OTHER PEOPLE!! amen. this was so good. rituals are incredible but the extent to these self-optimizing morning routines feels so synthetic and dehumanizing to me.
Great read! I have thought about this a lot. Also, the irony of reading a book called "The Subtle Art of not Giving a Fuck" as a part of a 2 hour morning routine is hilarious.
thank you for pointing out that all those daily routine videos do lack any room for family or work... it's so much harder to juggle everything when you have kids and need to be somewhere at a certain time.
I'm so happy that my kids are finally old enough that I can send them to school by themselves and can go running by 7:30 or so. And that I work from home, which gave me so much time back that I had to use for my daily commutes.
Another great read, thank you. When I quit drinking (almost four years ago), a near-monastic morning routine was one of the things that kept me anchored. Each component, performed in order and the same as the day before, was a thread in the lifeline. Over time, I've loosened up on most of these — let others go entirely. But I'm grateful to have tapped into the grounding energy when I needed it most.
Really powerful note, Mike. I think there’s a reason rituals are so common across radically different times and places, something almost fundamental to how they help us make meaning, find stability and direction in our lives.
Great post and research, although I pity you getting sucked in to watch all those videos.
I'm ritualistic about my morning, because it's such a precious time, when the mind is fresh and distractions are kept at bay (and if you have a baby, then maybe the baby is still sleeping...). I use it to read a book, then a handful of Substacks. I feel that being a reader is a prerequisite to being a writer, and reading without fail starts my day well. I'm grateful I have the flexibility to run later in the day.
Yes, it’s been a lot of early mornings of late! I would definitely run in afternoons if I could. My focus is pretty much shot by 2pm and I really have to rally to stay on task. (Although my GI system would prefer I run in the morning! 🥴)
OTHER PEOPLE!! amen. this was so good. rituals are incredible but the extent to these self-optimizing morning routines feels so synthetic and dehumanizing to me.
Yes, but I still maybe want a few of those espresso machines. 🙈😉
(And thank you! 🥹)
The other people part, wow.
Great read! I have thought about this a lot. Also, the irony of reading a book called "The Subtle Art of not Giving a Fuck" as a part of a 2 hour morning routine is hilarious.
😅
The morning routine that changed my life was in fact a child.
It's all in the same vein of 21 year olds spending 36 seconds explaining definitively how to lose belly fat.
thank you for pointing out that all those daily routine videos do lack any room for family or work... it's so much harder to juggle everything when you have kids and need to be somewhere at a certain time.
I'm so happy that my kids are finally old enough that I can send them to school by themselves and can go running by 7:30 or so. And that I work from home, which gave me so much time back that I had to use for my daily commutes.
Another great read, thank you. When I quit drinking (almost four years ago), a near-monastic morning routine was one of the things that kept me anchored. Each component, performed in order and the same as the day before, was a thread in the lifeline. Over time, I've loosened up on most of these — let others go entirely. But I'm grateful to have tapped into the grounding energy when I needed it most.
Really powerful note, Mike. I think there’s a reason rituals are so common across radically different times and places, something almost fundamental to how they help us make meaning, find stability and direction in our lives.
You make me miss Euclid Ave and the Selby Trail!
Great post and research, although I pity you getting sucked in to watch all those videos.
I'm ritualistic about my morning, because it's such a precious time, when the mind is fresh and distractions are kept at bay (and if you have a baby, then maybe the baby is still sleeping...). I use it to read a book, then a handful of Substacks. I feel that being a reader is a prerequisite to being a writer, and reading without fail starts my day well. I'm grateful I have the flexibility to run later in the day.
Yes, it’s been a lot of early mornings of late! I would definitely run in afternoons if I could. My focus is pretty much shot by 2pm and I really have to rally to stay on task. (Although my GI system would prefer I run in the morning! 🥴)
…brilliant observations brother…
Thank you, my friend!