Things Have to Change: 30 min in the Morning

My mornings haven't really changed from what they were before COVID, and I'm starting to realize that they should.

Yes, I get up a little later, but everything after that is the same - I take a shower, I listen to Up First while I dry my hair. I make my first cup of coffee, I put on my make-up, and get dressed for the day. The main difference is that instead of racing to catch the bus, I walk to my living room and turn on my work computer. I sit in the same spot - somewhere between 4 to 5 hours- holding meetings, building decks, doing work until it's time for lunch. And then sit down after lunch and work the same until 4 or 5 pm. This routing made sense; it was working for me.

Didn't we want to feel like things are normal?

The only thing is, things aren't normal.

I know what it was like to work from home before COVID. I had a job where I worked remotely for two days out of the week. And for two years of my life, I freelanced, which meant I worked out of my home every day.

This time it's different. I don't go to coffee shops. I don't meet up with friends to co-work, I don't go to the business center in my building, I stay in my apartment, in my living room Monday through Friday 7 am - 4 pm, working. And when I close my computer, I move to my couch to watch television, or I clear my dining room table so that I can eat dinner.

I know we all tried to keep a routine similar to what life was before COVID so that we could keep a sense of normalcy, but as I said, nothing is normal.

Tomorrow, I'm trying something new. I will still get up at the same time as I used to before COVID. Instead of going right into my get-ready routine, I will open up my headspace app and do a meditation exercise. I will make myself a cup of tea and my journal and write out any lingering thoughts from the night before. I usually wake up with a lot of ideas swirling around in my head. I think this will help. And after I've had at least 30 minutes of me time, I will start to get ready for my day.

Is this what I will do every morning? I don't think so.

My main goal is to listen to what my body needs in the morning before diving into what I should be doing to get myself set for work.

How have your morning changed? Do you have any tips you can share that have helped you fit into this new normal?