Before the lockdown, I began waking up early at around 6.30 or 7am to enjoy a morning routine before work. Now that we are able to work from home, these mornings have become vital to setting up a structured and productive day.
In the first week of working from home, I was sleeping late and waking up without a morning routine. I’d roll out of bed, wash my face and hit the desk, straight to work. At the end of that week I felt so tired and lethargic. That’s when I realised I needed a more structured day with a morning routine to start off with.
My morning routine look likes this:
1. Wake up and wash face with cold water, then make tea or coffee
2. Yoga for 10-15 minutes (a recent addition, it wakes up my body and I love the feeling afterwards)
3. Study Anki deck cards (alternate between grammar and vocab) with my hot drink
[Update 4/23: Study Japanese (Anki decks – daily vocab quiz – daily grammar chapter – write daily 100-word diary in Japanese and past on lang-8.com)]
4. Read my manga books (look up words using the Daum dictionary)
5. Read my book on the sofa next to the window sill (the best way to end the morning routine)
I would say each task takes around 15 minutes each. So all up, my routine takes 1.5hrs (6.30 to 8am). I am thinking if I wake up earlier at 6am, I’d be done by 7.30am, leaving me with an hour of free time before work!
I can choose whatever I want to do with that extra hour of “me” time.
That can mean going for a walk, read more, study something extra, play the piano, edit my photos, journal, blog, exercise indoors or simply do nothing – it’s whatever I feel like doing. The only thing is to avoid is social media and Netflix. After dinner, I also have some spare time where I will work on anything I feel like. So it would be nice to do this in the morning too!
Who would have though I’d become a morning person?
