Rise and Shine...

I wake up everyday by 6am, and I think this is a huge accomplishment. I work from home during the early am hours, and this morning routine is what keeps our life going smoothly since I would rarely find time to keep this place running if I returned to my old 11-7 weekday schedule.

For the first 6 months of our marriage, I would wake just in time to get ready for work and take the 1.5 hour train ride in. After 8 hours there, and another 1.5 hours returning home, I would be getting home at 8:30pm (on a good day). This commute alone was (and still is) enough to exhaust me, and I had no ambition to do anything other than collapse on our couch and let the dishes sit. And if I chose to clean, prep food, anything- I would not spend any time at all with my husband. And nothing would ever get posted on here. Ever.

I switched to my split work (and sleep) schedule in Nov 2013 and haven't ever considered going back to a regular schedule. Since I love reading how other people embrace the morning, I know others might enjoy this (and I'll likely return to this in a year or so and wish I could dictate the order of my morning).

5:45
Sit in bed and force myself to enjoy being in bed. Snuggle into blankets, since I never get the chance to any other time of the day. I do not spring out of bed. I need to adjust to the idea of waking up.

5:55
Stretch, from up above my head to toes, or twist around until I feel resistance.

Start coffee and pour myself a large ice water. Drink half of it immediately.

6:00
I start "work" and open up my email and the necessary websites that I need, and walk away. I'll come back, but until that phone rings I usually take it easy unless there's a pending email that needs a reply.

6:15
Get something in my stomach, and take pills and vitamins. I've come to realize that while I might not want to eat in the early morning, my body requires it. And there is nothing worse then throwing up prenatal vitamins in the morning on an empty stomach.

Make breakfast for Tom. Usually I fry up some eggs, or make pancakes. Sometimes I pour cereal if it's a crazy day and I'm swamped with calls (or it's Monday and my inbox is full).

6:30
Wake up Tom, starting sweet and making my way towards obnoxious. Open the curtains and turn on the news. Turn the volume up to 16 and wait until he emerges. If he doesn't emerge, harass him with a rousing rendition of Good Morning Good Morning. I usually go with verse two, he hates it :) Eat breakfast and watch the news until 7. I often refer to this as my favorite time of the day.

7:00
After watching the news and having some stimulating conversation, my brain is awake and ready to work. I return to my desk, and see if there are any emails to reply to. If not, do random projects with the website or for my department. Prepare schedule for the day and decide what needs to be handled before I get into the office at 2pm.

8:00
Some mornings there just isn't much to do. Instead of laying my head down or "resting my eyes" and waking up in a pool of drool on my laptop... I drink another large ice water and make my way around the house, cleaning up as I go.

Water the plants, make the bed, put laundry in hamper. Do any dishes from breakfast. Sweep and tidy up, or whatever applies. Return to laptop to promote any blog post that went live that morning, and to check in with friends online.

9:00
I barely make it until 9. When I get the call that my coworkers are in the office, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb, save my documents, and crawl back into bed.

Going to bed at 1am with my husband means that we can spend more time together when we get home from work. This also means that by 9am the following morning I am ready for part two of my sleep schedule. I'll never understand how he can function fine on 5 hours of sleep, I return to bed and sleep until noon, when I wake again for my day.


So tell me...
What does your morning look like?
Are you a little obnoxious when waking your spouse or family?
Do you have a split sleep-schedule, and how do you stay awake?


                 
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