The Morning Routine
As a freelancer its prettyyyyyyy important
How's it going, everybody? As I'm writing this, it's about 12:00 PM. I woke up pretty late today.
Nothing scrambles my creative focus, discipline, and overall productivity for the day like waking up later than I wanted to. Especially when I know I have way too much shit to do.
It's just really overwhelming sometimes when you sabotage yourself by staying up till 3:00 or 4:00 AM and then know you have a lot of bullshit to do in the morning.
So with that being said, my morning routine got a little busted today. For me, my morning routine is really grounding.
THE ROUTINE
As a freelancer, you can do whatever you want whenever you want,
but it's all still up to you to ultimately produce the things that fulfill you. You also have to satisfy the clients with whatever they have in mind for their goals and create content for yourself and your audience.
So my morning routine in this scenario is super important to me and allows me to become ready for the day. Essentially, this is what I would normally do if I didn't sleep in.
I usually wake up around 9 or 10. The time change honestly fucked me up, so lately I've been waking up around 10.
The good thing is I don't have to commute or do any super long preparation in the morning. I pretty much just walk down the stairs and then back up into the office. That's the morning commute.
These days, I have been doing a super easy breakfast. Something that will keep me full until lunchtime, give me energy, but also not overly bog me down and make me crash around the afternoon.
Lately, I've been doing a protein shake and then either overnight oats, normal oatmeal, avocados, bananas — whatever I have laying around, something like that.
Then of course the cliche most important part is going to be the morning coffee.
I've been doing pour overs for the last few years. I think I said five years in my recent vlog, but it's probably more like 10.
(Wait no, I would've only been 17, probably eight years.)
I do really enjoy the pour over method though.
It brings out the best flavors and the process is very pleasent.
I am a very anxious person who is always thinking about a million things, so having a routine that allows me to focus, be meditative, and just be mindful about what I'm doing is important.
Doing the whole little process of the pour over is nice. I love finding the types of coffee beans that I like, heating up the water, grinding the beans, and preparing the cup.
Wetting the water on the filter, doing that initial bloom of the coffee, and then the you know the deal. You do two more cycles of water and whatnot to get your perfect cup of however you like it.
I definitely know I'm at least kind of addicted to caffeine because I'm addicted to the energy, the taste, and the process that all of it entails.
But what are you going to do? You need something.
Can't just be out here raw dogging life. Those who can, props to you.
My favorite coffee beans these days are from Dayglow and Slowbloom
LMK if you have any recommendations though!
From there, when I get into the office, I usually get all the bullshit out of the way. That way, I can focus on the true creative work that I want to be doing.
I'll pay bills, budget money, respond to emails, and get all the admin stuff banged out. *As long as its not some super time-intensive thing
If it's less than 30 minutes or an hour, I'll do it right away.
Don't get me wrong, more stuff like that will come piling in throughout the day, but I'll save it for the end of my work or the next morning.
Once you metaphorically clear your desk or whatever, by getting rid of all the digital clutter, this is when the true creative work comes in. I guess this either starts the day or ends my morning routine at this point.
I do my most important work these days from around 10/11 to 2/ 3. Sometimes I work a lot longer than that, later into the night.
Other times, I feel satisfied that I finish what I need to do by 3-4 PM. As long as it's work I'm proud of and I know what I have to do for the rest of the week, I've grown to give myself that grace of finishing at a healthy point and not burning myself out as much.
I still do burn out quite a bit sometimes, but it is what it is.
That’s pretty much it though.
Mine ain't nothing special, but it works for me. And I'm really curious to hear from other designers, artists, photographers — any type of freelancer who works from home or in a studio. What is your morning routine looking like these days?
Much love and talk soon. Peace.
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KEEP IT MOVING Merch is NOW LIVE
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love these keep on writing!!
My consistent order these days has been iced pour over and there is no going back.