My Lazy Morning Routine for Productivity as a Non-Morning Person

Morning routines aren’t just for morning people! Night owls you can reap the benefits too even if you’re a zombie before coffee!

Being an evening person I was beginning to think morning routines weren’t for me. After all, in college, I would find myself dreading early classes and spending mornings I didn’t have class watching Netflix. I hated wasting all that precious time but didn’t feel like I benefited from a conventional routine.

But the truth is those morning routines aren’t just for morning people. If you find yourself preferring to sleep in and take mornings a little more slowly that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the benefits of morning routines. Not being a morning person just means that your version of a productive morning routine might look a little different from the one your yoga teacher friend who likes to wake up at the crack of dawn follows.

My morning routine consists of five main components I try to do every day stretching out over the first two hours that I’m awake. It’s designed to match the pace I wake up at while also helping to make the most of this time. Best of all this is the routine that I, a self-pronounced evening person, have tested and can tell you works.

9:00 AM: Emails in Bed

I spend the time after I first wake up doing simple daily tasks such as checking emails, reading the news, checking my earnings, budgeting, etc. I don’t do anything too important largely preferring for this to be the time of day I get the most mundane tasks out of the way. Generally, I prefer this to be a largely informational part of the day without big decisions but I will still send emails during this time unless they are about a big decision.

This is the best time of day to do mundane tasks like this while you wait for the rest of your body to catch up. The stark blue light of my phone or laptop wakes my brain up quickly and as a bonus keeps me from falling back asleep once my alarm goes off. Blue light is an underrated tool in the mornings for waking up.

I feel like admitting that I stay in bed for an hour after I wake up might be something that seems counterproductive but surprisingly it works. I did some digging and found that Winston Churchill reportedly spent his mornings reading briefings in bed and apparently Elon Musk spends the first half-hour of his mornings checking emails so maybe there’s a common thread there amongst mornings in bed and checking emails first thing boosting productivity.

9:30 AM: Coffee

Coffee… Not much goes on in my head before coffee. Every morning I stagger out of bed and try not to bump into anything as I zombie-walk my way over to the Keurig. My brain wakes up before my body. I sigh in exasperation at my morning probiotic I left on the Keurig the day before as a reminder to take it but diligently take my probiotic as my coffee is being made. If I didn’t leave my probiotic in my way every morning like this I would completely forget to take it.

I don’t like much in my coffee other than a dash of unsweetened almond milk (which is more for color than it is for taste). Coffee, or some type of caffeine, should be an essential part of every morning routine in my opinion. It wakes me up so much faster than it would otherwise. Because of this, my morning routine has become a sprint for how early I can make it to the coffee maker before my brain and body have had a chance to wake up. I never want to get out of bed but I know I need to get some caffeine in me so that I can face the world.

Once I have made my coffee I run back to bed and curl up under my covers sipping on my warm mug of coffee. Slowly I wake up a little more now as I sip on my coffee and feel myself coming out of zombie mode. I continue checking emails and completing simple tasks in bed.

10:00 AM: A Late Breakfast

Usually, around this time my stomach starts to grumble and I get up again to get the morning things done. This might include letting the dogs out, emptying the dishwasher, getting dressed for the day, making breakfast, feeding the dogs, etc.

I like to make all my breakfasts for the week ahead of time so that I can just roll out of bed and grab something from the fridge. The morning is not the time for cooking unless you’re eating brunch. My breakfasts are usually simple and consist of things like boiled eggs, pre-made French Toast, pancakes, or cheese. Breakfast is the perfect transition to switch to my office for the morning and start getting settled in there.

10:30 AM: Fetch

I decided to include this part of my routine because so many people have dogs nowadays that need to become a part of their life. More people than ever are also working from home with their pets or taking their pets to work with them. Our pets are a part of our days and their demeanor affects us. If your dog is running around the house barking while you’re working from home that will affect your productivity negatively just as much as a calm dog resting will affect your productivity positively. Dogs especially are a part of our work team if they are around us while we are working.

The first few hours of the day are crucial to my dog’s productivity just as much as mine. My ideal dog when I’m working is napping or calmly chewing on a toy. I want to set my dogs up to succeed just as much as I want to set myself up to succeed. If my puppy gets in her morning game of fetch she’s much more likely to want to spend the rest of the workday relaxing and exhibiting better behavior from then on.

I find with most dogs morning exercise seems to help a lot. Fetch is a good game to play because it’s high intensity. Being high intensity means that you can get a dog very tired out quickly rather than having to invest as much time as a walk. Fetch is also mentally stimulating as it involves specific commands and tasks the dog has to do to play the game. I still walk my dogs near the end of the day when I have the most energy but I like to have an alternate form of exercise available for them early on to help set them up for a calm afternoon. Generally, a game of fetch can take between ten minutes to half an hour so it’s not much of a sacrifice out of my mornings.

If it’s excessively cold or raining we’ll often just play fetch indoors. It’s just as stimulating and it’s more important to keep up with this habit than it is to force yourself to go outside in bad weather.

11:00 AM: Daily Goals

Every day the pinnacle of my morning is to sit down and do some form of planning. This helps me set up the rest of the day to be productive and ensures that I focus on what matters that day.

I regularly change the structure my morning planning takes as my needs in life change but generally, I do one of two things:

The first way that I plan my day is that I sit down and look at each of my current outlets for making money and then one outlet for learning. I decide if anything needs to be done that day for those outlets and if so what. I write this down and use that to guide my day. I will generally choose this way when I feel more productive or to get out of a rut.

The second way that I plan my day is that I sit down and write down three goals for the day. Each goal has a specific purpose. Here are the three goals I use:

• An Easy Goal
• A Goal for Taking Care of Myself
• A Thing that Needs to Get Done the Most

An easy goal is a good way to ease into it. I try to keep easy goals things that I can accomplish in under an hour such as paying a bill, switching out a print on my 3D printer, or getting groceries.

A goal for taking care of myself could be either a self-improvement goal or a self-care goal. Generally, these include doing something relaxing, working out, spending time with my dog, etc. but they can also include working on learning a new skill or on a personal project I enjoy.

I always write down something that needs to get done the most. This is generally something that I am dreading but it needs to get done urgently. Sometimes this can include running an errand, making a crucial business decision, etc.