat the eggs on the way to work and the cereal later in the morning. Lunch is usually leftovers or a can of yummy organic, salt-free soup!

I grab my yoga mat and do a whole 5 minutes of sit ups and leg lifts and head to the bathroom to make myself presentable.

I make sure Wrigley goes outside again at some point....Sparky is curled up under a blanket somewhere and there are days we have to literally pick her up and carry her outside. She is a warm weather dog.

I head back into my workshop to check the forums again and maybe say hello on twitter. Then I check my closet and hopefully I figured out the night before what to wear and it's ironed and ready to go. I get dressed and start watching the clock.

Depending on the temperature outside...I might start my car and let it run so it's nice and toasty warm when I get in it. I know....it's a waste of gas and bad for the environment, but I can't help it. I can't stand being cold in the morning.

Once the car is warm, I log off the computer, I pack up my tote bag with my lunch and whatever else has to go with me, say good bye to the dogs and I'm out the door. The perfect morning!

The only thing I realized in writing this is that if I left the computer off in the morning, I could probably sleep until 5:30...but that isn't going to happen!

So, what is your morning routine? If you have kids at home....are you able to have a routine? Do you work from home or have to be somewhere at a certain time? Are you a creature of habit?

Sometimes I think I am bad, but then I take a look at Irv....we'll talk about that another day!

11 comments:

Angela said...

I wish I were more of a creature of habit. I am so random it hurts. I never know where my keys are. I am always late. I never know where my shoes are. I always walk on the grass and never the sidewalk. I hardly ever order the same thing twice at a restaurant.

Cecile/DreamCreateRepeat said...

I was more "regular" in my morning habits when I worked at the elementary school and had to be at a safety post by 7:50am every morning! Now that I am retired, my mornings seem to stretch and retract like taffy.

Nothing EVER happens, however, before coffee and the comics! ; )

Lanyardlady said...

My morning routine isn't quite military, but it stays much the same. Get up, feed pets, let dog out, check Etsy and e-mails, package any sales from day before, get dressed, grab lunch and perhaps a Starbucks mocha (yes, I'm bad), then out the door. It's amazing how any deviation from that routine gets my day off to a rocky start!

T.Allen said...

I am a creature of habit. I'm up at 5:00 to feed the cats and then back to bed until 7:00. Then, I stumble to the door and let the dog out and put up a pot of coffee. I then hit the computer in "read only" mode-(I can't spell or form lucid thoughts until my 2nd cup of coffee, so I don't leave comments til about 8:30ish)The husband emerges from the cave and pours the coffee then goes into his office. We reconvene to discuss bills, hand off packaged orders from my Etsy shop, alert him of discipline matters and homeschool adventures for an hour or so before he leaves for work or we leave for the gym. The rest of the day involves art/writing and teaching my two children and quite honestly is all over the place-so I'm grateful that the first 5 hours of each day is well structured.

I thought teaching and working from home would give me a life of leisure...one of very few things I've been wrong about ;)

aliceinparis said...

I love reading about people's routines. Mine is similar. Start the day off feeding the cat, check my weight on the Wii, breakfast, computer, package new orders if there are any and then there is no routine, it is whatever needs to be done that day!
Cheers, Shelagh

Cathy Winsby said...

Pretty much have a regular routine (to start with) as well...pets and kids seem to do that to you.

Get up, let dog out, make tea, feed dog, sit at computer, finish tea, make kids lunches, drive kids to school, back at computer, eat breakfast.

That's when the routine ends. From that point on it's completely disorganized!

matt said...

Reading all these comments makes me glad I have only one dog and no kids (except for my 15). My morning routine is about 30 minutes long as I rush so that my students aren't beating me to class. It's usually shower, breakfast, lunch, and smoothie, let Luna out, and ride my bike to school. Riding my bike to work seems to be the only constant in the equation; I've only missed one day all year, sun or a foot of snow. However, I am trying to change that and ran four miles this morning after getting up at 5:30. Wow! It felt great. Mom, are all your blog followers realizing how anal you are with your routines? Love you. Have a great day!

Kathy said...

Ok my darling little son...be nice on my blog. My blog friends know I am a bit on the "strange" side and they don't seem to mind. They still read my blog.

You really ran 4 miles or were you kidding?

I could tell them some wonderful things about you to you know.....remember the time you....oh, I won't do that.

Love you Matt and thanks for checking in on my blog!

Mary Richmond said...

i find my morning habits have changed over the last year or so and i'm working to change them again. being self employed and working mostly from home can mean way too much time on the computer if i'm not careful--especially early in the morning!

Donnalda Does Art said...

I am a creature of habit too. I love working on my projects between 9 pm and 3 am. It is hard for me to concentrate with phones ringing and places to go. During this time I don't have to watch the clock. I look forward to it every night.

Unknown said...

I am a creature of habit, everyday I procrastinate, moan at the kids, loose my keys at least once, am late for something, spend too much time doing not much. And everyday I say 'right, that's it, enough, I'll get more organised'. Oh well. It does all get done, though.

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